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!

This recognition affirms the dedication and collaborative effort of countless individuals over the years in building the diverse and sophisticated infrastructure necessary to support a world-class, cutting-edge biomedical research centre.

A New Player in Pancreatic Cancer

The team found that some pancreatic cancer cells gain a major survival edge by carrying copies of critical cancer genes—such as MYC—on circular pieces of DNA that exist outside chromosomes, the structures that house most of our genetic material. Known as ecDNA, these genetic rings float freely in the cell nucleus, enabling tumour cells to swiftly ramp up gene expression, change their shape, and survive in otherwise hostile environments.

Developed by an international consortium of 117 experts in legal, ethical, clinical, and AI domains—and featuring Champalimaud Foundation (CF) Principal Investigator Nikolas Papanikolaou—the framework provides a detailed roadmap for creating trustworthy medical AI, from the earliest design stages all the way through clinical deployment and monitoring.

It all began with a little theatre play.

Three women working in  neuroscience walk into the stage. They have to decide what will be the topic of the next Ar Event. After some discussion, they settle on the theatre. How does neuroscience explain what happens when people watch actors perform?, they want to know. So they put their white labcoats on to better think scientifically. 

Each year, the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, honours exceptional research contributions that enhance our understanding of obesity, its causes, complications, prevention, and management. 

A new study from researchers at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI) could analyse MRI scans to reliably tell which cancers are less aggressive and which pose a greater risk. While AI showed promise, its accuracy varied significantly depending on the MRI scanner’s brand.

An international team, co-led by Adriana Sánchez-Danés, principal investigator of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Lab at the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, has shown for the first time the important role of Survivin – a protein that has key roles in regulating cell division and inhibiting apoptosis (programmed cell death) – in the initiation and formation of a basal cell carcinoma, the most common human skin cancer. Their results have now been published in the print edition of January 8, 2025, of the journal Cell Discovery.

An international team of scientists, including a principal investigator in neuroscience from the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, has analysed the way expert London taxi drivers plan their route in advance every time they pick up passengers. It is the first time a study about human planning has been performed in a real-world, large-scale environment. Their results are published today (23rd of January) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Over the past decade, interest in psychedelics—including psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA—as treatments for psychiatric disorders has grown exponentially among scientists, mental health professionals, the media, and the public.