The Fundación Consejo España–EE. UU., together with ECUSA (Spanish Scientists in the USA), presented the award to the leaders of the winning project of the III Spain–USA Scientific Exchange Program, an initiative that promotes transatlantic scientific cooperation, enhances the visibility of Spanish research, and fosters new partnerships between institutions in both countries.

The award ceremony took place at the Palacio de Santa Cruz, the Fundación’s headquarters, reaffirming its commitment to the international projection of Spanish research talent.

The Spain–USA Scientific Exchange Program, developed in collaboration with ECUSA, is an initiative for scientific outreach and cooperation that organizes multi-day meetings in the United States. Each edition awards a research team—usually composed of an established Spanish researcher and early-career postdoctoral fellows—to participate in an in-person, multi-day meeting with scientists and representatives from U.S. academic and governmental institutions.

The aim of this program is to increase the visibility of Spanish research, create networks of contact, and foster long-term scientific and institutional collaborations, while providing early-career researchers with direct experience of the U.S. scientific environment.

The winning project of this third edition involves organizing a three-day meeting in New York, aimed at launching a new strategic collaboration in translational oncology between the research team from the Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, winners of these meetings, and the laboratory of Dr. José Javier Bravo-Cordero at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The meeting will allow the integration of advanced lung cancer organoid models and liquid biopsy tools developed in Spain with the pioneering research of the U.S. laboratory on the “quiesome” and metastatic dormancy, with the goal of designing a joint project, identifying scientific synergies, and preparing future international funding proposals.

**At the Palacio de Santa Cruz, the Secretary General of the Fundación Consejo España–EE. UU., Fernando Prieto, and the Vice President of ECUSA, Naroa Giménez, presented a certificate to Ester Munera, postdoctoral researcher at the Molecular Oncology Laboratory of the Fundación para la Investigación del Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, author of the winning proposal.

Munera was accompanied by Eloisa Jantus, head of the laboratory and Vice President of the International Society of Liquid Biopsy (ISLB).

In addition to the certificate presentation, the representatives of the winning project held a meeting with officials from the Fundación and ECUSA to discuss their research lines, explore new avenues for collaboration, and reflect on the role of science as a key element in enhancing Spain’s international recognition.

The support for this initiative is part of the close collaboration between the Fundación Consejo España–EE. UU. and ECUSA, a non-profit organization founded in 2014 by Spanish scientists in the United States with the aim of promoting and disseminating science and technology, supporting the professional development of researchers, and strengthening scientific networks between Spain and the United States.