On 8 June 2026, the presentation event for the XIADA project (Xestión Intelixente do Aire e Desinfección Ambiental – Intelligent Air Management and Environmental Disinfection) took place in the Assembly Hall of the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC). This collaborative initiative brings together companies, research centers, and healthcare professionals with the aim of developing new tools for the prevention, early detection, and mitigation of airborne biological risks.
The event brought together representatives from the healthcare, research, business, and institutional sectors, highlighting the strategic importance that indoor air quality has gained in the wake of the lessons learned during the pandemic and in preparation for future public health challenges.
The event was opened by Álvaro Mena de Cea, Director of Healthcare Services for the A Coruña and Cee Health Area, who welcomed attendees and thanked the participating organizations for launching an initiative that he described as particularly relevant to the hospital environment. During his address, he emphasized the strong interest that the project has generated within CHUAC due to the significance of the issues it addresses and expressed the hospital’s full commitment to collaborating in its development and validation.
The first technical presentation was delivered by Enrique Míguez Rey, Head of the Internal Medicine–Infectious Diseases Section of the A Coruña and Cee Health Area and Research Coordinator in Clinical Virology at INIBIC. Entitled “Air Purification: Is It Really Necessary?”, his presentation explored the health, social, and economic impact of transmissible respiratory diseases.
Drawing on historical examples and mortality data associated with COVID-19, influenza, and tuberculosis, he posed a question that resonated strongly with the audience: whether society has truly learned the importance of the air it breathes. His presentation emphasized that indoor air quality should be regarded as a fundamental preventive measure, in much the same way that the availability of safe drinking water is now considered indispensable and unquestioned.
The next speaker was María del Mar Tomás Carmona, microbiologist at the A Coruña and Cee Health Area and director of the MicroTM research group at INIBIC. Her presentation, focused on CRISPR-Cas technologies for the rapid molecular detection of bacteria and viruses, provided a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in microbiological diagnostics.
She showcased several developments led by her research group that enable the rapid, sensitive, and accurate identification of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, opening up new opportunities for epidemiological surveillance and clinical decision-making. The presentation highlighted how these technologies are evolving into powerful diagnostic platforms with direct applications in public health.
The section dedicated to the XIADA project began with a presentation by Xurxo Cegarra González, CEO of Insati and co-founder of Wireless Galicia. He took the opportunity to thank CHUAC and INIBIC for their longstanding collaboration on healthcare innovation projects, noting that 2026 marks the twentieth anniversary of the first joint project between the two organizations.
He also highlighted the role of GAIN as a catalyst for numerous R&D initiatives developed in Galicia over recent years. During his presentation, he introduced the seven entities that make up the XIADA consortium—four companies and three research organizations—emphasizing the diversity of scientific and technological expertise involved.
As he explained, the ultimate goal of the project is to create a technological ecosystem capable of actively preventing, detecting, and mitigating the presence of airborne viruses and bacteria. In doing so, XIADA aims to strengthen society’s resilience to future public health crises while positioning Galicia as a benchmark region for One Health strategies.
The technological perspective of the project continued with a presentation by Jesús Manuel Saavedra Campos, R&D&I Director of SETGA, who provided an overview of the evolution of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) disinfection systems.
Starting with the limitations of current solutions, he described the transition from mercury-lamp-based systems to new UV-C LED technologies. According to his presentation, these advances make it possible to develop more efficient, safer, and smarter air sanitization systems capable of operating continuously in occupied spaces.
His talk reinforced the idea that indoor air quality should be regarded as a public health priority and that technology can play a decisive role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in enclosed environments.
The final technical presentation was delivered by Sylvana Varela Ballesta, CTO of Ventilatio Lab, who explored one of XIADA’s key differentiating features: the use of advanced numerical models to better understand the behavior of air in indoor environments.
Her presentation demonstrated how Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations will be used to study the movement of air and airborne particles across different types of hospital spaces, enabling the optimization of ventilation and UV disinfection system integration. Through highly illustrative visual simulations, she explained how these tools will help determine the optimal placement of disinfection devices and support the development of future digital twins capable of assisting real-time decision-making.
The event concluded with a presentation by Juan C. Porrua Pardal, Director of the Grants Management Department at the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN), who provided an overview of the results achieved through the NEXOS programme, under which the XIADA project is being developed.
During his presentation, he highlighted the programme’s ability to foster high-impact collaborative projects, connect companies with research organizations, and accelerate the transfer of knowledge to the marketplace. He also emphasized the efforts made by management teams to streamline administrative procedures and facilitate the faster delivery of innovative initiatives to society, thereby strengthening an increasingly dynamic and competitive Galician innovation ecosystem.
The event demonstrated that XIADA goes far beyond the development of a new disinfection technology. The project represents a commitment to integrating clinical, microbiological, mathematical, technological, and industrial expertise in order to address, in a coordinated manner, one of the major public health challenges of our time: ensuring safer indoor environments against the airborne transmission of infectious diseases.
