Chosen from over 200 applicants across Europe and associated countries, Veiga-Fernandes was one of just 32 scientists ultimately appointed as ERC Ambassadors. The final selection aimed to balance gender, seniority, and the representation of both current ERC grant holders and different countries. The 32 ambassadors represent 21 EU Member States and four Associated Countries – Israel, Norway, Turkey, and the United Kingdom – plus Switzerland.

The conference Moving Beyond, which took place at the Champalimaud Foundation on April 3 and 4, 2025, was organised to gather world scientific leaders in the field of “exercise oncology”.

During the two-day conference, we interviewed a series of invited speakers on the benefits of physical activity for cancer prevention and treatment and asked speakers to share some of the key scientific advances in exercise oncology.

Watch the video and hear what they had to say — we hope you enjoy it!

At the Champalimaud Colorectal Cancer Conference, last February, Gina Brown, from the Imperial College London, questioned the validity of the current staging strategy for colon cancer. Indeed, research shows that lymph nodes are not the main culprit in colon cancer spread, and can actually be a sign that the patient’s immune system is fighting back. 

Coordinated by Professor Ana Santos Almeida, principal investigator of a translational laboratory at the GIMM Foundation - Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM-CARE), this study will take place at the Champalimaud Foundation, in collaboration with Dr. José Azevedo, surgeon of the Colorectal Cancer Group of the Digestive Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Center, and at the Hospital de Santa Maria, with the participation of oncologists Professor Luís Costa and Dr. André Mansinho.