Dr. Claudia Prieto, Professor at Ingeniería UC and Director of iHEALTH, Receives the Innovadoras en Salud 2025 Award

Dr. Claudia Prieto, professor at Ingeniería UC and director of the Millennium Institute iHEALTH, was named winner of the Innovadoras en Salud 2025 Award in the Research category, recognizing her outstanding scientific and social contributions to health.

With over 1,100 nominations from across Chile, the second edition of the Innovadoras en Salud Award—organized by the Chilean Chamber of Pharmaceutical Innovation (CIF) and Mujeres Empresarias, with support from La Tercera—culminated on July 10 with a ceremony in Santiago honoring five women for their leadership and transformative work in the health sector. Among them, Dr. Claudia Prieto stood out as the winner in the Research category.

Dr. Prieto is a civil industrial engineer and PhD in Medical Imaging from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, with postdoctoral research conducted at King’s College London, where she is also a Reader in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences. Her work focuses on the development of advanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging techniques and the creation of novel image reconstruction algorithms that integrate artificial intelligence.

"This award is an important boost to keep working across disciplines, training new generations of young researchers, and developing technologies for health. When science connects with people, it can truly transform lives," said Dr. Prieto upon receiving the award.

In this year’s edition, the jury included prominent professionals from academia, science, policy, and business, such as Paula Daza (former Undersecretary of Public Health), Alexis Kalergis (Director of the Millennium Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy), Sergio Lavandero (Director of ACCDiS and Chile’s 2022 National Science Award), María Olivia Recart (economist and university leader), and physicist Andrés Gomberoff, among others.

In addition to Dr. Prieto, the 2025 award also recognized Keryma Acevedo (Public Commitment), Jocelyn Durán (Entrepreneur), Priscilla Molina (Executive), and Yasmina Viera (Regulatory & Integrity), all celebrated for their contributions to scientific, institutional, and human development in Chile.

At iHEALTH, we proudly congratulate Dr. Claudia Prieto for this well-deserved recognition, which highlights not only her scientific excellence but also her commitment to building a more inclusive, collaborative, and impactful approach to health research.