The Bial Award in Biomedicine was created in 2018 to extend the scope of the Bial Foundation’s activity and to recognise the most remarkable and relevant discoveries in that field. This new award, which is worth 350 thousand Euro, aims to recognise a work of a broad biomedical nature with exceptional quality and scientific relevance results published within the last ten years.
Nominations are submitted by Scientific Societies, Heads of Medical Schools, Heads of Biomedical Research Institutes, Heads of prestigious Academies, Members of the Jury, Members of the Scientific Board of the Bial Foundation, and previous winners of the Bial Award.
The Bial Award in Biomedicine has the patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic, the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities and the European Medical Association.
The awarding of the Bial Award in Biomedicine alternates each year with the Prémio Bial de Medicina Clínica, which maintains its purpose of distinguishing an original work of a medical nature directed to clinical practice.
Award Ceremony
The Bial Award in Biomedicine 2025 ceremony took place on February 24 at the Abel Salazar Building of the Universidade do Porto, and was attended by the Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, on behalf of the Prime Minister.
The winning work, entitled “Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1–based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors”, was published in Science in January 2018 and documents one of the most significant recent advances in cancer treatment, revealing that the gut microbiome has a decisive impact on the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
The study was led by the research duo Laurence Zitvogel and Guido Kroemer, internationally renowned French academics, and involved a team of more 46 international scientists.
Watch the ceremony by clicking on the video window beside this text. Photos from the ceremony and more information about the winning work are available here.
Next Edition - 2027
The Bial Award in Biomedicine aims to recognise a work of a broad biomedical nature with exceptional quality and scientific relevance results published within the last ten years.
Bial Award in Biomedicine | €350.000
Jury
President
Ralph Adolphs
Members
European Research Council
Sarah Bray
Nektarios Tavernarakis
Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities
Helena Canhão*
Fátima Carneiro
European Medical Association
Simon Taylor-Robinson
Guglielmo Trovato
Scientific Board of the Bial Foundation
Hugo Critchley
Menno Witter
Previous winners of the Bial Award
Daniel Pipeleers
Peter St. George-Hyslop
Scientific Journals
Kamran Abbasi - BMJ
Eric Rubin - NEJM
*Prof. Helena Canhão is no longer a member of the Jury, as she was appointed Secretary of State for Science and Innovation of Portugal on 2025.06.06.