Distinguished Cajalian | The health of democracy: medicine, management, and public ethics
Distinguished personality for their exceptional contribution to science and the dissemination of the Cajal Legacy.
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Contribution to the Cajal Legacy: Santiago Ramón y Cajal was not merely a laboratory scientist; he was a statesman who understood that science needs strong institutions to flourish. Sebastiao Helvecio personifies this institutional facet of the Cajalian legacy.
With an unusual career that fuses the sensitivity of a paediatrician with the rigour of a public auditor, he has devoted his life to caring for the “social body.” As a physician and Secretary of Health, he created vital structures such as the Hemominas Foundation. As Councillor and President of the Court of Auditors, he applied scientific precision to the oversight of public resources. His appointment as Distinguished Guest of Salamanca (2025) recognises a life dedicated to translating technical knowledge into collective well-being, championing the idea that good governance is the preventive medicine of democracy.
Lecture Topics:
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Medicine and Politics: How clinical vision can heal public management.
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Control and Transparency: Ethics as the immune system of institutions.
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Collective Health: From the creation of blood centres to the management of modern health crises.
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Cajal’s Legacy in Management: The importance of science and education as pillars of the State.
Sebastiao Helvecio (Juiz de Fora, 1946) is a Renaissance figure in modern public management: a paediatrician trained at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), a lawyer, and a Doctor of Collective Health.
His career is a testament to multidimensional public service. He began in academic medicine as an Associate Professor of Paediatrics, but rapidly expanded his activity into the political and administrative sphere. As a State Deputy in Minas Gerais (six terms) and Secretary of State for Health, he was the architect of the Hemominas Foundation, revolutionising access to safe blood in Brazil.
Subsequently, he brought his technical rigour to the Court of Auditors of the State of Minas Gerais (TCEMG), where he served as Councillor and President (2015-2016), and led the Rui Barbosa Institute (IRB), the “brain” of Brazil’s Courts of Auditors, promoting innovation and quality in external oversight. In 2025, he was honoured by the city of Salamanca (Spain) as a Distinguished Guest within the framework of the conference series “Salamanca: for Cajal and Science” (“Salamanca: por Cajal y la Ciencia”), sealing his connection with the universal values of the Spanish Nobel laureate.
