“They’ve described how the immune system regulates the skin’s resilience”, “They’ve revealed the role played by a group of cells in the aggressiveness of tumours”, “They’ve developed a new vaccine that trains the immune system to attack cancer”…

Behind every headline on social media and in the science and health sections of blogs and newspapers there’s much more than a discovery: there’s dedication, hard work and collaboration.

Every day, researchers and multidisciplinary teams in laboratories, hospitals and universities are working to design new therapeutic strategies and to decipher the mechanisms that give rise to diseases.

And who better than those people themselves to tell us,

Health research and innovation are constantly evolving. Year after year, scientists around the world refine their strategies and laboratory techniques to tackle the greatest challenges of the moment.

And as science advances, our society, our way of life and our environment also change, resulting in new challenges and, with them, new research.

The researchers in our network are an example of how science continues to innovate in the face of the most substantial problems of our time, and the aim of this blog is to highlight their advances and knowledge in the different areas of health. Today we share with you the 12 most noteworthy articles of 2025.

1.

Every five minutes, someone in the world is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). This disease affects more than 2.8 million people worldwide, including 55,000 in Spain. It usually appears between the ages of 20 and 40 (being the second leading cause of disability among young people) and three out of every four sufferers are women.

MS is an neurodegenerative disease of autoimmune origin that affects the brain and spinal cord. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective layer of neurons (called the myelin) and their axons (the part that connects them to other nerve cells). When this insulating layer and part of the neurons are damaged, communication between the brain and the rest of the body is interrupted,

Meningitis is a serious infectious disease that inflames the membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord, called meninges. Detecting the disease in its early stages is essential to prevent its most severe forms, which can even lead to death. However, the current diagnostic method, a lumbar puncture, is invasive and particularly complicated with infants, who often present with very non-specific symptoms. Furthermore, lumbar punctures to diagnose meningitis are costly tests that require a high level of specialisation and resources. As a result, they are performed less frequently in low- and middle-income countries.

Is there a way to improve and facilitate the diagnosis of meningitis? Sara Ajanovic, a paediatrician and researcher at ISGlobal and Vall d’Hebron Hospital,

One of the most powerful driving forces in human beings is curiosity: the impulse that leads us to explore the unknown, to comprehend the world around us and even understand our own biology. Curiosity can arise from a simple desire to know something but also from a desire to transform knowledge into health or social impact.

The Snapshots of 2025 are an example of how, through research, curiosity can become advances in health. Here are eight images taken by researchers from our network that reflect some of the most notable discoveries of the year but which, thanks to their colours and textures, could also pass for authentic works of art. In several of them,