Blavatnik Family Foundation

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the The New York Academy of Sciences is proud to announce the winning Laureates of the 2025 UK Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists! Each of our distinguished Laureates – specializing in Life Sciences, Chemical Sciences, and Physical Sciences & Engineering, respectively – have been awarded the largest unrestricted prize ever created for young scientists. Congratulations to our outstanding winners: ?? Christopher Stewart (Newcastle University) recognised for developing novel microbiome-based approaches to reduce mortality in premature infants around the world. ?? Liam Ball (University of Nottingham) recognised for developing efficient methods for the safe and sustainable synthesis of molecules vital to healthcare and agriculture. ?? Benjamin Mills (University of Leeds) recognised for pioneering the development of long-timescale models of the earth, linking geology and biology over billions of years, and providing insight into the trajectory of climate change. Today at the Royal Society of Medicine, the Blavatnik Honorees will guide audiences through an exploration of the infant gut microbiome, minimizing environmental impact in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and insights on the trajectory of climate change. Sign-up to watch online and get a behind-the-scenes look into how UK scientists are building a future that pushes the limits of our imagination: https://lnkd.in/eCuxFgjB

Earlier this month, we celebrated some of the UK’s brightest young scientists at the Blavatnik Awards Gala in the Orangery at Kensington Palace. ? We were honored to welcome Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King's College London, who delivered a keynote on the growing challenges facing the scientific community—declining government funding, geopolitical tensions, and waning public support. ? As Professor?Kapur?emphasised, philanthropy is playing an increasingly vital role in addressing these issues, providing flexible, long-term funding that enables the high-risk, early-stage research essential for scientific breakthroughs. Philanthropy not only advances cutting-edge research but also accelerates the translation of discoveries into real-world solutions. The Blavatnik Family Foundation is proud to be a driving force in this process. #Philanthropy #STEM #BlavatnikAwards?

Breakthrough ideas need more than just a laboratory - they need a path to impact. The Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale University has announced its fifteen awardees for 2025. These pioneers are tackling the most urgent life science challenges, with projects spanning novel therapeutics to AI-powered medical solutions. Since 2017, the $65 million accelerator fund managed by Yale Ventures propels promising research beyond the university walls, bridging the gap between discovery and real-world application. 90 unique projects have led to 23 startups, 4 acquisitions, nine investigational new drug (IND) clearances, and work across diverse therapeutic modalities. Congratulations to this year's awardees who, tomorrow, will be celebrating their achievements and research at the 2025 Yale Innovation Summit! https://lnkd.in/eJTxv6d7 Demetrios Braddock, Christopher Bunick, Qingyu Chen, Craig Crews, John Elefteriades, Jung Min Han, Seth Herzon, Yaqing Huang, Richard Kibbey, Carrie Lucas, Markus Müschen, Mohini Ranganathan, Samit Shah MD, PhD, Martin A. Schwartz, Waxman Stephen

Amal Clooney has been appointed a Visiting Professor at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, bringing extensive global expertise and experience to the school. “I’m delighted to welcome Amal Clooney to the School as a Visiting Professor of Practice”, said Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government. “As a pre-eminent practitioner and scholar, Amal’s expertise and insights will greatly enhance the School’s research and teaching.” Amal is an acclaimed barrister and human rights advocate and former St Hugh's College, Oxford student. ?? Read more here: https://lnkd.in/erxfxBrV University of Oxford Clooney Foundation for Justice

Later today, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, in partnership with The New York Academy of Sciences, will announce the three winning Laureates of the 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom. Each Laureate will receive ￡100,000 – the largest unrestricted prize ever created for young scientists – and the remaining six Finalists will each receive ￡30,000. Now in its eighth year, the UK awards recognise?the UK’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers for their cutting-edge discoveries in three categories: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences. ? We wish the best of luck to these nine brilliant and inspiring finalists! ???Life Sciences: Nicholas Casewell (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), Andrew Saxe (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, UCL), Christopher Stewart (Newcastle University). ???Chemical Sciences: Liam Ball (University of Nottingham), @Brianna Heazlewood (University of Liverpool and Chunxiao Song (University of Oxford). ???Physical Sciences and Engineering: Benjamin Mills (University of Leeds), Hannah Price (University of Birmingham), and Filip Rindler (University of Warwick). #BlavatnikAwards #STEM

Blavatnik Awards scholars are driving economic growth by embarking on new scientific trajectories to pursue high-risk, high-reward scientific research. On Wednesday, 4 March, Shitij Kapur, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor & President, King's College London, will announce the three 2025 Laureates at a gala dinner and awards ceremony. ? Hear what the award means to the finalists in the fields of Physical Sciences and Engineering: ???Hannah Price (University of Birmingham) recognized for?groundbreaking theories and innovative experimental collaborations employing synthetic analogs to simulate higher dimensions, giving insight into physics with more than three spatial dimensions.? ? ???Filip Rindler (University of Warwick) recognized for developing the first rigorous theory describing how crystalline materials, like metals, deform through microscopic defects called dislocations. ? ???Benjamin Mills (University of Leeds) recognized for?pioneering development of long-timescale models of the Earth, linking geology and biology, and giving insight into the linked atmospheric and geologic history of our habitable planet. Below, you can find out what it means to each scientist to receive the award ??

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are the largest unrestricted prizes available to UK scientists aged 42 or younger. Since launching in 2017, UK scientists honoured by the Blavatnik Awards have received more than ￡3 million in prize money. Today, we’re highlighting the work of the award’s chemical sciences finalists ahead of Wednesday, 4 March, where the 2025 Laureates will be announced: ???Chunxiao Song (University of Oxford) recognized for?developing a pioneering sequencing method to detect DNA and RNA modifications, enabling early cancer detection and leading to the founding of a $410 million biotech company. ? ???Liam Ball (University of Nottingham) recognized for developing efficient methods for the safe and sustainable synthesis of molecules vital to healthcare and agriculture. ? ???Brianna Heazlewood (University of Liverpool) recognized for developing instruments that characterize complex chemical reactions at extremely cold temperatures, providing new insights into the chemistry of space and other challenging environments. ? Below, you can find out what it means to each scientist to receive the award???

“We created the Blavatnik Awards to support the creative and novel research of promising scientists early in their careers, recognising their achievements and accelerating the trajectories of beneficial scientific breakthroughs and innovations,” Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Founder of Access Industries and Head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Yesterday marked the announcement of the finalists, who are among the brightest young minds in science across the UK. Today, we shine a spotlight on the life sciences finalists, who have led ground breaking research: ???Nicholas Casewell (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) recognized for using molecular and biochemical approaches to understand variations in snake venom toxins and identify new treatment strategies for snakebite, a neglected tropical disease.?? ? ???Andrew Saxe (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, UCL) recognized for?mathematical analyses illuminating learning mechanisms in artificial and biological systems, advancing AI understanding and insights into memory-related neurological diseases. ? ???Christopher Stewart, PhD (Newcastle University) recognized for developing novel microbiome-based approaches to prevent disease in premature infants around the world. ? The three Laureates across Life, Physical and Chemical Science will be revealed at the awards ceremony on the 4th?March. Below, you can find out what it means to each scientist to receive this accolade??

Congratulations are in order for Ludwig Cancer Research Oxford's Chunxiao Song, who has been announced as a finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik Family Foundation Award for Young Scientists! He has been recognised for his work on developing sequencing methods to find DNA and RNA modifications for early cancer detection. Read more ?? https://lnkd.in/ewdzyaPn

Congratulations to Applied Microbiology International member Dr Christopher Stewart of Newcastle University who has been named as a finalist in the eighth Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK! He is the 2023 winner of AMI’s WH Pierce Prize for microbiology. https://lnkd.in/e_N-rCrE Christopher Stewart, PhD Newcastle Uni Blavatnik Family Foundation