Funding of a medical research institute in a small country: 15 years of Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP)--interview conducted by Ivan Damjanov.

This is an interview with Prof Manuel Sobrinho-Simoes, the Director of the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal. The interview was prepared for this Pathology thematic issue, by Prof Ivan Damjanov, from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas, USA. The interview deals with the funding and the growth of IPATIMUP, which became, within 15 years from its inception, one of the leading biomedical research institutions of Portugal. The interview touches upon the logistical, political, financial, and personnel-related problems they encountered during these 15 years. It illustrates some of the dilemmas and questions faced by scientists in Porto, which are also relevant to scientists in other small countries.