The Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) is a non-profit research and development unit, recognized and supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) [UID/IC/4255/2013], with a classification of “Very Good”. It is currently hosted by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), located in the recently inaugurated Medical Research Center (CIM) in Porto, Portugal (www.cintesis.eu). CINTESIS relies in a decentralized and flexible management structure involving about 400 researchers (of which 140 are integrated) and dry/wet labs of 6 higher education institutions (FMUP, ICBAS, UA, UAlg, UMa, ISEP, ESEP), organized into 4 thematic lines, i.e. TL1-Clinical and Health Services Research, TL2-Ageing and Neurosciences Research, TL3-Diagnosis, Disease and Therapeutics Research and TL4-Data and Methods Research, and 16 research groups, addressing various aspects from these 4 main research lines. CINTESIS has also partnerships with health units of Porto region (e.g. C. H. São João, IPO-Porto, CUF-Porto), with a very good track-record of recruitment of participants.

University of Porto (UPORTO, www.up.pt ) is Portugal’s second largest university and one of the most prestigious teaching and research institutions in the country. As the biggest producer of science in Portugal, with 14 faculties and one business school along with 16 libraries and 14 museums distributed over 3 campuses, UPORTO hosts over 50 research centers covering a wide range of areas, from the humanities to sciences and technologies, and 6 competence centers in the fields of cybersecurity, ageing, biomechanics, media, ocean and materials research. Assuming itself as a Research University, UPORTO is responsible for over 20% of the Portuguese scientific papers indexed each year in the ISI – Web of Science. In the last years, UPORTO has been putting large efforts in providing greater economic value to its scientific production and partnerships with industry leaders have already resulted in several innovations with proven success in the national and international sphere. University of Porto Science and Technology Park (UPTEC), European Commission’s REGIO STARS 2013 – Smart Growth Award winner, has been playing a very important role in this matter.

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) was established in 1911 and has been keeping for a long time a head position in medical education and biomedical research. FMUP is vastly renowned for its medical degree, teaching and research staff and type of research carried out. FMUP offers a medical degree, nine master degrees and ten PhD programs, which are entirely research-oriented. With its 19 academic departments and five R&D Units, which cover different areas of biomedical research, such as pharmacology, experimental morphology, health information systems and technologies, cardiovascular diseases and nephrology, FMUP shows its interdisciplinary nature. The spatial and strategic proximity to a central hospital of reference – C. H. São João – together with a strongly established basic research, enables a dynamic cross talk between basic and clinical sciences, leading to a forefront place in translation and clinical research.