The failed scientific director of the National Cancer Research Center (), Raúl Rabadán, explained to the staff this Wednesday that he has decided not to assume his position at the head of the institution because he considers it “unstable”, “politicized” and marked by “continuous controversies”.
Rabadán should have taken scientific command of Spain’s largest cancer center in May. His arrival had been announced by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, headed by Diana Morant, in September 2025. The department hoped that Rabadán would inaugurate a new stage of the CNIO that would leave behind the crisis that broke out in 2024. During this time, biochemist Fernando Peláez has served as interim director.
Since then Rabadán began to work on that project, began the process of moving with his family to Madrid and drawing up new plans for the CNIO, but he did not sign his new contract citing commitments to Columbia University, in the United States, where he works.
The constant drip of information about corruption, internal struggles and loss of reputation led him to prolong his confirmation for weeks until, this Monday at noon, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, led by Diana Morant, permanently resigned from the position, according to sources close to the CNIO. It has been the latest blow to an organization that has been mired in the worst crisis for almost two years since it was launched at the beginning of the .
In a letter sent to the center’s scientists, to which EL PAÍS has had access, Rabadán explains that his abandonment is a “considered decision and not at all simple.” “The present institutional context, marked by continuous controversies, high public exposure, the politicization of the institution’s internal affairs, polarization and media noise and a climate of uncertainty, does not currently offer the conditions of stability necessary to lead with minimum guarantees a transformation project of the magnitude that you and the center deserve,” he wrote.
In the letter, the scientist points out that the body is seriously compromised to function correctly. “I am convinced that institutions like the CNIO need solid governance frameworks, a State pact that guarantees budgetary stability and lasting institutional support, regardless of political situations,” he says. “Cancer research requires long-term vision, serenity and trust, because its mission transcends any temporal circumstance,” adds the scientist.
Rabadán explains that after this setback he will continue working where he already did, in his laboratory at Columbia University, in the United States. The researcher went so far as to draw up a new strategic plan for the CNIO in which he already printed his vision for the future of the center, very focused on more investment in computer technologies for cancer and with the closure of several units. Among them is that of , which was created in 2006 when the biochemist, who has been one of its staunch defenders, was director of the CNIO. After Rabadán’s departure, it is unknown if his plan will be executed.
He had drawn up his project hand in hand with José Manuel Bernabé, the new manager who had arrived at the CNIO to close the institution’s crisis and open all the drawers that were necessary. Bernabé found multiple evidence of contracts that could have defrauded up to 30 million euros in 15 years. Its alleged leader was , who was manager of the CNIO for more than 15 years, and who was dismissed in 2024 along with the then scientific director María Blasco, accused of mismanagement of the center. Bernabé explained all his findings in at least five documents sent to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which continues
The Government due to an accusation of harassment that was inconclusive. The complainant was an executive who was supposedly Arroyo’s right-hand woman, whom the Government finally removed from all positions in November 2025. Bernabé exclusively described to EL PAÍS what he found at the CNIO as “a depravity for
These months of waiting for new movements by the Public Ministry, added to the paralysis associated with the constant change of those in charge, are seriously hampering the scientific work of what was one of the most prestigious centers in the world of its kind.
Rabadán has expressed to the CNIO workers his “deep respect and admiration” for their work. “The CNIO represents one of the greatest assets of Spanish and European science, thanks to the talent, dedication and commitment of you, its researchers, technical staff and support professionals,” he wrote.
The Ministry of Science has called the board of trustees, the highest governing body of the CNIO, to a meeting next Monday where its president, Eva Ortega Paíno, will present the measures to cover Rabadán’s absence. Since they left this body last April, as this newspaper announced, the measures to be adopted will be taken only between employers of the central government, and of four autonomous communities governed by the PP.
