Dr. Joan X Comella, director of the of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) received yesterday afternoon the prize Alfonso de Borja 2017 awarded by the Alumni of the University of Lleida, the highest award of this entity, in recognition of his career in the fields of both of the research and management of centres of reference worldwide.This is the seventh prize Alfonso de Borja which the association grants to individuals and organizations in recognition of their career since in the 2004 gave it to Joan Oró. Other award-winning personalities have been: the Vicente Ferrer Foundation (2011), the Chairman of Repsol and GlobaLleida, Antoni Brufau (2015) or the canoeist and Olympic medallist, Saúl Craviotto (2016).In the speech of gratitude for being awarded, Dr. Comella did a review of his career starting with the academic training he received at the University of Lleida to the direction of VHIR and showing his fascination for the functioning of the brain, the area in which its research team works at VHIR. He insisted on the need to conduct research "not only to search for cures for diseases. We need to do research to be a prosperous and rich society. Often, we think socities and rich people the ones who spend a lot of money to do research. It is true, but it's even more true that those countries that have spent money on research and innovation have been the ones who have become richer," he said.The Rector of the University of Lleida (UdL), highlighted that Dr. Joan Comella "is a paradigm of public server and an example of university research entrepreneurship", since, in addition to devote himself to teaching and research, "he understood that they had to compromise management as well." Fernández has adressed to an excited Joan Comella that "this is your house" and that he will always have the doors open to the UdL.This year's Alfonso de Borja award consisted of a diploma to the Dr. Joan Comella as a member of honor Alumni UdL, the sculpture "El coneixement" (The knowledge, in English) of the Argentinean artist Miguel ángel González, created especially for the occasion, and a watercolour painting of the Campus de Medicina by the painter from Lleida, Joaquín Ureña.