A project at Lund University in Sweden has trained an AI model to identify breast cancer patients who could be spared from axillary surgery. The model analyses previously unutilised information in mammograms and pinpoints with high accuracy the individual risk of metastasis in the armpit. A newly completed study shows that the model indicates that just over 40 per cent of today’s axillary surgery procedures could be avoided.

Angela Riedel and her research group at the Mildred Scheel Early Career Centre for Cancer Research (funded by the German Cancer Aid) are investigating how tumour cells escape the immune system, with a focus on the lymph nodes. Their latest findings, which have just been published in the journal Immunity, point to new treatment strategies for triple-negative breast cancer. These could one day pave the way for further translational research to make immunotherapies more effective, reduce the risk of metastasis and improve survival rates for patients with aggressive breast cancer. 

The 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards Laureates are:

Life Sciences: Veena Padmanaban, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University

Recognized for discovering a molecular mechanism allowing sensory neurons to communicate with breast cancer cells to drive metastasis and uncovering novel actionable therapeutic targets.

Physical Sciences & Engineering: Valentin Crépel, PhD, nominated by the Flatiron Institute

Recognized for advancing theories describing stacked, single-atom-thick materials, enabling easier control of their behaviors for applications in quantum technology and opening up new avenues for developing materials useful in novel quantum computing platforms.

Chemical Sciences: Xiao Xie, PhD, nominated by Princeton University

Recognized for pioneering chemical biology tools to map protein phase separation and copper signaling, which uncover molecular mechanisms underlying cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Xie is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of 2015 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate, Christopher Chang, PhD.

The Finalists are:

LIFE SCIENCES

Maria Cecilia Campos Canesso, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University

Recognized for advancing our understanding of food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease by developing new tools to uncover how immune cells communicate in the intestine, laying the foundation for more effective treatments.

Ipshita Zutshi, PhD, nominated by New York University

Recognized for discovering how the brain integrates dynamic goals with sensory inputs (sound, vision) to guide memory and decision-making — providing a framework for understanding cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.

PHYSICAL SCIENCES & ENGINEERING

Ore Gottlieb, PhD, nominated by the Flatiron Institute

Recognized for shifting the paradigm describing neutron star mergers, giving scientists a roadmap for finding and studying these rare events.

Viraj Pandya, PhD, nominated by Columbia University

Recognized for groundbreaking discoveries on early galaxy evolution, reshaping our understanding of how galaxies formed and challenging longstanding theories of the early universe.

CHEMICAL SCIENCES

Lucien Dupuy, PhD, nominated by Rutgers University, Newark

Recognized for developing quantum-classical and machine learning simulations that elucidate how molecules respond to light, crucial to understanding diverse topics like DNA stability, photocatalysis, and energy conversion. Dupuy is the first Blavatnik Awards honoree from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.

Yunjia Lai, PhD, nominated by Columbia University

Recognized for pioneering mass spectrometry innovations to map and screen environmental exposures and biological changes that drive neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

A team from Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital has identified a novel mechanism underlying platinum resistance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC): the circular RNA circSCAP encodes a 129-amino-acid protein (SCAP-129aa) that activates the PI3K/AKT pathway by stabilizing PIK3R2. Silencing circSCAP or combining platinum therapy with the PIK3R2 inhibitor  significantly improved treatment efficacy in preclinical models, highlighting circSCAP and SCAP-129aa as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.