Julio Celis awarded Chilean National Science Prize 2026#

Julio Celis Allende MAE, Professor of Medical Biochemistry at Aarhus University, Denmark, was awarded the Chilean National Science Prize 2026 in recognition of his contributions to cancer research and "his contribution to the development of proteomics." Professor Celis is a long-standing member of Academia Europaea, elected to the Cell and Developmental Biology Section in 1993.

About Julio Celis Allende#

Julio Celis Allende is a Chilean biochemist with a distinguished international academic and scientific career. Prof. Celis was Director of the Institute of Cancer Biology at the Danish Cancer Society until the end of 2011. He is currently Associate Scientific Director of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center. Professor Celis is generally recognized as one of the founding fathers of proteomics. Julio Celis' group in Aarhus introduced the use of protein identification techniques to map HeLa cell proteins and developed the first protein database in 1981. In the early 1980s, the group also laid out the foundations for proteomics by annotating the databases with information gathered from applications to problems in cell biology, in particular cell proliferation and transformation. Together with J. Vandekerckhove he later introduced the use of large scale protein identification using microsequencing. Celis' group in Copenhagen has pioneered the use of proteomics to the analysis of bladder and breast cancer and introduced the concept of discovery-driven translational cancer research.

Julio Celis is currently Chairman, Policy Committee of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO), President of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), member of the board of the Organisation of European Cancer Institute’s (OECI), Member of the FP7 Advisory Group of Health Research and Vice-President of the European Alliance for Biomedical Research.

Beyond research and teaching, Celis played an important role in European science policy. As Secretary General of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) from 1999 - 2007, he promoted equal opportunities in education and research funding and contributed to initiatives such as the European Research Council.

He was also heavily involved in European cancer research policy, particularly efforts to connect cancer research, education, prevention, and patient care. He chaired the Scientific Policy Committee of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) and helped advance collaboration among European cancer centers.

Academia Europaea congratulates Prof. Celis to this distinction!#