2025/05/07

Researcher Óscar Millet awarded for scientific excellence by the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry

Researcher Óscar Millet has been awarded the 2025 Research Excellence Award by the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) in recognition of his outstanding scientific career.
He has driven key initiatives and made significant advances in the study of rare diseases.
With over 140 scientific publications and multiple awards, his research has had a notable international impact.

Dr. Óscar Millet, Principal Investigator of the Precision Medicine and Metabolism group at CIC bioGUNE and member of the CIBERehd network, has been honored with the 2025 Research Excellence Award granted by the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ). This award, endorsed at the RSEQ’s General Assembly meeting held on April 30th, recognizes his distinguished career and scientific contributions in the field of biomedicine.

Since joining CIC bioGUNE, member of BRTA, in 2006, Dr. Millet has played a key role in the center’s growth, leading strategic initiatives such as the creation and design of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Platform - now an internationally recognized infrastructure for biomolecular research.

With a solid scientific background that includes research stays at prestigious institutions such as Columbia University, the University of Lausanne, and the University of Toronto, Dr. Millet has focused his work on the analysis of proteins and metabolites, addressing rare diseases with a translational approach. Among his achievements is the identification of ciclopirox as a potential treatment for congenital erythropoietic porphyria, currently in phase II clinical trials in the U.S. and recognized as an orphan drug by both the EMA and the FDA.

His group also works on the development of neonatal and population screening tools using metabolomics techniques, contributing to the early detection of biomarkers associated with rare diseases and metabolic syndrome, in projects funded by initiatives such as H2020 and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Author of over 140 scientific publications and supervisor of 18 doctoral theses, Dr. Millet maintains an active role in scientific and institutional collaboration. He currently serves on the evaluation panel of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) in the Biomedicine area.

Throughout his career, he has received several awards, including the RSEQ Young Researchers Award (2004), the NMR Specialized Group Award (GERMN, 2020), and the Elhuyar-Goldschmidt Award from the German Chemical Society (GDCh, 2022).

From CIC bioGUNE, we warmly congratulate Dr. Óscar Millet on this well-deserved recognition, which reflects his commitment to scientific excellence and his contribution to advancing biomedical knowledge with social impact. We also extend our congratulations to the other researchers honored in this edition of the RSEQ Awards.

About the Royal Spanish Chemical Society (RSEQ)
The Royal Spanish Chemical Society (RSEQ) is a professional association that promotes the advancement of chemistry in Spain. Founded in 1903, society represents chemists from academia, industry, and government. Its mission is to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas in chemistry and to promote the application of chemistry for the benefit of society.

About CIC bioGUNE
The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), located in the Bizkaia Technology Park, is a biomedical research organization conducting cutting-edge research at the interface between structural, chemical, molecular and cell biology, with a particular focus on generating knowledge on the molecular bases of disease, for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies.

About BRTA
BRTA is an alliance of 4 collaborative research centres (CIC bioGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, CIC biomaGUNE y CIC energiGUNE) and 13 technology centres (Azterlan, Azti, Ceit, Cidetec, Gaiker, Ideko, Ikerlan, Leartiker, Lortek, Neiker, Tecnalia, Tekniker y Vicomtech) with the main objective of developing advanced technological solutions for the Basque corporate fabric.

With the support of the Basque Government, the SPRI Group and the Provincial Councils of the three territories, the alliance seeks to promote collaboration between the research centres, strengthen the conditions to generate and transfer knowledge to companies, contributing to their competitiveness and outspreading the Basque scientific-technological capacity abroad.

BRTA has a workforce of over 4,000 professionals, executes 22% of the Basque Country's R&D investment, registers an annual turnover of more than 300 million euros and generates 100 European and international patents per year.

Spanish version