Research

About

The Centre for Epidemiological Studies on HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), created in 1995 and located since then at the Can Ruti Campus in Badalona, is currently a service of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and functionally depends of the General Directorate of Addictions, HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Viral Hepatitis of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT).

CEEISCAT is the technical and advisory body for the monitoring and evaluation of HIV, STIs and viral hepatitis epidemics and, in coordination with the General Directorate for Public Health Surveillance and Emergency Response, executor of HIV/STI epidemiological surveillance.

CEEISCAT is a Consolidated Research Group recognized by the Agency for University Aid and Research (AGAUR) of the Generalitat de Catalunya, within the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Together with the Microbiology Service of the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, it constitutes a node (Group 27) in the network of excellence in Epidemiology and Public Health of the Centre for Biomedical Research in Network on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP).

Keywords: HIV, STI, public health, viral hepatitis.

CEEISCAT

Group leader

Research lines

  • Formal systems of epidemiological surveillance of HIV and other STIs
  • Monitoring of the diagnosis and evaluation of new technologies and screening strategies for HIV and other STIs
  • Antiretroviral treatment monitoring and study of the effect of comorbidities and aging in HIV positive patients
  • Study and monitoring of the multilevel determinants of HIV transmission and other STIs
  • Determinants of transmission and knowledge, behaviors and attitudes on the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging and re-emerging biological agents
  • Coverage and determinants of early diagnosis and healthcare linkage of hepatitis C

Active projects

Viabilidad e impacto del cribado online de VIH / ITS dirigido a hombres que tienen sexo con hombres y mujeres transgénero en España usuarios de profilaxis pre-exposición (TÉSTATE PrEP)

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT, Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron - Drassanes, Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI21/01589

Escuelas Centinela por la monitorización y evaluación de la infección SARS-CoV-2

Collaborators: Jordi Sunyer, Mireia Gascon, Jordi Casabona, Toni Soriano, Pere Soler.
Agency code: IGTP-Ad-AD_2020_18

Reinforcement of COBATEST network by means of including testing services from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT
Funding agency: Gilead
Agency code: 14242

TÉSTATE ITS

Collaborators: Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Fundació Lluita Contra la Sida

Monitoratge del VIH, VHC i altres ITS i de les conductes de risc associades en UDVP reclutats a Centres de Reducció de Danys a Catalunya (REDAN)

Collaborators: Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Subdirecció General de Drogodependències - Àmbit Prevenció

Cribratge extens d'ITS en la dona embarassada (EMBITS)

Collaborators: Atenció a la salut sexual i reproductiva (ASSIR), Microbiology Service HUGTiP, IGTP - CEEISCAT
Agency code: PI-20-285

Prevalença de VIH, VHC, VHB i altres infeccions de transmissió sexual en persones sense llar i els determinants associats a la infecció aSELF-GEN (Anal Self-Sampling for Effective HPV Genotyping)

Agency: MCD
Duration: January 2024 - December 2025

Prevalença de VIH, VHC, VHB i altres infeccions de transmissió sexual en persones sense llar i els determinants associats a la infecció (SENSE SOSTRE)

Funding agency: Departament de Salut
Duration: September 2023 - December 2026

CORE - Community Response to End Inequalities

Funding agency: European Health and Digital Executive Duration: January 2023 - December 2025

El uso de PROM relacionados con la sexualidad: un estudio con enfoque de género en personas con VIH (Estudio SEXPROM)

Funding agency: GILEAD. BECA PRO 2024
Duration: 2025 – 2026

Breaking Barriers: A Novel Approach to Youth STI Awareness, Testing, Treatment and Partner Notification in Catalonia - The TESTA'T-iCoNNECTA-Joves Project

Collaborators: Agència Salut Pública de Barcelona, Centre Jove d'Atenció a les Sexualitats (CJAS), Fundació Lluita contra les Infeccions, Departamento de Microbiología, Laboratorio Clínico Área Metropolitana Norte, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol
Funding agency: Fundació La Marató de TV3
Agency code: 202401-30-31-32

BOOST Project - BOOST access and quality of communitybased communicable disease services for PWUD in the EU and neighbouring countries

Funding agency: European Health and Digital Executive Duration: January 2023 - December 2025

Monitoratge de la prevalença del VIH i d'altres ITS i dels comportaments associats amb la seva transmissió en el col·lectiu de dones treballadores del sexe a Catalunya (HIVITSTS)

Collaborators: Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Fundació Àmbit Prevenció

Xarxa DEVO: de centres comunitaris, que, junt amb el consell assistit, ofereixen la prova de forma voluntària, gratuïta, anònima i confidencial

Collaborators: Barcelona (ACASC, CJAS, SAPS-Creu Roja, Stop Sida, Àmbit Prevenció i Gais Positius), Sabadell & Terrassa (Actua Vallès), Lleida (Associació Antisida de Lleida), Girona (ACAS Girona) and Tarragona (Assexora'TGN i Creu Roja TGN)

Cohort PISCIS - Estudi de cohorts, prospectiu i multicèntric format per pacients seropositius majors de 16 anys, que han estat visitats per primera vegada en algun dels principals centres hospitalaris (15 a Catalunya i 2 a les Illes Balears)

Collaborators: HUGTiP, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Hospital del Mar - Parc de Salut Mar, Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Consorci Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí de Sabadell, Hospital Son Llàtzer, Hospital Universitari de Santa Maria de Lleida, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII de Tarragona, Hospital de Mataró, Hospital General de l'Hospitalet, Hospital de Palamós, Hospital Universitari de Vic, Hospital Verge de la Cinta de Tortosa, Hospital Universitari Mútua Terrassa and Hospital General de Granollers

Estudio sobre conocimientos, actitudes, conductas y prácticas relacionadas con el virus de la viruela del mono en hombres gais, bisexuales y otros hombres que tienen sexo con hombres en Iberoamérica. Grupo de estudio LIBERO-POX/RIGHT-PLUS

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT, Coalition PLUS, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Direitos Humanos e Saúde LGBT+, Facultad de Salud Pública, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Instituto de Salud Pública, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile, Instituto Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP)

European Men Who Have Sex With Men and Trans People Internet Survey (EMIS-2024). National Funding Partner: Ministerio de Sanidad. Duration: 2024-2025

Collaborators: Grupo EMIS-Spain: División de Control de VIH, ITS, Hepatitis Virales y Tuberculosis (Ministerio de Sanidad), Unidad de Vigilancia de VIH, ITS y Hepatitis B y C (Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, ISCIII), CEEISCAT, Stop, SEISIDA

Aceptabilidad y efectividad de una intervención online de auto toma para VIH en hombres que tienen sexo con hombres en España. TESTATE VIH

Collaborators: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Departamento de Microbiología, Laboratorio Clínico Área Metropolitana Norte, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol
Funding agency: Financiado por el Instituto de Salud Carlos III (subvención n.º PI17-00355), ViiV Healthcare y el Departamento de Salud de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Financiación del articulo en acceso abierto proporcionada por la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Optimizing Pan-Viral Screening and Linkage to Treatment and Vaccination among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men who Have Sex with Men and Trans Women in Spain Including Those who Are in PrEP or Waiting Access to PrEP: An Online Self-Sampling Pilot. (Pan-TESTATE)

Collaborators: Fundació Lluita contra les Infeccions, Departamento de Microbiología, Laboratorio Clínico Área Metropolitana Norte, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol, Diagnòstic i Epidemiologia Genòmica de Patògens (DxEpiPath)
Funding agency: Gilead (Gilead Gader 2024-9767)

Past projects

Population-based genomic epidemiology study for tailored strategies for surveillance and control of tuberculosis (TB-SEQ)

PI: Elisa Martró, Iñaki Comas
Funding agency: CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCII)
Agency code: ESP22PI06
Duration: 2022 - 2023

Reingrés i mort de COVID-19 després de l'alta hospitalària inicial i impacte de la vacunació de SARS-CoV-2 entre les persones que viuen amb el VIH: un estudi de cohorts dinàmiques de múltiples bases de dades, COVEDVAC.HIV

PI: Juliana Reyes (IGTP - CEEISCAT), Josep Maria Llibre (Fundació Lluita contra la Sida)
Funding agency: La Marató de TV3
Agency code: 61/C/2021

Epidemiologia genòmica de SARS-CoV-2 a Catalunya: vigilància virològica i control de brots

Collaborators: IrsiCaixa, IGTP
Funding agency: La Marató de TV3
Agency code: 342/C/2021

Risk factors for MPX Infection: A Case-Control Study (Movie CC)

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT, Fundació Lluita, hugtIp, Programa IDIBELL, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Bellvitge, Checkpoint (Barcelona), Hospital 12 de Octubre de Madrid, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos de Madrid, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Fundació Sida i Societat

Community Led and Based HIV Services - Key to Ending the HIV Epidemic in Europe and Central Asia "Zeroing In - Ending the HIV Epidemic"

Collaborators: AIDS Action Europe, IGTP - CEEISCAT, Fondazione LILA Milano
Funding agency: Gilead
Agency code: 15538

Cohort de treballadors/es sexuals masculins i dones transsexuals seronegatius, que es realitzen la prova del VIH a Stop Sida, per a l'estudi del diagnòstic precoç del VIH i ITS i els seus determinants (SEXCohorts)

Collaborators: Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Fundació Lluita Contra la Sida, Fundació Àmbit Prevenció

Encuestas Flash VIH-VHC para evaluar el impacto de la crisis sanitaria Covid-19 en personas que trabajan con poblaciones vulnerables al VIH y/o al VHC en entornos comunitarios en España (EPIC-E)

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT; Programa de Prevenció, Control i Atenció al VIH, les ITS i les Hepatitis Víriques, Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya, Departament de Salut; Coalition Plus, France

Enhancing Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and/or Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) national infrastructures and capacities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU and EEA

Collaborators: ISCIII, IGTP and 32 other Spanish institutions
Funding agency: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Agency code: ECDC/HERA/2021/024 ECD.12241

Cost-effectiveness of a community intervention versus a healthcare-based strategy for promoting the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B and C in immigrants in Catalonia (HepBClink)

PI: Elisa Martró
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI19/0568
Duration: 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2024

Stop Mpox - Monkey Pox infection in asymptomatic gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and trans women recruited in a community centre in Barcelona (Spain): A Pilot intervention based on self-sampling screening strategy (Stop Monkey Pox)

Collaborators: CIBERESP, IGTP, UAB, IRSI Caixa, STOP, Mircobiology Service HUGTiP, UB, uVic-UCC, CIBERINFEC

TÉSTATE Implementa

Collaborators: Departament de Salut, Fundació Sida i Societat

Estat de salut i impacte de la COVID-19 en dones que exerceixen el treball sexual a Catalunya (Estudi HIVITS-TS-COVID)

Collaborators: IGTP - CEEISCAT, Subdirecció General d'Addiccions, VIH, Infeccions de Transmissió Sexual i Hepatitis Víriques, Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, Coalition PLUS, Fundació Àmbit Prevenció

Estudi de la prevalença de la infecció per Chlamydia tracomatis i Neisseria gonorrhoeae en usuaris dels centres d'atenció a la salut sexual i reproductiva (CT/NG ASSIR) i presons (CT/NG PRESONS)

Collaborators: Microbiology Service HUGTiP, Atenció a la salut sexual i reproductiva (ASSIR), Centre de Salut per a Joves de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Centre Jove d'Anticoncepció i Sexualitat de Barcelona, Centre Jove de Salut de Girona, Direcció General de Serveis Penitenciaris de Catalunya, Centre Penitenciari de Dones de Barcelona, Centre Penitenciari de Joves, Centre Penitenciari Brians 1

Scientific publications

Highlighted 2024 publications

Llibre JM, Revollo B, Aceiton J, Díaz Y, Domingo P, Burgos J, Sorni P, Saumoy M, Knobel H, Navarro M, Leon E, Orti A, Arbonés L, Mera A, Deig E, Sirera G, Miró JM, Casabona J, Martin-Iguacel R; PISCIS Cohort Study Group. Identifying risk factors for anal cancer in people with HIV in Spain: a multicentre retrospective cohort study nested in the PISCIS cohort. Lancet HIV. 2024 Sep;11(9):e598-e606. DOI: 10.1016/S2352-3018(24)00174-7.

Martínez-Riveros H, Alarcón Gutiérrez M, Aceiton Cardona J, Montoro-Fernández M, Díaz Y, Alonso L, Rius Gibert C, Casabona J, Fernàndez-López L, Agustí C. Determinants of Repeating an HIV Test Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who have Sex with Men, and Transgender People Who Use an Online-Requested Self-Sampling Program and Attending Community-Based Testing Venues in Spain (2018-2021). AIDS Behav. 2024 Sep;28(9):3139-3150. DOI: 10.1007/s10461-024-04399-8.

Fernàndez-López L, Reyes-Urueña J, Egea L, Chernyshev A, Upmace I, Ćosić M, Mejías W, González V, Blondeel K, Thwin SS, Gios L, Mirandola M, Peeling R, Kiarie J, Casabona J, Toskin I; ProSPeRo group. A clinical utility evaluation of dual HIV/Syphilis point-of-care tests in non-clinical settings for screening for HIV and syphilis in men who have sex with men. BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Feb 29;24(Suppl 1):264. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-09017-5.

ALL PUBLICATIONS

Additional information

Collaborative networks

  • Member of the Executive Committee of EUROTEST
  • Founding member and permanent member of the Executive Committee of COBATEST
  • Founding member and permanent member of the Executive Committee of the Right PLUS Network
  • Coordinators of the Community Research Hub and part of international networks such as Coalition PLUS and AIDS Action Europe
  • Co-principal investigators and coordinating centre of the PISCIS cohort
  • Promoters and members of the Executive Committee of the CORE 
  • Principal co-researchers and members of the Executive Committee of the Sentinel Schools Network
  • Participants in international collaborations of cohorts of people living with HIV (PVVIH), RESPOND, ART-CC, Hep-Causal, among others
  • Member of CIBERESP (EPICET Program)

Doctoral thesis

Title: Viabilidad y aceptabilidad de estrategias innovadoras para el cribado del VIH e ITS en hombres gais, bisexuales y otros hombres que tienen relaciones sexuales con hombres y personas trans
Author: Héctor Martínez 
Supervisor: Jordi Casabona i Cristina Agustí 
University: UAB 
Currently in progress

Title: Exploring Health Disparities and Access to Prevention and Care in Vulnerable Populations
Author: Beatriz Julieta Blanco Rojas
Supervisor: Cinta Folch i Raquel Martin
University: UAB 
Currently in progress

Title: Uso de nuevas tecnologías para la promoción de la salud sexual y prevención de VIH y otras infecciones de transmisión sexual en hombres que tienen sexo con hombre 
Author: Miguel Alarcón Gutiérrez 
Supervisor: Cristina Rius i Laura Fernàndez-López 
University: UAB 
Currently in progress

Title: Determinantes y outputs en la población inmigrada con VIH y otras infecciones de transmisión sexual 
Author: Jocelyn Mesias 
Supervisor: Jordi Casabona i Cinta Folch 
University: UAB 
Date of defence: 2024

Title: Impacte de l'envelliment a la població infectada pel VIH de Catalunya i les Illes Balears: estudi de cohort de base poblacional 
Author: Andreu Bruguera 
Supervisor: Jordi Casabona, Juliana Reyes i Josep Mº Miró 
University: UAB 
Date of defence: 2024

Title: Pertinència de l'ús de proves diagnòstiques i medicaments per al diagnòstic i tractament de la bronquilitis viral 
Author: Fabiana Ganem 
Supervisor: Jordi Casabona
University: UAB 
Date of defence: 2024 

Outreach

30th anniversary of CEEISCAT - 9 April, 2025

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, CEEISCAT organized a commemorative day at the Palau Macaya in Barcelona, focused on the future challenges of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and viral hepatitis. The event had more than 150 attendees from the field of research, public health and the community world. It was an opportunity to share progress achieved and collectively reflect on current and future challenges in these areas.

V Congress "Escoles Sentinella" - 23 May, 2025

The "Escoles Sentinella" Congress was held at CosmoCaixa Barcelona, and brought together students and teachers from 12 educational centers, representatives of the administration and the scientific community. More than 600 people attended, with the aim of promoting mutual learning, sharing interventions in health promotion and prevention, and promoting the scientific communication skills of students. This initiative strengthens the link between research and the educational community, highlighting collaborative research and social impact.

Documents of interest

CEEISCAT 2025 Contributions

HIV-STI epidemiological indicators 2023

News

Successful turnout at the 1st CORE IGTP Scientific Conference, a meeting to advance population health research

The first CORE IGTP Scientific Conference was held at the Badalona International Business Centre (BCIN), an initiative of the CORE Program that aims to establish itself as an annual space for meeting, debate and scientific exchange among professionals involved in population health research.

Kick-off of the TESTA’T Jove–iCONNECTA project: promoting the sexual health with innovative digital tools

TESTA'T Jove-iCONNECTA project, a leading initiative in public health and funded by La Marató de TV3 that seeks to improve the diagnosis, prevention and access to the treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV among young people in Catalonia. 

+ News