National Research Award for Luis Serrano, entrepreneur and pioneer in protein design

BarcelonaThe biochemist and ICREA professor Luis Serrano (Madrid, 1959), at the head of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) since 2011Núria Montserrat, winner of the 2025 National Research Prize, has been awarded the €40,000 prize by the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI). Serrano, currently leader of the Synthetic Biology group at the CRG, is recognized as a "world leader" in systems biology and protein design. The 36th edition of this award recognizes Serrano's significant international contributions to the field of protein design. With doctorates in biochemistry from the Autonomous University of Madrid and in cell biology from the same university and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, his leadership and discoveries have deciphered the rules governing how proteins fold—an essential component of any biological process—and how networks are organized. In a statement, the Government highlights that Serrano's findings have bridged the gap between molecular biology and engineering, "opening new avenues for drug development, protein design, and synthetic biology." In fact, the researcher has combined theory and experimentation to study and better understand how cells process information and comprehend signal transduction—how a cell receives a signal and transforms it into a response—and gene regulation—what genes are activated, when, and in what quantity. Thus, he has revealed how thermodynamic principles explain the way proteins fold and how genetic networks function stably. The Generalitat also emphasizes that Serrano has created computational methods that are now international standards in molecular design. In this area, it highlights the creation of the predictive software FoldX, used worldwide by researchers and pharmaceutical companies to model mutations, design enzymes, and accelerate drug development, "a clear example of how basic science can have a broad social impact." In this regard, the executive asserts that Serrano has demonstrated "a pioneering ability" to connect basic research and technological advancement and transform them into technology transfer, "co-founding different start-ups biomedical with international reach."

Two young researchers

The Government and the FCRI have also awarded ex aequo Nadejda Blagorodnova Mujortova, a researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and associate professor at the UB, and Katherine Villa Gómez, ICREA research professor and group leader at the Catalan Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ), have been awarded the prize in the young talent category. The scientists will share the €15,000 prize equally. Nadejda Blagorodnova Mujortova, with her research group Common Envelope Transients - Progenitors, Precursors, and Properties of their Outbursts (CET-3PO), funded by a European Research Council grant, studies the fusion and interaction of stars. For her research, she has used telescopes around the world and space telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope. Katherine Villa Gómez specializes in photocatalysis and nanomaterials for environmental applications. In fact, he has designed a series of light-sensitive micromotors and advanced 3D-printed photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation and the use of solar fuels, including a patented micromotor-based system for water purification.

Fundraising for CAR-T

Regarding the categories of knowledge transfer, dissemination, and patronage, Councilor Montserrat announced that the Eurecat Foundation has been awarded the National Prize for Knowledge Transfer and Innovation, worth €10,000, for its sustained work during its first decade of operation to improve business competitiveness and social welfare. Chemist, biochemist, and science communicator Pere Estupinyà Giné has been awarded the Joan Guinovart i Cereza National Prize for Science Communication (renamed in honor of the recently deceased Catalan biochemist and science communicator of the same name). The €10,000 prize recognizes Estupinyà's 24-year career in science journalism in Catalonia and internationally, across a wide range of media and formats.

This year, the National Award for Patronage and Public-Private Scientific Collaboration recognized the ARI project (Assistance and Research in Immunotherapy), promoted by the Barcelona Clinical Research Foundation and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBA). The initiative has secured over €7.6 million in funding to combat cancer with advanced therapies, developing its own CAR-T therapy for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who previously lacked treatment options.

Finally, the University of Lleida (UdL) and the University of Sherbrooke (Canada) received the National Award for the creation of a science-based company for lspin-off Universal Smart Cooling SL (UniSCool), founded in 2022, has developed its own direct-on-chip liquid cooling technology for large data centers. The core of this initiative is that it reduces cooling consumption by up to 70% and the overall energy consumption of servers in these large facilities by 30%.