The Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has announced the winners of the 2024 Ciutat de Barcelona Awards, which acknowledge excellence within various fields of culture and science. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the awards. Through these distinctions, Barcelona reaffirms its commitment to fostering creativity and research, and consolidates the Ciutat de Barcelona Awards as an essential platform for showcasing projects and initiatives that enrich the city’s cultural and scientific landscape.

This year, these awards will be presented in two separate ceremonies at the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall: on March 12 at 18.00 h for the cultural categories and on May 27 at 17.00 h for the scientific categories. This change allows for a clearer distinction between disciplines and more specific acknowledgement of professionals and groups contributing to the city’s cultural and scientific development.

With this new edition, the Ciutat de Barcelona Awards strengthen their commitment to promoting talent and innovation in the city. The jury for each category consists of highly respected experts in their respective fields, appointed by the Barcelona Council of Culture and the Scientific Advisory Council.

Winners of the 2024 Scientific Categories

Experimental Sciences and Technology

The jury, composed of Caterina Biscari (president), Martine Bosman, Teresa Puig, Carme Cascante, and Antonio Acin, has decided by majority to award the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for Experimental Sciences and Technology to José Antonio Garrido and Kostas Kostarelos for their article “Nanoporous graphene-based thin-film microelectrodes for in vivo high-resolution neural recording and stimulation.” The article presents a graphene-based technology that has enabled the integration of micro-implants in the field of neuromedicine, currently undergoing clinical analysis through the spin-off InBrain Neuroelectronics, S.L.

• Jose Antonio Garrido is an ICREA Research Professor at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and director of the Advanced Electronic Materials and Devices Group. He holds a master’s and a PhD in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and completed his habilitation at the Technical University of Munich. Since 2017, he has served as the deputy director of ICN2, contributing to its scientific and innovation strategy. His research focuses on semiconductor science and technology and its application to neurotechnology. He has coordinated numerous national and European projects, particularly in the development of a new generation of neural interfaces. Garrido is also the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a startup developing graphene-based implantable medical devices.
• Kostas Kostarelo is an ICREA Research Professor and Severo Ochoa Distinguished Professor at ICN2, where he leads the Nanomedicine Lab. He is also a professor of Nanomedicine at the University of Manchester. Trained in Chemistry at the University of Leeds, he earned a PhD in Chemical and Particle Engineering from Imperial College London. His career has focused on developing nanotechnologies applied to medicine, working in biomedical institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. Internationally recognized in the field of nanomedicine, he has contributed to the clinical translation of nanomaterials and medical devices. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Arts in the UK. In 2010, he received the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Professorial Fellowship, and in 2024, he was awarded the BRIDGE Fellowship. Additionally, he was one of the recipients of the prestigious ERC Synergy Grant this year.

The jury also awarded a special mention to Marcel Guàrdia for his article “Why are inner planets not inclined?” The study demonstrates a mathematical theorem on planetary system instability, offering a plausible explanation for the stability of our solar system.

Life Sciences

The jury, composed of Ernest Giralt (president), Miriam Royo Expósito, Roderic Guigó y Serra, Elisabeth Engel López, and Salvador Ventura, unanimously awarded the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for Life Sciences to Dr. Laura Soucek for her work “MYC targeting by OMO-103 in solid tumors: a phase 1 trial,” published in Nature Medicine. The study provides clinical trial evidence supporting MYC as a therapeutic target for treating solid tumors. The jury particularly valued Dr. Soucek’s commitment to translating her research into practical therapies for the public.

• Laura Soucek is an ICREA Research Professor and Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). A key figure in cancer research, she holds a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from La Sapienza University of Rome. She continued her career in the United States before settling in Barcelona in 2011. Currently, she leads a laboratory at VHIO and is an associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is also the CEO and co-founder of Peptomyc S.L., a company dedicated to developing new anti-tumor therapies. Internationally recognized for her work on the MYC oncogene—historically considered untouchable—Soucek has developed Omomyc, the first MYC inhibitor, which has successfully completed a Phase I clinical trial and is now in Phase Ib/II for pancreatic cancer and osteosarcoma patients. Her career has solidified her as an expert in novel therapeutic strategies for cancer, and she is an active member of scientific institutions such as ASEICA, AACR, and WICR.

Environmental and Earth Sciences

The jury, composed of Isabelle Anguelovski (president), Isabel Ruiz Mallen, Roser Maneja, Panagiota Kotsila, and André Colonese, unanimously awarded the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for Environmental and Earth Sciences to the study “2024 Europe Report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change: Unprecedented Warming Demands Unprecedented Action,” led by researchers Kim van Daalen (first author) and Rachel Lowe (research leader). The jury highlighted the study’s innovation, its broad scope, its significant scientific contribution, and its extensive international collaboration. The publication serves as a benchmark for interdisciplinary research on the health impacts of climate change, while also proposing policy changes and applied solutions for mitigation and adaptation strategies. Additionally, it considers equity, justice, and vulnerable populations, ensuring that its findings are not only scientifically rigorous but also socially relevant.

• Rachel Lowe is an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the Global Health Resilience Group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). She earned a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Exeter in 2010, focusing on the spatiotemporal modeling of dengue epidemics in Brazil. She has held postdoctoral positions at the UNESCO-IAEA International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy and the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences in Barcelona, working at the intersection of climate prediction science and public health decision-making. From 2021 to 2024, she served as the director of Lancet Countdown in Europe, a transdisciplinary collaboration monitoring progress in health and climate change. Lowe is also a member of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Weather and Climate Research Programme (WWRP).
• Kim van Daalen is an environmental epidemiologist and a researcher at the British Heart Foundation Centre at the University of Cambridge. She co-led the Lancet Countdown in Europe (2021–2024) alongside Professor Rachel Lowe and was the lead author of the first two reports from this initiative. After completing her PhD as a Gates Cambridge Fellow, she spent two years with the Global Health Resilience Group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Her research focuses on the intersection of environmental epidemiology, climate change, cardiometabolic diseases, and gender inequality. Van Daalen is committed to using scientific evidence to reduce the health impacts of environmental stressors and climate risks.

About the Ciutat de Barcelona Awards

Since 1949, the Ciutat de Barcelona Awards have been organized by the Barcelona City Council. Originally literary prizes, they have evolved to include other artistic disciplines, scientific research, and educational projects. The awards continue to acknowledge excellence and contribute to the international reputation of Barcelona’s cultural, scientific, and educational sectors.

For the full list of winners, consult the Barcelona City Council’s official press release.