The task carried out is, in essence, applied and innovative research in the different fields of Microbiology. It is done under the umbrella of the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) and the August Pi i Sunyer Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBAPS), centers linked to the Hospital Clínic and the University of Barcelona.

At IDIBAPS, research is conducted in the areas of Biological Aggression and Response Mechanisms, Liver, Digestive System, and Metabolism. And specifically to the groups of:

Increased resistance to antimicrobial drugs, the natural process by which microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi) develop resistance to the drugs used to treat them, is an issue that threatens both the ability to treat infectious diseases and the advances made in global health in recent decades. This also implies rising costs for healthcare systems.

The lines of research developed in the Microbiology Service are included in the following areas:

• Knowledge of the molecular basis of microbial resistance, basically in multiresistant Gram-negative bacilli, Mycobacterium spp. and cytomegalovirus.
• Development of rapid diagnostic tools based on mass spectrometry techniques, molecular biology, such as gene amplification, and mass sequencing methods.
• Design of new antimicrobial agents. The Service has two patents.
• Research in the field of infectious endocarditis and osteoarticular infections.

The Service is part of the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Pathology (REIPI). It also leads ISGlobal's Antibiotic Resistance Initiative, in which, in addition to research, it carries out training activities.

As part of the research, in the antimicrobial resistance initiative, it is part of the JPIAMR Dx Global Project, a Strategic Training Action Plan to support the training of the JPIAMR Virtual Research Institute and the approach in Diagnostics, as well as an International Interdisciplinary Research Association (IRP) to address antimicrobial resistance as a global health threat.