Champalimaud Foundation

The D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud and Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud Foundation was established by António de Sommer Champalimaud in his will, as a private legal entity of public utility governed by the statutes published in the Diário da República on January 21, 2005, and Portuguese law.

The Champalimaud Foundation conducts pioneering research and prioritizes stimulating discoveries that benefit people, as well as sponsoring new standards of knowledge.

It is at the Champalimaud Centre in Lisbon where it carries out its activities in the fields of neuroscience and cancer through research programs and the provision of excellent clinical services, while also conducting an external program to fight blindness.

To achieve its objectives of achieving significant scientific advancements, the Champalimaud Foundation adopts a translational methodology, which establishes a direct and interdependent link between basic research and clinical activity. This is one of its core principles of operation and serves as the foundation for its differentiation.

Ultimately, its aim is to promote the health and well-being of humanity, actively seeking solutions to alleviate the burden of disease on societies and individuals.

The Champalimaud Foundation (CF) is a private non-profit organization, founded in 2005 and dedicated to developing advanced biomedical research programs and providing interdisciplinary clinical care. Through its work, the Foundation aims to be a global leader in scientific and technological innovation with the ultimate goal of preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease, guided by a constant attitude of challenge and contributing to a society more aware of the health issues affecting humanity.

Champalimaud Centre (CCU)

Completed in 2010, the Champalimaud Centre (CCU) is a cutting-edge facility dedicated to both basic and translational research, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, ranging from neurological disorders to cancer. Comprised of the Champalimaud Clinical Centre (CCC) and Champalimaud Research (CR), with its three research programs – the Champalimaud Neuroscience Program (CNP), the Physiology and Cancer Program (PCP), and the Experimental Clinical Research Program (ECR) – the Champalimaud Foundation creates a unique environment for groundbreaking research aimed at uncovering new knowledge and developing scientific solutions to medical challenges.

The multidisciplinary teams at the Champalimaud Clinical Centre (CCC) focus their efforts on maintaining a highly personalized medicine approach, centered on patients and multidisciplinary in nature, adhering to standards of excellence and always with a perspective that integrates scientific research and the rapid transfer of innovations and advancements to clinical practice. It is also a constant concern to respect ethical and deontological principles, good medical practices, and the promotion of the well-being and quality of life of those seeking assistance in times of illness. With the progressive increase in clinical activity, work streams within research groups have been consolidated, demonstrating strong interaction with the clinical teams' areas of interest, specifically in the domains of ontogeny and biopathology of neoplastic transformation and metastasis, cancer immunophysiology, and therapeutic responses to diverse modalities of immunotherapy.

The CCC employs over 600 professionals, including 138 physicians, organized into seven multidisciplinary pathology units. Their main goal is to apply all available knowledge and techniques to practice personalized, outcome-oriented medicine for various tumor types, including breast, digestive, gynecological, hemato-oncological, lung, genitourinary, and skin cancers. Risk assessment, early diagnosis of diseases, and personalized therapies are the primary concerns of all multidisciplinary units to achieve higher levels of efficacy in disease control, patient survival, and quality of life. Whenever possible, the CCC medical staff offers patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials or experimental research programs focused on creating innovative solutions for diagnosis and treatment, facilitated by the Clinical Research Unit within the CCC. Clinical trials are primarily focused on cancer (including breast cancer, gynecological, lung, prostate, and kidney cancers, digestive cancers, and hemato-oncology) and neuropsychiatry. These areas also include studies focusing on radiotherapy, radiology, and nuclear medicine approaches. With the expansion of clinical activity and dedicated research projects on pancreatic cancer, driven by the inauguration of the Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre, a significant increase in clinical studies aimed at understanding and treating this type of cancer is expected in the near future.

The team at the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) includes eleven coordinators, under whom, in 2020, various clinical trials remained active, alongside collaborations in observational studies that had been underway in previous years, as well as others launched in 2020. The number of pharmacological clinical trials developed across different areas of oncological pathology was 37, while observational clinical studies totaled 43. The total number of patients recruited for ongoing clinical trials was 348, of whom 24 were undergoing active treatment. Observational studies involved a cohort of 1,865 patients.

The CCC also features an International Patient Office, established in 2016 to support foreign patients who seek services at the Champalimaud Foundation. To date, it has served over 400 patients from 38 countries.