PORTO, Portugal, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The second edition of the BIAL Award in Biomedicine is currently underway. Worth three hundred thousand Euros, this prize is intended to reward a work with exceptional quality results and scientific relevance published in the last ten years in the broad field of biomedicine.

The winner will be chosen by an independent and international jury of 14 members, chaired by Ralph Adolphs, Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Biology at Caltech (California Institute of Technology). The jury includes members appointed by the European Research Council, the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, the European Medical Association, the Scientific Board of the BIAL Foundation, previous winners of the BIAL Award, and editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Ralph Adolphs, President of the Jury, stated that "this Award is intended to distinguish a high-quality empirical research article in biomedicine published in a peer-reviewed journal from 2012 onwards. The Jury looks forward to receiving nominations from different groups of scientists, such as universities, societies, academies and research institutes. Nominations of works by scientists at any stage of their career and from any country will be welcome."

Candidates for this award will be nominated by members of the jury, of the Foundation's Scientific Board, previous BIAL Award recipients, and Scientific Societies. The jury may invite other institutions to submit proposals. Nominations must be made by 30 June 2021.

The first edition of this award distinguished a research led by Portuguese immunologist Caetano Reis e Sousa from the Francis Crick Institute in London in the area of tumour immunology and published in the journal Cell.

Regulation

BIAL Foundation

The BIAL Foundation was created in 1994 by BIAL in conjunction with the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities with the mission of encouraging the scientific study of human beings, both from a physical and a spiritual point of view.

Among its many activities, highlights include the attribution of prizes, namely the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica and the BIAL Award in Biomedicine. In partnership with the Portuguese Medical Association, it grants the Maria de Sousa Award.

The BIAL Foundation also promotes a programme of Financial Support for Scientific Research Projects focused on the neurophysiological and mental study of human beings. Every two years since 1996, the Foundation has organised the "Behind and Beyond the Brain" Symposium.