“I love the moment when we ask a question in the laboratory, and we have a hypothesis, and we discover something new – but we were wrong. We were thinking about it in the wrong way, and we designed an experiment that showed us what was really true. I love that moment of finding truth, even if it’s not what we expect to find.” – Michelle Monje, HHMI Investigator and recipient of The Brain Prize 2025. A pediatric neuro-oncologist at Stanford University, Monje investigates the growth and development of healthy and cancerous cells in the brain, exploring how brain activity sculpts brain structure and function. Monje, along with fellow Brain Prize awardee Frank Winkler of Heidelberg University, is seen as a pioneer in the field now called “cancer neuroscience.” Working independently, Monje and Winkler have each made remarkable findings that have transformed scientists’ understanding of how “everyday” neural activity in the brain shapes cancer initiation, growth, spread, and resistance to treatment. Their discoveries pave the way for new therapies to target cancers in the brain that are extremely difficult to treat.
Learn more about HHMI's Investigator Program here: https://www.hhmi.org/programs/investigators