Prize Winners

Curriculum Vitae

He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is currently an ICREA Research Professor, Principal Investigator, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), where he leads an internationally recognized research program in the field of self-propelled nanomotors and biohybrid robotics. He is also co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nanobots Therapeutics. His scientific career has taken him to some of the world's most prestigious research centers, including the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (Germany), the Leibniz Institute for Materials Research in Dresden, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, and various institutions in South Korea and China. He is considered one of the international pioneers in the development of nanomotors capable of autonomous movement in biological fluids. His research has opened a
new technological avenue at the intersection of nanotechnology, robotics, and medicine,
making it possible to overcome biological barriers and improve the targeted delivery of treatments
against complex diseases.

Among his most outstanding contributions is the development of therapeutic nanorobots
for the treatment of bladder cancer, capable of transporting and releasing
drugs or radionuclides directly onto tumors. His work has demonstrated
reductions of over 90% in tumor volume in experimental models and represents
a decisive step towards new precision medicine strategies.
Author of more than 200 scientific publications, with over 23,000 international citations, he has
obtained top-tier competitive funding, including grants from the European Research Council (ERC),

and holds several international patents related to
advanced biomedical technologies

Jury ruling

The jury of the Rei Jaume I Prizes  has unanimously decided to award Samuel Sáncez in New Technologies for the development and establishment of self-propeller enzyme driven nanomotors as a technological platform which has been translated to active nanosystems for biomedical applications. and validation of self-propelled nanomotors based on enzymes as a technological platform, transferred to active nanosystems for biomedical applications.