Three Young Scientists Win 2026 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Postdoctoral Excellence
The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences have announced the 2026 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists, recognizing three Laureates and six Finalists for postdoctoral research across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Selected from 176 nominations representing 35 academic and research institutions, the honorees span the Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences & Engineering. Trevor van Eeuwen of The Rockefeller University was named Chemical Sciences Laureate for research on mobile DNA elements and their connections to immune responses, autoimmune disease, and cancer. Barbara Bosch, also of The Rockefeller University, received the Life Sciences honor for developing scalable methods to identify bacterial inhibitors, including those targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Natalie Fardian-Melamed of Columbia University was named Physical Sciences & Engineering Laureate for light-based nanosensors with potential applications in biomedicine, robotics, and quantum technologies. Six Finalists were also recognized for work spanning gene transcription, quantum materials, RNA regulation, aging, cosmological simulations, and supermassive black holes, and all nine honorees will be celebrated at the annual Blavatnik Awards ceremony on October 6, 2026, in New York.