The ”la Caixa” Foundation awarded yesterday, October 15th, 80 grants to new biomedical and health projects led by research centres, universities and hospitals across Spain and Portugal. These scientific projects address current health challenges, ranging from the generation of scientific knowledge to the development of solutions with a social impact.

The 80 selected projects have the potential to make a positive impact on people’s health, but require sustained support to develop, demonstrate their potential and undergo testing in real-world settings. The ”la Caixa” Foundation is therefore providing them with 32.4 million euros in funding through its 2026 competitive calls for research and innovation proposals.

Can we make immune cells reach tumours more effectively? How can we deliver medicines safely across the brain’s protective barriers? Can a DNA vaccine reduce infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae? How can a functional test close a major diagnostic gap in newborn screening? How can live music improve the wellbeing of people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease? How can a digital platform support people following a suicidal crisis? These are some of the important questions that the selected projects seek to answer.

The ”la Caixa” Foundation’s research and innovation grants cover different stages of the scientific process across a range of disciplines, institutions and areas of health. The Foundation therefore offers a number of complementary calls for proposals designed to address the diverse needs of projects depending on their stage of development. This year, for the first time, funding is also being awarded to practical interventions that are already being implemented in the care of patients and communities.

 

Understanding biological mechanisms: the foundation

Now in its ninth edition, the Health Research call supports basic, clinical and translational research addressing major challenges in biomedicine and health across several fields: neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, oncology, infectious diseases and enabling technologies in any of these areas.

Researchers selected through this call often seek to understand the biological processes underlying a disease: for example, how cells behave, how the body’s different systems interact, or how genetic, environmental and other factors influence disease progression.

The 2026 call received 800 proposals, of which 32 were selected (23 from institutions in Spain and 9 from Portugal). The projects receive up to one million euros each to investigate how diseases arise and progress, as well as how interactions between biological systems influence these processes.

Taken together, the selected projects combine fundamental biology with advanced approaches in genomics, bioengineering, computational modelling and data science to generate new knowledge that could pave the way for new therapies, diagnostic methods and intervention strategies.

The call is run in collaboration with the Fundación Luzón, with which the ”la Caixa” Foundation maintains a partnership to co-fund a project on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), a public body affiliated with Portugal’s Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, which is funding 3 of the 9 Portuguese projects selected in this edition.

 

Promising innovations that need to demonstrate their potential

Since 2015, the CaixaImpulse Health Innovation call, promoted by the ”la Caixa” Foundation in collaboration with Criteria Bio Ventures, has been helping to transform scientific knowledge into products, services and companies capable of improving health. The call is currently structured into three phases, each providing different levels of training and financial support of up to 700,000 euros, depending on the projects’ needs: proof of concept; validation and prototype development; and preparation of the regulatory roadmap and financial plan.

A total of 449 projects were submitted to the 2026 call, of which 30 were selected: 24 led by Spanish institutions and 6 by Portuguese institutions. The selected projects seek to advance therapies, diagnostics, medical devices and digital health tools targeting cancer and neurological, metabolic and musculoskeletal disorders, as well as infectious diseases.

By supporting technologies such as precision medicine, gene therapy platforms, biosensors and personalised rehabilitation, the call helps bring promising innovations from the laboratory to patients.

 

Addressing new needs revealed by everyday practice

This year, the ”la Caixa” Foundation has launched the first edition of the HealthCare Research call, which aims to identify research projects that advance the design and evaluation of interventions aimed at promoting health and preventing disease.

The call focuses on the final stage of the research process: feasibility, equity and implementation in real-world healthcare settings. To translate evidence into better care, the projects combine real-world data, digital tools and participatory research. Their goal is to help health services deliver earlier, more accessible and personalised care in areas such as mental health, women’s and children’s health, chronic disease management and complex care needs.

In this first edition, the call has selected 18 projects from the 579 proposals submitted. These will conduct pilot studies, retrospective evaluations of existing health interventions, or new health interventions. Of the selected projects, 13 are being carried out at institutions in Spain and 5 at institutions in Portugal. Depending on their type, projects can receive up to 300,000 euros in funding.

 

Awarded projects

 

Health Research call

Below, we invite you to explore the projects selected under the 2026 Health Research call, organized by research area:

 

Infectious diseases: 

Understanding why tuberculosis affects people so differently around the world

• Project leader: Margarida Saraiva, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto (i3S), Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Iñaki Comas, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV); Anne O’Garra, Francis Crick Institute. 
• Funding received: 999.478 €

 

Stopping livestock parasites from damaging blood vessels and food security

• Project leader: Sara Silva Pereira, Católica Biomedical Research Centre, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisboa, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Gavin Wright, University of York, UK; Maria Rebelo, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa; Alvaro Acosta, University of Notre Dame, USA.
• Funding received: 999.999,50 €

 

Understanding how long-lasting immunity to respiratory infections develops in the lungs

• Project leader: Klaas van Gisbergen, Champalimaud Foundation – Fundação D. Anna Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud, Lisboa, Portugal
• Funding received: 499.950 €

 

Using a natural blood defence to fight deadly fungal infections

• Project leader: Coral Barbas, Fundación Universitaria San Pablo CEU, Madrid
• Project in consortium with: Johan Maertens, KU Leuven; Agostinho Carvalho, Universidade do Minho; Georgios Chamilos, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH); Victoriano Garre, Universidad de Murcia.
• Funding received: 996.078,82 €

 

Protecting children’s kidneys during severe malaria through earlier diagnostic tools

• Project leader: Miguel Soares, Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM), Lisboa, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Andrea Conroy, Trustees of Indiana University.
• Funding received: 675.112 €

 

Preventing severe pneumonia after flu by protecting natural airway defences

• Project leader: Monica Bettencourt-Dias, Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Juan Pablo Horcajada, Fundació Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona; Maria João Amorim, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
• Funding received: 999.941 €

 

Oncology:

A new way to treat aggressive blood cancer more precisely

• Project leader: Gonçalo Bernardes, Fundación del Sector Público Estatal Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III (CNIO), Madrid
• Funding received: 499.750 €

 

Understanding how our immune system gets organized against cancer

• Project leader: Ana Martínez, Asociación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biogipuzkoa, Donostia 
• Funding received: 469.600 €

 

Exploring how nerves and metabolism shape immune responses in liver cancer

• Project leader: Nabil Djouder, Fundación del Sector Público Estatal Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III (CNIO), Madrid
• Funding received: 500.000 €

 

A smart injectable gel to target remaining brain cancer cells

• Project leader: Nuno Neves, Universidade do Minho, Braga – Guimarães, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Elias El-Habr, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
• Funding received: 980.184,84 €

 

Revealing how bladder muscle helps cancer invade and spread further

• Project leader: Francisco X. Real, Fundación del Sector Público Estatal Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III (CNIO), Madrid
• Project in consortium with: Pere Roca-Cusachs, Fundació Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), Barcelona.
• Funding received: 888.950 €

 

Reducing dangerous blood clots in chronic blood disorders through targeted therapies

• Project leader: Simón Méndez, Fundación para la Gestión de la Investigación en Salud de Sevilla (FISEVI), Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS)
• Project in consortium with: Chloé James, INSERM Unité 1034 (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale), University of Bordeaux.
• Funding received: 975.575,78 €

 

Why timing matters in childhood leukemia and personalized treatment decisions

• Project leader: João Barata, Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM), Lisboa, Portugal 
• Funding received: 499.990,92 €

 

Cardiovascular and associated metabolic disease: 

Activating calorie-burning fat to address obesity and metabolic liver disease

• Project leader: Antonio Zorzano, Fundació Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)
• Project in consortium with: Juan Bautista Blanco, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Química Avanzada de Cataluña (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona; José-Manuel Fernández-Real, Institut D´Investigació Biomèdica de Girona (IDIBGI).
• Funding received: 999.111,3 €

 

Decoding portal vein thrombosis to discover new treatments

• Project leader: Virginia Hernandez-Gea, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Konstantin Stark, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Maria Bernabeu, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Barcelona. 
• Funding received: 998.363,19 €

 

Finding new ways to treat artery disease before heart attacks and strokes

• Project leader: Miguel Ángel Del Pozo, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid
• Project in consortium with: Ljubica Matic, Karolinska Institutet; Schwartz Martin, Yale University.
• Funding received: 999.828,89 €

 

Understanding early insulin changes linking obesity and type 2 diabetes

• Project leader: Marc Liesa, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC)
• Funding received: 499.622 €

 

Restoring the liver’s daily rhythms to fight age-related metabolic decline

• Project leader: Raúl Méndez, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)
• Project in consortium with: Jonel Trebicka, University of Münster; Mercedes Fernández, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS).
• Funding received: 999.190 €

 

How embryos decide left from right during early organ formation

• Project leader: Susana Lopes, CE3C – Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais; CHANGE – Instituto para as Alterações Globais e Sustentabilidade; Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa; FCiências.ID – Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências 
• Funding received: 315.616,95 €

 

Neuroscience: 

Explorar cómo una señal cerebral moldea recompensa, aversión y salud mental

• Project leader: Ana Joao Rodrigues, Universidade do Minho, Braga – Guimarães, Portugal
• Funding received: 499.950,89 €

 

Developing precision gene therapies safely for severe childhood brain disorders

• Project leader: Assumpció Bosch, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
• Project in consortium with: Jose L Lanciego, Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA), Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada (Cima) de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona; Miguel Chillon, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR); Beverly Davidson, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute; Sandra Balagué, Fundación Gen Rebelde GNB1, Barcelona; Christina Marouda, Alliance MLC.
• Funding received: 1.000.000 €

 

Training the brain to improve emotional awareness and self-regulation skills

• Project leader: David Soto, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia
• Funding received: 499.650 €

 

Towards personalised treatments for rare childhood diseases affecting cellular energy

• Project leader: Luis Carlos López, Universidad de Granada (UGR)
• Project in consortium with: Felix Distelmaier, Heinrnich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf; Oscar Yanes, Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER); Maria Careaga, Asociación de Enfermos de Patologías Mitocondriales (AEPMI), Madrid. 
• Funding received: 999.695 €

 

What fruit flies can teach us about fear and startle

• Project leader: Marta Moita, Champalimaud Foundation – Fundação D. Anna Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud, Lisboa, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: César Mendes, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
• Funding received: 997.250 €

 

Personalising advanced Parkinson’s treatment with sensors and artificial intelligence systems

• Project leader: Jorge Hernández Vara, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Alejandro Rodríguez, Consorci Sanitari de l’Alt Penedès i Garraf; Diego Santos, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica (INIBIC) – Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC); Davide Cirillo, Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS); Mayca Marín, Asociación Parkinson Madrid.
• Funding received: 957.827 €

 

Targeting early protein changes in devastating neurodegenerative diseases

• Project leader: Miguel Mompeán, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Química Física Blas Cabrera (IQF-CSIC), Madrid
• Funding received: 500.000 €

 

Enabling technologies:

Helping immune cells enter tumors and strengthen cancer immunotherapy responses

• Project leader: Álvaro Teijeira, Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA) – Cima Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
• Project in consortium with: Eduard Porta, Fundació Institut de Recerca Contra la Leucèmia Josep Carreras; Irene Hernández, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra.
• Funding received: 998.931,5 €

 

Delivering new treatments safely across the brain’s protective barriers effectively

• Project leader: Cristina Fornaguera, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Maria Jose Alonso, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela; Jordi Duran, Fundació Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), Barcelona; Katherine Donohue, Chelsea’s Hope Lafora Children Research Fund, USA.
• Funding received: 998.898,2 €

 

Tiny self-moving carriers to treat rare mucus-filled abdominal cancer more effectively

• Project leader: Samuel Sánchez, Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Jordi Martínez-Quintanilla, Fundació privada Institut d’Investigació Oncològica Vall-Hebron (VHIO), Barcelona; Pau Sebastià, Fundacio Catalunya-La Pedrera, Barcelona; Sandra Lara, Asociación Peritoneum.
• Funding received: 999.062,77 €

 

Tracking how blood stem cells remember signals across the lifespan

• Project leader: Alejo Rodríguez-Fraticelli, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)
• Funding received: 499.712,6 €

 

Using artificial intelligence to make epidemic models more realistic and fair

• Project leader: Yamir Moreno, Universidad de Zaragoza
• Project in consortium with: Joan Benach, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona; Angel Sánchez, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M).
• Funding received: 970.139 €

 

Mapping how protective genes fail and allow cancer to grow

• Project leader: Benjamin Lehner, Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Antoni Beltran, Institut de Biomedicina de València (IBV-CSIC); Solip Park, Fundación del Sector Público Estatal Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III (CNIO).
• Funding received: 999.425,77 €

 

CaixaImpulse Health Innovation call

Below, we invite you to explore the projects selected for the 2026 CaixaImpulse Health Innovation call, grouped by innovation area and in order from the earliest to the most advanced stages:

 

Therapeutics:

Innovative approach to treat Frontotemporal Dementia by eliminating pathological proteins

• Project leader: Giuseppe Battaglia, Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), Barcelona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

Novel approach to targeting and degrading oncogenic mutations for cancer treatment

• Project leader: Gonçalo Bernardes, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Madrid
• Stage 1
• Project in consortium with: Javier Bonet-Aleta, University of Cambridge; Cong Tang, Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM), Lisboa.
• Funding received: 49.000 €

 

Metabolic therapy for mitochondrial DNA maintenance disorders

• Project leader: Ramon Martí, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona
• Stage 1
• Project in consortium with: Marçal Pastor Anglada, Universitat de Barcelona.
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

A new strategy to fight treatment-resistant cancer

• Project leader: Karmele Valencia, Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA) – Cima Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 49.000 €

 

Novel therapies based on the elimination of oncogenic proteins

• Project leader: Alfonso Calvo, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

A novel Hedgehog signaling inhibitor for targeted cancer treatment

• Project leader: Josep Roma, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

Correcting functional defects in pancreatic cells to treat diabetes

• Project leader: Manuel Irimia, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

Turning the body’s attackers into guardians: ToleriGen, a precision cell therapy for multiple sclerosis

• Project leader: Federico Fondelli, Institut de Recerca Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Badalona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 49.000 €

 

Streamlined and affordable gene therapy manufacturing through advanced rAAV production platforms

• Project leader: Jose Miguel Escandell, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Oeiras, Portugal 
• Stage 2
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

Advancing Aurkine cancer therapeutics toward first-in-human clinical trials

• Project leader: Jesús Bañales, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biogipuzkoa, Donostia 
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Fernando P. Cossío, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU); Angela Lamarca, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid; Aitana Calvo, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid. 
• Funding received: 149.999 €

 

A next-generation switchable CAR-T platform for safer and more effective cancer treatment

• Project leader: Rafael Moreno, Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Barcelona
• Stage 2
• Funding received: 149.991,93 €

 

Enhancing taxol effectiveness through targeted modulation of the cancer tubulin code

• Project leader: Sonia Silva, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto (i3S), Portugal
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Maria Fernanda Martins Borges, RISE-Health da Universidade do Porto.
• Funding received: 149.992,74 €

 

Advancing protection against Klebsiella pneumoniae infections through a multiantigen DNA vaccine

• Project leader: Mireia López Siles, Universitat de Girona (UdG)
• Stage 2
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

Targeted cancer immunotherapy to boost immune responses while reducing side effects

• Project leader: Pedro Berraondo, Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA) – Cima Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
• Stage 3
• Funding received: 500.000 €

 

New molecules to combat aggressive cancers

• Project leader: Marcos Malumbres, Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), Barcelona
• Stage 3
• Funding received: 500.000 €

 

Medical devices:

Biocatalytic hubs: enabling rapid and accurate precision management of phenylketonuria (PKU)

• Project leader: Tiago Cordeiro, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA), Portugal
• Stage 1
• Project in consortium with: Ana Paula Leandro, Research Institute for Medicines, Farm-ID (Association of the Faculty of Pharmacy for Research and Development), Universidade de Lisboa. 
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

DNA-scaffolded lateral flow assays: enhancing the accuracy of strongyloidiasis serological diagnosis

• Project leader: Claudio Parolo, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona
• Stage 1
• Project in consortium with: Gabriel Ortega Quintanilla, CIC bioGUNE (Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias), Derio; Jose Muñoz Gutierrez, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal).
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

LUPIN: making brain-computer interfaces more reliable for rehabilitation and assistive care

• Project leader: Nuno Garcia, LASIGE Computer Science and Engineering Research Centre, Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), Portugal; FCiências.ID – Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 49.500 €

 

Chondrogel: rapid-recovery cartilage repair for improved joint health and mobility

• Project leader: Nuria Oliva, IQS School of Engineering de la Universitat Ramon Llull (IQS-URL), Barcelona
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

Low intensity focused ultrasound device to help spinal cord repair without surgery

• Project leader: Pablo Villoslada, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB), Barcelona
• Stage 2 
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

FLASH-CARE: Improving safety and reliability in advanced cancer treatment

• Project leader: Faustino Gómez, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Sophie Heinrich, Institut Curie, Paris; Consuelo Guardiola, Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona – Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IMB-CNM-CSIC).
• Funding received: 149.967 €

 

Next-generation implants for osteoarthritis and joint damage

• Project leader: Miguel Gama, Universidade do Minho, Braga – Guimarães, Portugal
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Alexandre Carvalho, University of Aveiro; Silvia Ferreira, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto (i3S); José Eduardo Pereira, Universidad de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD). 
• Funding received: 149.999,85 €

 

Personalized 3D approach to prevent diabetic foot ulcers

• Project leader: Raquel Leirós, Universidad de León
• Stage 3
• Project in consortium with: Jesús Manuel Rodríguez Rego, Universidad de Extremadura (UEx); Mª Elena Arce Fariña, Universidade da Coruña; Rosa Devesa Rey, Centro Universitario de la Defensa en la Escuela Naval Militar (CUD-ENM) de la Universidad de Vigo. 
• Funding received: 23.250 €

 

Diagnostics:

Advancing newborn screening for rare metabolic disorders: innovative diagnostics for CACT deficiency

• Project leader: Jose Luis Chiara, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Química Orgánica General (IQOG-CSIC), Madrid
• Stage 1
• Project in consortium with: Maria D. Chiara, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias de la Fundación para la Investigación y la Innovación Biosanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA-FINBA); Virginia Martínez Martínez, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU). 
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

Toward sersonalized treatments for patients with metastatic cancer through a new classification approach

• Project leader: Manuel Valiente, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Madrid
• Stage 2
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

High-sensitivity liquid biopsy for detecting homologous recombination deficiency in cancer

• Project leader: Ana Vivancos, Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), Barcelona
• Stage 2
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

Innovative approach for non-invasive bladder cancer detection and monitoring

• Project leader: Raphaël Canadas, RISE-Health, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Hélder Oliveira, Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC), Oporto. 
• Funding received: 149.982,66 €

 

Innovative blood-based screening for early cancer detection

• Project leader: Oscar Pozo, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB), Barcelona
• Stage 2
• Project in consortium with: Adelaida Garcia Velasco, Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica De Girona (IDIBGI).
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

Microbiome-derived metabolites for early detection of anal precancer

• Project leader: Sergio Serrano-Villar, Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (FIBioHRC), Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid
• Stage 3
• Funding received: 438.000 €

 

Digital health:

NEWTON Biotwins: using digital twins to make cell analysis faster, smarter, and more reliable

• Project leader: Ángel Goñi, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC), Madrid
• Stage 1
• Funding received: 50.000 €

 

HealthCare Research call

Below, we invite you to explore the projects selected under the 2026 HealthCare Research call, organized by project type:

 

New interventions: 

Nature-based support for mothers during the first year postpartum

• Project leader: Celia Santos Tapia, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal)
• Project in consortium with: Elena Codina Sampera, Fundació Privada per a la Recerca i la Docència Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona; Sharon Santos Segura, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona.
• Funding received: 300.000 €

 

Recognising work-related cancers earlier within routine oncology care in Spain

• Project leader: Laura Mezquita, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal)
• Project in consortium with: Michelle Turner, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal); Martin Krallinger, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). 
• Funding received: 299.998,3 €

 

Using digital exercise support to improve bone marrow transplant recovery outcomes safely

• Project leader: Maria Queralt Salas Gay, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Mónica Baile González, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca; María Aránzazu Bermúdez Rodríguez, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla; Andrés Sánchez Salinas, Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Fundación para la Formación e Investigación Sanitarias (FFIS), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria (IMIB), Murcia. 
• Funding received: 263.395,6 €

 

Targeting the roots of mental disorders by transforming everyday interactions in childhood

• Project leader: Sergi Ballespí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
• Funding received: 249.124 €

 

Making cervical cancer screening more precise after positive test results

• Project leader: Laia Bruni, Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Institut Català d’Oncologia (ICO), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Silvia de Sanjosé, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal); Clara Grau Bravo, Institut Català de la Salut (ICS), Institut d’Investigació en Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona.
• Funding receiveda: 299.988,14 €

 

Pilot studies: 

Reducing parental distress to improve children’s type 1 diabetes care

• Project leader: Tânia Brandão, William James Center for Research, Lisboa, Portugal
• Funding received: 76.583 €

 

Digital safety planning to support people after a suicidal crisis

• Project leader: Matilde Elices, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB), Barcelona
• Funding received: 76.500 €

 

Improving the hand hygiene technique of families in neonatal intensive care units

• Project leader: Anna Bordas Sánchez, Unitat de Suport a la Recerca Camp de Tarragona; Institut d’Investigació en Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona; Institut Català de la Salut (ICS), Tarragona
• Project in consortium with: Andreu Colom Cadena, Centre d’Estudis Epidemiològics sobre les Infeccions de Transmissió Sexual i Sida de Catalunya (CEEISCAT), Institut de Recerca Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Badalona; Graciano García Pardo, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Catalunya Sud (IRB CatSud), Tarragona.
• Funding received: 79.043 €

 

Reducing mental health stigma in primary care teams

• Project leader: Laia Gené Huguet, Gerència d’Atenció Primària i Comunitària del Camp de Tarragona; Institut Català de la Salut (ICS); Unitat de Suport a la Recerca Camp de Tarragona; Institut d’Investigació en Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Miquel Juncosa Román, Obertament, Barcelona.
• Funding received: 80.000 €

 

Walking while learning to make brain health assessments more reliable

• Project leader: Tatiana Silva, Champalimaud Foundation – Fundação D. Anna Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud, Lisboa, Portugal
• Funding received: 80.000 €

 

Helping people make informed choices about cancer screening programmes digitally

• Project leader: Federico Guede, Value for Health CoLAB (VOH.CoLAB), Lisboa, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Bruno Heleno, NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa; Ana Rita Jesus Maria, Unidade Local de Saúde de Lisboa Ocidental.
• Funding received: 79.200,77 €

 

Using music to engage people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease gently

• Project leader: Guglielmo Foffani, Fundación Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Neurológicas (CIEN), Centro Alzheimer Fundación Reina Sofía, Madrid
• Funding received: 80.000 €

 

Simple home exercises for resistant hypertension and sleep apnea care

• Project leader: Fernando Ribeiro, Universidade de Aveiro (UA), Portugal
• Funding received: 80.000 €

 

Retrospective evaluations:

Restoring oral function for patients with severe jaw bone loss

• Project leader: Federico Hernández Alfaro, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC Barcelona)
• Funding received: 128.712,1 €

 

Building fairer evidence on psychiatric medicines for underrepresented patient groups

• Project leader: Enrique Baca Garcia, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid
• Funding received: 150.000 €

 

Measuring long-term real-world benefits of Catalonia’s colorectal cancer screening programme

• Project leader: Xavier Castells Oliveres, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB), Barcelona
• Project in consortium with: Antoni Castells Garangou, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS).
• Funding received: 148.852 €

 

Evaluating cardiology day hospital care to improve cardiovascular outcomes efficiently

• Project leader: Ricardo Fontes Carvalho, RISE-Health, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto; Unidade Local de Saúde Gaia e Espinho, Portugal
• Project in consortium with: Pedro Gonçalves Teixeira, Unidade Local de Saúde de Gaia e Espinho, Portugal; Sara Machado, Center for Health System Sustainability (CHeSS), Brown University School of Public Health, USA. 
• Funding received: 147.333,01 €

 

Improving chronic wound care through specialised nursing teams providing advanced practice in primary care

• Project leader: Miguel Angel Díaz Herrera, Gerència d’Atenció Primària i Comunitària del Baix Llobregat, Delta i Penedès; Institut Català de la Salut (ICS); Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona
• Funding received: 145.200 €