André Valente, PhD, MD, directs the António Champalimaud Vision Award at the Champalimaud Foundation, a leading biomedical research and healthcare institution dedicated to advancing science, clinical care, and global health through innovation and translation.

Since the award’s launch in 2006, André has contributed to its development and international growth, working closely with the Foundation's leadership and its independent international jury. Widely regarded as the world's largest distinction in vision, the €1 million award alternates annually between recognizing groundbreaking scientific advances in vision research and transformative programs combating blindness and visual impairment worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

André graduated in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and in Medicine from the University of Algarve. With the Gulbenkian PhD Program in Biomedicine, he researched the neurobiology of visual learning behaviors with Florian Engert at Harvard University. In Lisbon since 2015, he helped establish the Foundation's Institutional Review Board and Ethics Council and develop international vision and translational research initiatives, such as UM Cure 2020. In the past 20 years, he has collaborated with leading researchers, NGOs, eye hospitals, policymakers and global health organizations, to identify, celebrate, and amplify initiatives that restore sight, prevent blindness and improve equitable access to eye care worldwide.