The award will support the development of new translational research projects in collaboration with partners in the Lombardy region of Italy.
EMBL-EBI's Director Ewan Birney. Credit: Jeff Dowling/EMBL-EBI
Ewan Birney, the Director of EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), has been awarded the 2026 International ‘Lombardy is Research’ prize for his contributions to predictive medicine.
In particular, the award recognises Birney’s contribution to applying artificial intelligence to epidemiology. He was one of the senior authors of the scientific paper introducing DELPHI, the first large-scale AI model designed that can estimate the long-term risk of over 1,000 diseases and forecast human health changes over a decade in advance.
The award, established by the Lombardy Region in Italy, acknowledges scientists of any nationality who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of life sciences. It consists of €1 million, of which 30% is awarded to the winning scientist, while 70% is allocated to support a translational research project associated with the application, to be carried out in collaboration with one or more public or private research institutions in Lombardy.
The prize funds will enable the development of a collaboration with Andrea Ganna at Human Technopole, and Gualtiero Colombo at the Monzino Cardiology Centre in Milan, to explore how AI can support cardiovascular research.
“Receiving this prize is a special moment and I am deeply grateful,” said Birney. “Translating research and technology into better healthcare is a team effort that brings together researchers, clinicians, patients and many others. I look forward to working with colleagues in the Lombardy region to explore how we can realise AI’s potential, with a particular focus on cardiovascular diseases, which affect so many people. I hope this collaboration will further deepen the longstanding and valued ties between EMBL and Italy.”
“Professor Birney is an outstanding scientist and truly deserves this prestigious recognition,” said Andrea Ganna, Senior Group Leader at Human Technopole and Associate Professor at the University of Helsinki. “I’m delighted to continue working with him and Professor Colombo on AI foundation models for healthcare, with the ambition of positioning Lombardy at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field.”
“Professor Birney is a world-leading scientist specialising in genomics, bioinformatics, AI and the life sciences,” said Gualtiero Colombo, Head of the Immunology and Functional Genomics Lab at the Monzino Cardiology Centre. “He fully deserves this prestigious award. As a clinician and researcher, I feel honoured and excited to be working alongside him and Professor Ganna on the application of large-scale AI models to healthcare and biomedical data. These cutting-edge tools have the potential to make unprecedented contributions to the advancement of predictive medicine.”
Ewan Birney, EMBL-EBI’s Director, being interviewed by Regione Lombardia in the hall of Teatro alla Scala, Milan (top left); meeting with the press in the theatre’s main foyer (bottom left); and with his local collaborators, Andrea Ganna at Human Technopole (left) and Gualtiero Colombo at Monzino Cardiology Centre (middle, right photo). Credit: Rossana De Lorenzi/EMBL
