During its annual congress and coinciding with its 50th anniversary, the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) has awarded 70 grants, projects and prizes, with total funding of €1,363,000, to promote medical oncologists’ training and research and help improve the survival and quality of life of patients with cancer.
The SEOM 2026 Grants, Projects and Awards ceremony took place on Thursday, 1 October, at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, as part of the SEOM2026 Congress, which is being held in Madrid from 29 September to 2 October.
Among the 70 recipients, eleven oncologists from Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and researchers at VHIO stand out.
The grants and awards received by professionals from Vall d’Hebron and VHIO are:
Dr Eva Muñoz Couselo, Head of VHIO’s Melanoma and Skin Cancer Group — SEOM 50th Anniversary Grant for projects in healthcare innovation and oncology management, sponsored by AstraZeneca: creation of the Immediate Care Centre (CAI) to optimise urgent oncology care and integration between the hospital and Primary Care.
Dr Jaume Capdevila Castillón, Head of VHIO’s Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Endocrine Cancer Group — SEOM Grant for research projects with an impact on metastatic cancer using artificial intelligence, sponsored by Gilead: application of artificial intelligence to digital pathology to personalise systemic treatment for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Dr Rafael Morales Barrera, Senior Investigator in the Genitourinary Cancer (Non-Prostate) Group, and Dr Xavier Maldonado Pijoan, Head of the Radiation Oncology Department at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and Head of VHIO’s Radiation Oncology Group — SEOM-SEOR Grant for research projects, funded by SEOM and SEOR: study of imaging biomarkers and circulating tumour DNA in oligometastatic urothelial carcinoma treated with systemic therapy and consolidative radiotherapy.
Dr Mafalda Oliveira, Senior Investigator in VHIO’s Breast Cancer Group — SEOM Grant for research projects in triple-negative breast cancer, sponsored by Asociación Las Triples: study of the dynamics of circulating immune biomarkers in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer treated with immunotherapy.
Dr Santiago Escrivá de Romaní Muñoz, Senior Investigator in VHIO’s Breast Cancer Group — SEOM Grant for research projects in breast cancer, sponsored by Daiichi Sankyo: characterisation of the mechanisms of acquired resistance to trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-positive breast cancer and identification of new therapeutic targets.
Dr Eduardo Terán Brage, Investigator in VHIO’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Group — SEOM Grant for research projects in gastric cancer, sponsored by Rober contra el Cáncer: the INMUNOCLAUD project, focusing on the tumour microenvironment as a predictor of resistance to immunotherapy in claudin 18.2-positive gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Dr María Vieito Villar, Principal Investigator of the SEOM Social Determinants Working Group and of VHIO’s Molecular Cancer Research Therapy Unit UITM-CaixaResearch — Grant for research projects by SEOM Sections, funded by Fundación SEOM: study of the impact of social determinants, empowerment and health education on access to specialised oncology services, health behaviours and participation in prevention activities.
Dr Pau Mascaró Baselga, Resident in the Oncology Department at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital — SEOM Somos Futuro Outstanding Resident Award, sponsored by Merck.
Dr Francesc Salvà Ballabrera, Investigator in VHIO’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Group — SEOM Doctoral Thesis Award for young investigators, funded by Fundación SEOM.
Dr Nadia Saoudi González, Investigator in VHIO’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Group — SEOM Doctoral Thesis Award for young investigators, funded by Fundación SEOM.
In addition, Dr Pablo Pita López, from Santiago de Compostela University Clinical Hospital, has received a grant for a 12-month fellowship in sarcomas at VHIO.
From the first grants in 1999 to 70 grants in 2026
The coordinator of SEOM’s Grants Committee, Dr Ramon Colomer, has first-hand knowledge of the programme’s evolution, as he was part of the first generation of professionals to receive these grants in 1999: “Twenty-seven years ago, Drs Xavier Bonfill, Miguel Ángel Izquierdo, Félix Bonilla and I received some of SEOM’s first grants, and that same year the first fellowship grant was awarded to Dr Vicente Valentí. Twenty-seven years later, seeing that we are awarding 70 grants gives a sense of the extraordinary evolution of this programme and SEOM’s sustained commitment to training and research.”
In his view, that call marked the beginning of a strategic line that has grown and diversified over the years. “When we started, we could hardly have imagined the scale the programme would eventually reach. What truly matters is that the initial commitment has been sustained and that SEOM now has a system of grants capable of supporting medical oncologists throughout all the different stages of their professional development, from training and fellowships at leading centres to large-scale research projects.”
For Dr Colomer, this trajectory demonstrates that the grants have become part of SEOM’s scientific culture. “It is not only about having increased the number of grants to the current 70, but about having built, over more than two decades, an increasingly broad, competitive and diverse programme that has contributed to the development of different generations of medical oncologists.”
“Many of the professionals who received those first grants have subsequently developed distinguished careers in clinical care, research and academia. This shows that supporting talent and providing opportunities for training and research has an effect that goes far beyond the individual grant: it generates knowledge, creates collaborative networks and strengthens Spanish Medical Oncology as a whole,” he adds.
More information: https://seom.org/ultimas-noticias/211827-seom-invierte-1-363-000-en-70-becas-para-impulsar-la-formacion-y-la-investigacion-clinica-en-cancer
