The Jury

In its first edition, ABARCA PRIZE has been awarded thanks to the decision of a Jury composed of members appointed by Fundación de Investigación HM Hospitales , taking into account both their experience of accredited academic and professional prestige, as well as their international relevance for their contribution to science. These members represent and are an example of the values of ABARCA PRIZE.

The jury will comprise a variety of professional profiles (scientific, clinical and other fields) and nationalities, and its members have ensured that the recipient of the prize has made a significant scientific contribution to the improvement of people’s health worldwide.

Professor
Alberto Muñoz

President of the jury

Professor Alberto Muñoz is Research Professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Madrid (IIB). He is also Doctor of Science at the Autonomous University of Madrid (1983), and he has worked at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg, 1986-1988) and at the Institute for Molecular Pathology (Genentech-Boehringer Ingelheim, Vienna, 1990-1991), where his work on erbA genes has contributed to the characterization of the c-erbA protein as the receptor for thyroid hormones.

On the doctor’s return to Madrid in 1991, he investigated the effects of thyroid hormones and the erbA genes in the brain and mammary gland at the IIB.  Since 1999 he has studied the action of vitamin D and its VDR receptor, including work on the Wnt / beta-catenin in colon cancer.

Professor Alberto Muñoz has been Coordinator of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective (1997-2000) and at the Secretary of State for Universities and Research (2001-2006) of the Ministry of Education and Science. He has worked as a member and co-ordinator in the Biology and Biomedicine Area of ​​the CSIC (2000-2008), President of the Scientific Commission of the IIB (2015-2018), and Patron of the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association against Cancer (2007-2014).

He has received a number of awards for his work on nuclear receptors and cancer. He has won the Rey Jaime I Prize for Basic Research (1993), the first Prize from the Francisco Cobos Foundation for Biomedical Research (2000), the Harington-De Visscher Prize from the European Thyroid Association (1999), and first prize from the Vilardell Gastroenterology Foundation (2006).

Professor Alberto Muñoz has written 170 articles in international journals. He has 11,500 citations and an h factor of 56.

The professor enjoys a notable scientific reputation national and internationally and his life, dedicated to research, has led to significant advancements in public health.

Doctor
Richard Horton

MEMBER OF THE JURY

Richard Horton is Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet. He qualified in physiology and medicine with honours from the University of Birmingham in 1986. He joined The Lancet in 1990, moving to New York as North American Editor in 1993. In 2016, he chaired the Expert Group for the High Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, convened by Presidents Hollande of France and Zuma of South Africa.

From 2011 to 2015, he was co-chair of the UN’s independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health. In 2011, he was elected a Foreign Associate of the US Institute of Medicine and, in 2015, he received the Friendship Award from the Government of China.

In 2019 he was awarded the WHO Director-General’s Health Leaders Award for outstanding leadership in global health and the Roux Prize in recognition of innovation in the application of global health evidence. He now works to develop the idea of planetary health – the health of human civilizations and the ecosystems on which they depend. In 2020, he published The COVID-19 Catastrophe: What’s Gone Wrong and How to Stop It Happening Again. A revised, updated, and expanded second edition was published in 2021.

From his scientific, medical and editorial knowledge, Dr Horton has acquired a position of recognized authority that has allowed him to pronounce on the issues that concern society.

Professor
Silvia Priori

MEMBER OF THE JURY

Prof. Silvia G. Priori is a cardiologist and researcher who has combined clinical practice with basic and translational research. In Italy, she works at the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Pavia and at the ICS Maugeri Hospital.

Since 2012, Prof. Priori has been the Scientific Director of the ICS Maugeri network which consists of up to 15 hospitals. She has also held various positions within scientific societies: She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Heart Rhythm Society in the United States, as a Member of the Board of the European Society of Cardiology, and as President of the European Heart Rhythm Society.

Prof. Priori has dedicated her clinical and research activities to understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to inherited arrhythmias, and, since 2013, she has focused on developing molecular therapies for these diseases. One of the greatest challenges in the field is the scarcity of experimental models to recapitulate arrhythmogenic syndromes, and an important part of the doctor’s research is directed towards changing this.

Prof. Priori’s position as a leading figure in the health sector is not only due to her outstanding research. As a woman scientist, she is a source of inspiration for next generation female doctors who might be considering specializing in areas such as cardiology.

Professor
Juan Luis Arsuaga

MEMBER OF THE JURY

Juan Luis Arsuaga is a doctor in Biological Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid. At the same university he is also a Professor of Paleontology in the Faculty of Geological Sciences.

He directs the UCM-Carlos III Health Institute Joint Center for Human Evolution and Behavior. He is also a co-director of the Sierra de Atapuerca deposits, a project which won the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research in 1997. Juan Luis Arsuaga also co-directs the excavations of the Valley of the Neanderthals (Madrid). He is a Scientific Director at the Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos as well. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and a Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Burgos, the Polytechnic of Valencia, and the University of Zaragoza.

Juan Luis Arsuaga is the sole author and collaborating author of numerous popular science books translated into many languages. These include: “The Chosen Species”, “The Neanderthal’s Necklace”, “Amalur. From the Atom to the Mind”, “Darwin’s Watch”, “The First Trip of Our Life”,”The Indelible Seal”, “Life. The Great Story”, and “Life Told by a Sapien to a Neanderthal”.

Not only his professional size, but also the passion and dedication that have marked his work, have contributed to making the dissemination of scientific discoveries accessible to the whole society.

Professor
Federico de Montalvo

MEMBER OF THE JURY

Professor Federico de Montalvo is a doctor of law and aggregate associate professor of Constitutional Law in the Faculty of Law (ICADE) at Pontificia Comillas University. From 2017 to February 2021, he was the director of the Centre for Innovation in Law (CID-ICADE) in the same faculty, where he was a member of the dean team. He is currently Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Secretary-General of the University.

Having previously held the position of vice-president from 2013 to 2018, Professor Federico de Montalvo has been President of the Bioethics Committee of Spain since 2019.

Since 2014, the professor has been a member of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) of UNESCO. He also holds the position of Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and the Royal Academy of Pharmacy in Murcia. He has been a member of the Healthcare Ethics Committee of the Twelfth of October Hospital (where he currently works as an external advisor). He has also been a member of the CEIC-R of the Community of Madrid and of the CEIC of the Hospital de la Princesa.

In addition, the professor is a member of the Board of Directors at the Ibero-American Association of Health Law, at the Spanish Association of Health Risk Management, and at the Association of Health Lawyers. Besides this, he is a member of the Spanish Association of Health Law. He is also a member and researcher at the Santander Chair in the Rights of the Child at the Pontificia Comillas University.

Professor Federico de Montalvo’s strong ethical principles have always been integral to his professional work. Alongside experts from the Ministry of Health, community stakeholders, and other external bodies that work in vaccinology, public health, and public opinion, the professor is one of the authors of Spain’s national COVID-19 vaccination strategy.