The Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) is launching VHIODivulga, a different, more accessible and engaging way of communicating the science carried out at the centre, bringing coherence and continuity to more than a decade of science outreach activities aimed at patients, the education community, professionals and the wider public.
Throughout VHIO’s 20-year history, the centre has worked to transform scientific advances into new opportunities for people with cancer. This mission goes hand in hand with an equally important commitment: to bring scientific knowledge closer to society and create opportunities for exchange and dialogue between research, patients and the public.
With this aim, VHIODivulga brings together the centre’s different outreach initiatives under its own visual identity and dedicated platform, www.vhiodivulga.org, including educational programmes, talks, workshops, podcasts and digital resources. Its goal is to make cancer research content easier to access — from news to outreach initiatives — while continuing to foster dialogue and participation.
More than a decade of science outreach
Since 2013, more than 10,100 people have taken part in VHIO outreach activities. Some of the longest-running initiatives include Escola i Ciència, the Workshops for Breast Cancer Patients and VHIO Talks, among many others.
One example of the impact of VHIO’s outreach activities in recent years is VHIO Talks, launched in 2023, which have attracted more than 2,000 attendees and become an established space for dialogue between VHIO professionals, patients and the public.
Education is also a key pillar of VHIODivulga. Since it began in 2017, Escola i Ciència has enabled nearly 2,700 children and young people to visit VHIO and discover first-hand how cancer research is carried out. This is complemented by VHIO4STEM, a mentoring programme for students in the fourth year of compulsory secondary education (4th ESO), designed to inspire an interest in scientific careers, which will celebrate its fourth edition this year.
The VHIO Open Day, held since 2023, has welcomed more than 820 people, including children, young people and adults, who have had the opportunity to visit the centre, take part in workshops and speak directly with its professionals.
These are just some of the figures that reflect the strong public interest in cancer research and reinforce the need for a project such as VHIODivulga, capable of bringing together, connecting and extending the reach of all these outreach activities.
An engaged community
Behind all these initiatives is strong internal involvement: more than 240 professionals from different areas of VHIO, as well as Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, have taken part in outreach activities since 2020, helping to communicate research in a rigorous, accessible and engaging way.
Social media further amplifies this impact. Between 2020 and August 2026, VHIO’s science outreach content generated more than 3.1 million impressions and over 100,000 interactions, helping to take scientific knowledge beyond face-to-face activities.
VHIODivulga has been created to build on and strengthen this approach to science communication: one that is open to diverse audiences, creates opportunities for dialogue and participation, and works to make cancer research increasingly accessible, understandable and closer to society.
