The Roche Institute Foundation has highlighted the “pioneering vision” of the institutions behind the Master’s programme in identifying the need for specialised professionals in bioinformatics to support the development of precision and personalised medicine.
Pedro García, Ana Vargas, Clara Gordillo and Raúl Viedma have been awarded scholarships through the eighth call for applications to undertake the Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics and Data Science in Precision Personalised Medicine and Healthcare during the 2026–2027 academic year. The programme is offered by the National School of Public Health of the Carlos III Health Institute.
The Master’s programme aims to bridge scientific knowledge and the development of technological tools to address challenges in biomedical and clinical research.
The Roche Institute Foundation has recognised the Master’s Programme in Bioinformatics and Data Science in Precision Personalised Medicine and Healthcare on the occasion of its tenth edition, highlighting its commitment to training healthcare professionals in data science. The award recognises the pioneering vision of the institutions behind the programme.
“With this recognition, the Foundation reaffirms its commitment to training healthcare professionals in these emerging fields, which are becoming essential to medicine today and, especially, to the medicine of tomorrow,” says Consuelo Martín de Dios, managing director of the Roche Institute Foundation.
The Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics and Data Science is jointly organised by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), and the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBiot).
The Roche Institute Foundation is offering four scholarships for the Master’s programme. Accredited by the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), the programme has been a pioneer in Spain and has trained more than 180 specialists.
Bioinformatics as an essential discipline for precision medicine
Fátima Al-Shahrour, co-director of the Master’s programme and head of the Bioinformatics Unit at the CNIO, emphasised that the programme was a pioneer in recognising that the data revolution would radically transform biology and medicine, creating demand for professional profiles that did not yet exist. The key, she said, was to present bioinformatics not as an isolated technical specialisation, but as a scientific discipline capable of addressing real biomedical challenges.
“Rather than anticipating a specific technology, the Master’s programme anticipated a real emerging need: to train professionals capable of working at the intersection of biology, medicine, and computing. And this approach, which in 2017 might still have seemed highly specialised, is now fundamental to addressing an increasingly personalised, predictive, and data-driven approach to medicine,” Al-Shahrour said.
A programme tailored to the needs of the medicine of the future is also translating into strong employability for its scholarship recipients and graduates. According to Alfonso Valencia, co-director of the Master’s programme, ICREA Research Professor, and director of the Life Sciences Department at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), the programme has successfully incorporated artificial intelligence, machine learning, the integration of clinical and biomedical data, and advances in data management.
“Data management is becoming the foundation of computational developments in biomedicine, and the professionals we train are increasingly needed and in demand,” Valencia said.
Iñaki Imaz Iglesia, director of the National School of Public Health (ENS) at the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), noted that “for more than 100 years, the ENS has been developing training programmes in public health, maintaining its innovative spirit while preserving programmes with a solid foundation. This Master’s programme is a benchmark for innovation, applicability, and rigour, connecting us with the best of science and technology.”
María José Hernáiz Gómez-Dégano, president of the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBiot), said that “data science is key to the development of new therapeutic approaches and precision personalised medicine, but also to the advancement of biotechnology, enabling its full potential to be harnessed in areas such as health, agriculture, and environmental sustainability.”
“That is why we committed to the Master’s programme from its first edition and will continue to support this key initiative for training the professionals who are essential to the advancement of science,” she added.
The Foundation has announced the winners of the eighth call for training grants in data science for precision personalised medicine:
- Ana Vargas, data analyst;
- Clara Gordillo, predoctoral researcher at the Sols-Morreale Biomedical Research Institute (IIBM);
- Pedro García, postdoctoral researcher in the Brain Metastasis Group at the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO); and
- Raúl Viedma, biology graduate with a Master’s degree in microbiology.
