Dr Joaquín Dopazo has been recognised by the jury of the 22nd Burdinola Research Award as deserving of this award, which in this edition sought to distinguish the most outstanding work in the field of research in ‘AI and computational biology applied to cancer research’.
Dr Dopazo is director of the Computational Medicine Platform at the Progress and Health Foundation, principal investigator at the Seville Institute of Biomedicine (IBIS), group leader at CIBERER and corresponding member of the Royal National Academy of Medicine. He has a long career spanning more than 30 years as a researcher in data science. He has held leadership positions directing computational biology departments in academic institutions (CNIO, CIPF) and companies (Glaxo Wellcome). Dr Dopazo's research has focused on the study of genomic and clinical data using systems biology and artificial intelligence. His goal is to apply the use of medical data in personalised and precision medicine. With more than 350 articles published in international journals and an h-index of 82, Dr. Dopazo has actively contributed to genomic initiatives such as the Andalusian pathogen genomic surveillance circuit (SIEGA).
Support for research
Burdinola's commitment to science has always been forged in close collaboration with research teams and with a special sensitivity towards the social environment. This vocation gave rise to the Burdinola Research Award in 1994, with the aim of recognising, valuing and stimulating the work of the scientific community.
Since then, this award has established itself as a benchmark in the Spanish scientific field, distinguishing outstanding researchers and adding names of great relevance in national scientific activity to its list of winners.
Prestigious jury
One of the distinctive features of the Burdinola Research Award has always been the high scientific calibre of its jury. In this twenty-second edition, a committee made up of seven experts evaluated the nominations submitted and, after assessing the proposed topics, agreed to award the prize to Dr. Joaquín Dopazo.
The jury for this edition was chaired by Mr. Joseba Pineda, Health Commissioner of the UPV/EHU, with the Director of the Euskoiker University-Business Foundation, Mr. Alfonso Hernández, acting as secretary. The evaluation committee had five members: Ms Ana Conesa (Research Professor at the CSIC - I2SysBio in Valencia), Mr Eduardo Andrés (Director of the Bioinformatics Unit IPBLN/CSIC. López-Neyra Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine in Granada), Mr. Javier Meana (Professor of Pharmacology at the UPV-EHU), Mr. Manel Esteller (Head of Research Group, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Badalona) and Mr Lander Ugarte (Commercial Director of Burdinola, the latter with a voice but no vote).
In its decision, during the meeting held on 19 September at our headquarters, the jury also wished to highlight the high standard of all the entries submitted in this latest edition of the Burdinola Research Award. Among the aspects that motivated the awarding of the prize, it was considered appropriate to highlight: its pioneering nature in this field, the demonstrated ability to transfer the results of its research to the healthcare system and the field of health, and the formation of a school of researchers of excellence.
The award ceremony for the 22nd Burdinola Research Prize will take place in October in Seville. Details of the event will be announced at a later date.
