Prof. Uri Ben-David Awarded the 2026 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israe

Prof. Uri Ben-David has been awarded the 2026 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel in the field of Life Sciences, recognizing his pioneering contributions to cancer research.

Prof. Ben-David is a Professor of Cancer Genetics in the Department of Human Genetics and Computational Medicine at the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University.

His research focuses on how cancer cells adapt to changes in chromosome number, a phenomenon known as aneuploidy. By combining experimental and computational approaches, his laboratory investigates how these chromosomal alterations influence tumor development and resistance to treatment. His work has also identified vulnerabilities in aneuploid cancer cells, including the activity of the protein KIF18A, which is currently being evaluated as a potential therapeutic target in clinical studies. These discoveries may pave the way for the development of more precise cancer therapies.

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel, presented in partnership with the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the New York Academy of Sciences, are the largest unrestricted awards granted to scientists aged 42 and under in Israel.

Throughout his career, Prof. Ben-David has received numerous prestigious awards and research grants, including the AACR “Next Generation Star” Award (2020), an ERC Starting Grant (2020), the Cells Young Investigator Award (2021), the Krill Prize from the Wolf Foundation (2022), the Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research (2023), the Schmidt Science Polymaths Award (2025), and now the 2026 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel.

Since 2022, Prof. Ben-David has been a member of the EMBO Young Investigators Network, and since 2024, a member of the Israel Young Academy.

Prof. Ben-David joins an outstanding group of scientists recognized this year for their contributions to life sciences, chemistry, and physical sciences.

Congratulations also to this year's fellow laureates: Dr. Sergey Semenov of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Paz Binyamini of The Open University of Israel.

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