Carlos Centeno, principal investigator of the ATLANTES Program at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) and director of Palliative Medicine at the University Clinic, has been awarded the 2019 EAPC AWARD, the highest distinction granted by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC). The ceremony will take place on May 24 during the opening of the 16th World Congress of Palliative Care in Berlin.

With this award, the EAPC distinguishes exceptional contributions to the development of palliative care in Europe and beyond. In the case of Dr. Centeno, the Association particularly highlighted his work as coordinator of the Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe within the framework of the ATLANTES Program at the ICS. At the congress, he will present the Atlas’s third edition, which was recently published. They also highlighted his research trajectory, as well as his promotion of palliative care education at the university level.

Caring for patients with advanced and terminal disease

Carlos Centeno graduated from the University of Valladolid in 1986, and in 1992 obtained a Medicine and Surgery specialization. He earned a specialty degree in Bioethics (1995) and a Master of Palliative Medicine (2000). He further specialized in Radiation Oncology (1997) at the University Hospital of Valladolid, where he participated in the implementation of the first palliative care team in Castilla y León. He was a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Alberta in Canada (1998) and later collaborated in the founding of the Regional Center for Palliative Medicine at the Los Montalvos Hospital in Salamanca.

He has been Director of Palliative Medicine at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra for fifteen years and, since 2012,has combined his clinical activity with research as the principal investigator of the ATLANTES Program at the ICS. This project aims to promote a positive imagein society and in medicineofcaring for patients with advanced and incurable diseases, with a view based on the dignity of the person and professional care. It includes accompanying patients and respecting the disease’s natural course, as well as attention to the patient’s emotional and spiritual well-being.