Brief info
The National Centre for Microbiology (CNM) is one of the main research centres of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain’s leading public biomedical research institution. It provides scientific and technical support to the national government, regional health authorities and the National Health System (NHS) in the field of infectious diseases.
CNM acts as a national reference laboratory, playing a key role in the diagnosis, surveillance, prevention and control of infectious diseases, including emerging and re emerging pathogens. Its activities combine high-level research with reference diagnostic services, supporting outbreak investigation, epidemic response and public health decision making.
The Centre develops multidisciplinary research programmes, from basic to applied science, focused on pathogen characterisation, development of innovative diagnostic methods and the study of transmission dynamics. It also runs microbiological surveillance programmes that allow early detection of new threats and changes in disease patterns.
ISCIII provides state of the art infrastructure to support this work, including laboratories designed to handle multiple pathogens under biosafety level 2 and 3 (BSL 2 and BSL 3) conditions, and it is currently developing a biosafety level 4 (BSL 4) facility to strengthen capacity for high risk pathogens. In addition, the Centre hosts centralised core facilities—such as genomics, bioinformatics, and advanced microscopy platforms—which provide essential support across research and diagnostic activities.
CNM also operates a rapid response system active year round for public health emergencies and collaborates closely with European and international networks, including the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Through its integrated activities in research, reference services, training and scientific advice, CNM plays a central role in strengthening national and international preparedness and response to infectious disease threats.