Pioneering research into brain cancer is awarded the world’s largest brain research prize, The Brain Prize
Gliomas are types of cancers that arise in the brain and are extraordinarily difficult to treat. They are the leading cause of brain tumour-related deaths in both children and adults. Two pioneering scientists are awarded The Brain Prize 2025 for their discoveries that open up an entirely new way of thinking about and understanding these lethal diseases, and the potential strategies to treat them.
Neuroscientists, Professors Michelle Monje (USA) and Frank Winkler (Germany), have made transformative discoveries by showing that neural activity in the brain can promote cancer initiation, growth, spread and treatment resistance. Thus, the everyday activity that takes place in the brain promotes the development of cancers within it. Striking recent studies further show that the influence of the nervous system is not limited to tumours in the brain, but also tumours throughout the body.
These remarkable findings have laid the foundation for an entirely new field of research called ‘Cancer Neuroscience’ that represents a paradigm shift in the understanding of these cancers, and which offers vital new opportunities for treatment.
Their efforts are rewarded with The Brain Prize 2025, the world’s largest award for outstanding contributions to neuroscience, established by the Lundbeck Foundation.
The Brain Prize 2025 worth DKK 10 million (€1.3 million) is awarded to:
Michelle Monje MD, PhD, the Milan Gambhir Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Stanford Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator,
and
Frank Winkler, MD, Professor of Experimental Neurooncology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, Department of Neurology, and German Cancer Research Center
for:
Pioneering Cancer Neuroscience: Disease-driving interactions between the brain and brain tumours.
Chair of The Brain Prize Selection Committee, Professor Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, explains the reasoning behind this year’s award:
"Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumours. They are very difficult to cure, and the more rapidly growing forms are almost universally fatal. Working independently, Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler have transformed our understanding of the biology of these neurological cancers.
They have discovered extensive interactions between glioma cells and neurons and have characterized their molecular and cellular basis. These networks exhibit hallmarks of functional neural circuits such as synapses, electrical and chemical communication, and coordinated activity.
These mechanisms allow glioma cells to hijack activity in the brain to drive tumour growth, spread, and treatment resistance. Strategies to modulate these interactions offer novel approaches for potential new glioma therapies.
Together, Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler have pioneered a paradigm shift incorporating neuroscience into cancer research, forming what is now called ‘Cancer Neuroscience.’ Both are practicing neuro-oncologists and exemplary clinician-scientists who have actively moved their mechanistic work into clinical trials.
On behalf of the Lundbeck Foundation, CEO Lene Skole extends her warmest congratulations to each of The Brain Prize recipients:
“The pioneering work of this year’s Brain Prize recipients on brain cancer is a striking example of how a new perspective and scientific approach can provide a completely new level of understanding of the brain and its diseases. The crucial new insights into the neuroscience of brain cancers provided by Professors Monje and Winkler have also unlocked enormous potential for developing new and much-needed treatment approaches.
Cancer Neuroscience is a new field of research, and hopefully, the prize will inspire more researchers, both younger and experienced ones, to enter this exciting field.”
FACTS
A glioma is a cancerous tumour that arises from malfunctioning glial cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Gliomas are among the most common types of primary brain tumours (tumours that originate in the brain), accounting for about 30% of all brain and central nervous system tumours and 80% of malignant primary brain tumours.
Symptoms depend on the tumour’s location, size, and growth rate, but common signs include headaches, seizures, cognitive or personality changes, weakness or numbness in the limbs and vision or speech problems. High-grade gliomas are aggressive, fast-growing brain tumours, which can occur in both adults and children.
There is currently no cure. Prognosis for high-grade gliomas is poor. In adults, the average survival time after diagnosis of 12–18 months with standard treatment that includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy and the 5-year survival rate is only 5–10%. In children, the most common form of high- grade glioma originates in the brainstem and the prognosis is even worse, with average survival time of less than a year and 5-year survival rate of <1%. Due to the aggressive and infiltrative nature of high- grade gliomas, even with aggressive treatment, recurrence is common.
Clinical trials and research on novel therapies remain critical to improving outcomes. Clinical translation of the new discoveries pioneered by Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler are in the early phases.
The Brain Prize is the world’s largest neuroscience research prize, and it is awarded each year by the Lundbeck Foundation. The Brain Prize recognises highly original and influential advances in any area of brain research, from basic neuroscience to applied clinical research. Recipients of The Brain Prize may be of any nationality and work in any country in the world. Since it was first awarded in 2011, The Brain Prize has been awarded to 49 scientists from 11 different countries. The Brain Prize recipients are presented with their award by patron of The Brain Prize, HM The King of Denmark, at a ceremony in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
Find out more about the 2025 Brain Prize winners at
