Glòria Oliver: “At the Foundation, we understand transformation as a way of being. We don’t wait for change: we drive it”

Glòria Oliver holds a degree in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University, with postgraduate studies at the Centre for Financial Studies, the Barcelona School of Management-UPF and ESADE. She is currently Deputy CEO of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, where she has been Managing Director for fifteen years, leading the institutional growth of the Foundation and its research centre, the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center. With a solid background in financial and strategic management, she has held positions as CFO at the Fundació Clínic-IDIBAPS and at Saint-Gobain, with international projection. Committed to the third sector and research, she chairs the Spanish Fundraising Association, is vice-president of the Catalan Coordinator of Foundations, member of the Social Council of the UPC and secretary of the Council of Patronage in Research, Development and Innovation of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

You have had a distinguished career in the leadership of biomedical institutions, bearing in mind that female leadership in biomedical research is still a challenge in many organisations. What have been the main challenges you have faced on your way to senior management in this sector? Have you felt that you have had to overcome additional barriers because you are a woman?

I have been working for almost twenty years in management roles in the field of biomedical research, first at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and currently at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation. From my experience, the great challenge is still to break the gender scissors in scientific careers with. Many women reach doctoral level, but their presence is drastically reduced at the levels of scientific leadership and management.

I believe it is essential that we make progress not only in making female leaders in science more visible, but also in designing incentives that decisively promote women’s scientific leadership throughout their research careers.

For example, in the tenure track evaluation process of the Group Leaders of the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, a research centre of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, maternity leave and reductions in working hours due to breastfeeding allow the evaluation period to be extended without negatively affecting the final assessment.

At the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center Foundation (BBRC) we are moving in this direction. We currently have six research groups, two of them led by women (33%), and in the field of scientific platforms, there is full parity: two led by women (50%) and two by men (50%).

A progress that we want to continue to promote with concrete actions, courageous policies and an organisational culture that embraces and promotes all talent, in all its diversity.

The Pasqual Maragall Foundation and the Barcelonabeta Brain Research Center have been leaders in Alzheimer’s research. What strategies have you implemented to foster a cutting-edge research environment? What are the most promising advances in early detection and prevention of the disease that you are currently working on?

We work to always be at the forefront of Alzheimer’s research, and we know that to achieve this we need to attract and nurture the best scientific talent. That is why we offer competitive structural packages and first-class infrastructures that allow us to do cutting-edge science from day one.

We are located in a unique setting: Barcelona, in the heart of one of the most dynamic scientific ecosystems in Europe. We are located next to the PRBB, the Hospital del Mar and very close to the future Mercat del Peix, an emerging hub of innovation and knowledge. All this creates an incredible environment for collaboration and scientific advancement.

At the BBRC our focus is on the prevention and early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and we also actively contribute to the development of clinical trials for new treatments.

We are developing increasingly accessible technologies, such as biomarkers in blood, which will allow us to diagnose the disease less invasively and long before symptoms appear. We are also working to identify modifiable risk factors, which are key to designing personalised prevention strategies.

In such a competitive and constantly evolving environment as the biomedical sector, how does the management face the challenge of adapting to technological and scientific advances?

At the Foundation, we understand transformation as a way of being. We do not wait for change: we drive it. We are committed to agile management, with a vision of the future and a capacity for immediate response. Our nature as a private entity gives us an operational flexibility that we take full advantage of to innovate and move forward decisively.

We invest in strategic scientific assets, such as the ALFA cohort study, one of the world’s leading infrastructures in Alzheimer’s prevention. And we complement this with world-class technology platforms: a powerful neuroimaging platform with 3T magnetic resonance imaging for brain studies in humans, and a biomarker platform equipped with the best technology to identify signals in plasma, advance their clinical validation and take them to their application in medical practice.

Collaboration is another of our key areas of focus. We actively participate in European consortia such as AD-RIDDLE (“Advancing Solutions for Alzheimer Disease”), a project that will provide healthcare professionals with specific tools to improve the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

We work every day to anticipate the future and offer, from the present, real and transformative solutions for people.

In a context where funding for biomedical research is a constant challenge, what strategies have the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and the Barcelonabeta Brain Research Center implemented to ensure the sustainability of the projects?

One of our strengths has been to build a solid, diversified and sustainable funding model. We combine competitive funding, both public and private, with strategic alliances that allow us to drive the development of clinical trials of future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

At the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, we have developed our own model of private fundraising and philanthropic collaboration that has become a central pillar of our sustainability. Nearly 100,000 people throughout Spain support us with their annual contributions, making it possible for Alzheimer’s research to advance every day. Their trust is our driving force and our greatest guarantee.

We work with a firm commitment to rigorous, transparent and impact-oriented management. We want every euro invested in research to have a return in the form of knowledge, advances and hope. Therefore, we understand sustainability not only as an economic issue, but as a balance between scientific soundness, management efficiency and social commitment.

What are the main challenges facing neuroscience research foundations today, especially in the field of Alzheimer’s?

One of the great challenges in Alzheimer’s research is its biological complexity, which requires multidisciplinary and sustained approaches over time.

In this context, Barcelona has established itself as one of the world’s leading cities in terms of scientific production on Alzheimer’s disease, ranking seventh in the world.

This environment of excellence has prompted the Pasqual Maragall Foundation to promote the Alzheimer Barcelona Hub, a strategic initiative backed by the City Council and in collaboration with key institutions such as Hospital Clínic, Hospital de Sant Pau, Hospital del Mar, the ACE Foundation and the BBRC, with the aim of positioning Barcelona as an international benchmark in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Together, we are combining clinical, scientific and social capacities to turn Barcelona into an international node of innovation in prevention, early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, at the service of science and people.