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The jury, presided over by Doctor Carlos López-Otín from the University of Oviedo, met yesterday at Torre Banc Sabadell in Barcelona to decide on the winner. Dr. López-Otín wanted to emphasise that the Award is “the most important in Spain and among the top international awards, both for the economic prize and for the personal acknowledgment of the researcher, a highly prized recognition”.

Since 2013, Dr. Salvador Aznar has been the chief researcher of the “Stems Cells and Cancer” Biomedical Research Institute, IRB Barcelona. His research focuses on identifying the molecular mechanisms which enable correct functioning of adult stem cells and how this influences the appearance of tumours, studying how human tissue regenerates, why it ages and why tumours develop over time, mainly in the skin and oral mucous, which represent the second and fifth most common type of cancer in industrialised societies.

The research is a beneficiary of the competitive projects of the European Research Council (ERC) and the International Association for Cancer Research (IACR). Over recent years he has published 21 articles, 13 as the chief author, in journals such as Nature and Cell Stem Cell.

Holding a degree in biochemistry from McGillUniversity in Montreal, he obtained his doctorate at the Institute of Biomedical Research of the Autonomous University of Madrid. Following a four-year period as postdoctoral researcher at the London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, in 2006 he joined the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and since September 2013 in the IRB. According to Dr. Aznar, “Over the past decade Barcelona has become a worldwide benchmark in basic and clinical biomedical research”.

Award ceremony on 1 July in Barcelona

The award ceremony will take place in Barcelona next 1 July in the Modernist Hospital de Sant Pau complex with the attendance of representatives of the scientific community. The event will be attended by the winner, the winners of previous prizes, the members of the jury, institutional representatives, research centres and universities from across Spain, investors interested in research projects and the media.

Banco Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research

The Banco Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research grows each year and is consolidating its national and international recognition. This ninth edition has broken its record of participants with 65 candidates for the award.

The aim of the Banco Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research is to reward the career of a young scientist forging his career in Spain and who has a major future potential. Funded with 50,000 euros, it is acknowledged in academic circles as one of the most important awards granted in Spain in such a strategic sector as the health sciences.

The jury of this award comprises eleven prestigious researchers:

• Dr. López-Otín, president of the jury and Research professor of the CSIC
•  Dr. Pedro L. Alonso Fernández, Director of the Global Health Institute of Barcelona (ISGlobal) who joined the jury this year,
• Dr. Eduard Batlle, chief researcher of the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IRB);
• Dr. Jordi Camí, director of the Biomedical Research Complex of Barcelona (PRBB);
•  Dr. Francisco Fernández Avilés, head of Cardiology at the Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid;
• Dr. Ramon Gomis de Barbarà, director of the Biomedical Research Institute August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS);
• Dr. Isabel Illa Sendra, Head of the Neurology Service Unit of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona;
• Dr. José López Barneo, Director of the Biomedicine Institute of Seville (IBIS-CSIC);
• Dr. Óscar Marín, Research Professor of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) of the Neuroscience Institute - CSIC and MiguelHernándezUniversity (Alicante)
• Dr. Alberto Muñoz Terol, research professor at the Biomedical Research Institute Alberto Sols in Madrid;
• Dr. Elena Sancho, researcher of the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IRB);

Previous winners
2013: Dr. Almudena Rodríguez Ramiro, for her contributions to molecular and cellular immunology.  

2012: Dr. Ben Lehner, for his work on genetic mutations and their impact on illnesses such as cancer.

2011: Dr. Óscar Fernández-Capetillo, for his contribution to ascertaining the origin of cancer and especially the mechanisms of damaging DNA.

2010: Dr. Eduard Batlle, for his work on colon cancer.

2009: Dr. Joan Seoane, for his work in the field of oncology.

2008: Dr. Oscar Marín Parra, for his work on the origin of mental illness in the formation of the human brain.

2007: Dr. Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, for his numerous works on the biological origin of schizophrenia.  

2006: Dr. Manuel Serrano, for his contributions to the field of tumour suppression.