Francesc Xavier Bosch, Head of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), was granted the Carlos IV Research Award in Preventative Medicine and Public Health awarded on 18 November by The Royal National Academy of Medicine for his contribution to research in this area of health. This award was presented in Madrid by the Spanish Royal House.

Dr. F. Xavier Bosch has also been recognized with the XX FCRI Award from the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation for his international contributions in the field of public health regarding primary prevention of cancer, particularly for his epidemiological research on cancers associated with infectious agents. The award was presented last November 3 by the Minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, Josep Huguet.

Since 1990, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation has annually granted this award, worth 40,000 euros to outstanding researchers who have made a significant contribution to the development of science and technology in Catalonia.

The Official Medical College of Barcelona was another prestigious entity in rewarding the work of Dr. Bosch with the Professional Excellence Award. The award ceremony took place on October 26 at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona and was attended by the Minister of Health, Marina Geli.

Francesc Xavier Bosch (Barcelona, 1947) is a medical doctor from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Master in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Apart from heading the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program at the ICO, since 2006 he is the general director of the WHO/ICO Information Centre on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Cervical Cancer. He is an active member in the virus and cancer research international arena and his research has been instrumental in demonstrating the relationship between HPV and genital cancer and also to prevent liver cancer using vaccines against Hepatitis B in rural Africa.