Dr. Xavier Montalban, head of the Clinical Neuroimmunology Group at VHIR, Dr. Josep Sánchez de Toledo, responsible of the Laboratory of Translational Research in Paediatric Cancer at VHIR and head of the Oncology and Paediatric Hematology Service, Dr. Eugeni Bruguera, member of the Psychiatric Research Group at VHIR, Dra. Enriqueta Felip, responsible of the Thoracic Tumors at VHIO, and Dr. Albert Sueiras, retired surgeon at Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, have been recognized with the Professional Excellence Awards 2012, given by the medical board of Barcelona. In this ninth edition, the medical board awarded 42 doctors for the excellence and the quality in their healthcare activities, and four healthcare groups from Barcelona. Among them, the Pneumology Group at VHIR, led by Dr. Ferran Morell. In the awards ceremony, celebrated the 12th of November at the Romea Theatre in Barcelona, Dr. Antoni Andreu, deputy director of Assessment and Development at Instituto de Salud Carlos III, gave a lecture about the historic advance that represented the discovery of DNA’s structure 60 years ago.