Vives Network awards the Medal of Honour to Fàtima Bosch

This is the highest distinction awarded by the Vives Network's General Council, made up of the rectors of the 22 member universities, in recognition of the professional career and commitment to science, culture and society that the honorees have developed in different fields and disciplines. Since 1995, when the first medals were awarded, 36 people from very diverse fields of knowledge have received this award.

Fàtima Bosch has been a researcher and lecturer at the UAB since 1984. She pioneered research into gene therapy, always setting her sight on curing metabolic diseases. In 1990 she created the first transgenic animal laboratory in Spain, located at the UAB, which in 2003 became the Centre for Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy (CBATEG); and she has directed it ever since, with important scientific results worldwide.

The laudatory speech was given by Francesc Gòdia, lecturer of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at the UAB. Gòdia highlighted Bosch's contribution as one of the most influential researchers in gene therapy worldwide, especially in the study and treatment of diabetes. “Today, as she receives the Medal of Honour, I want to emphasise that Professor Bosch has achieved outstanding results in the many facets of academic life: education, research, technology transfer, entrepreneurship and social commitment,” he stressed. Upon receiving the award, Professor Bosch expressed her deep gratitude for this recognition, which she wanted to share with all the people and teams that have accompanied her throughout her research career.

In 1992 she co-founded the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. She was vice-president of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), president of the Spanish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and associate editor of the journal Human Gene Therapy, specialised in the field of gene therapy. She is currently a member of the gene doping expert group of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

In 2022 she was elected full member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (RACAB). She has received, among others, the King Juan Carlos I Award, the Francisco Grande Covián Award, the Narcís Monturiol Medal of the Government of Catalonia, the Creu de Sant Jordi, the Alberto Sols Award, the ICREA Acadèmia, the Jacob's Ladder Norman Saunders International Research Prize, and the UAB Social Council Transfer Award.