Biochemical Society 2026 Award Winners

Each year, the Biochemical Society presents a series of prestigious awards that recognise excellence and achievement in both specific and general fields of science. Candidates are nominated by their peers, and the winners are agreed by a judging panel of respected scientists from across a range of different scientific backgrounds.Following another record year of nominations, the work and contribution of 17 eminent bioscientists, outstanding educators and exceptional early career researchers has been acknowledged in the annual Biochemical Society Awards. Representing eight different countries, each recipient has been recognised for excellence in their field as well as a strong commitment to build, support and nurture future talent. Winners of the 2026 Awards represent a cross-section of the molecular biosciences ranging from plant immunity and glycoscience to neurodegenerative diseases and cell death.Professor Steve Busby, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, and Chair of the Biochemical Society’s Awards Committee, says: “I want to congratulate each one of the 2026 Biochemical Society award-winners. I also want to thank everyone who has been involved in the process, and especially the nominators. You will see that there is a wide range of different awards, and this is to foster inclusion and diversity. Of course, some of the awards are targeted at senior scientists working in specific research areas, but others target early career researchers, support staff or educators. We are especially happy to be making four awards to early career researchers. During 2026, each of the awardees will be invited to present their work, often at a Biochemical Society conference, so please look out for these events.”The 2026 Biochemical Society Award – Significant Breakthrough or Achievement will be presented to Professor Cees Dekker (Distinguished University Professor at TU Delft). Trained as a physicist, he pioneered nanotechnology with many discoveries on carbon nanotubes in the 1990s. Since 2000, he moved to single-molecule biophysics and nanobiology.Dekker is an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and fellow to the American Physical Society (APS) and the Institute of Physics (IOP). Dekker was Director of the prestigious Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, initiated an entirely new Department of Bionanoscience at Delft, and leads large national research consortia. He received an honorary doctorate and many prizes such as the 2001 Agilent Europhysics Prize, 2003 Spinoza Prize, 2012 ISNSCE Nanoscience Prize, 2017 NANOSMAT Prize, 2021 Nano Research Award and the 2024 Sackler Prize. Dekker was knighted as Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and he received ERC Advanced Grants in 2009, 2015 and 2020. Dekker published over 400 peer-reviewed papers that got cited >90.000 times (H-index 128).His current research focuses on (i) nanopores for protein sequencing; (ii) chromosome structure, in particular SMC motor proteins; and (iii) building a living synthetic cell from lifeless molecules. On the latter subject, he initiated efforts to build a synthetic cell from the bottom up already two decades ago. He was one of the pioneers triggering the Dutch BaSyC consortium and the European Synthetic Cell Initiative and currently leads the large (46 M€) Dutch consortium EVOLF. His lab’s research on synthetic cells ranges from facilitating microfluidics lab-on-a-chip technology for generating liposomes, to biophysical studies of synthetic cell division, to synthetic genomes.Cees said: “I am really greatly honoured by this 2026 Award from the Biochemical Society. It is wonderful that they acknowledge our contributions to nanobiology and single-molecule biophysics in this way, and it is a further motivation to continue this research in the forthcoming years.”The 2026 Biochemical Society Award – Sustained Excellence will be presented to Professor Christine Foyer (Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Birmingham). Christine is a Member of the Environmental Sustainability Board of the FERRERO group and the Editor in Chief of Plant, Cell and Environment. She has over 480 published papers and ranked as a Highly Cited Researcher™ list from Clarivate™. She is listed in the 2023 Edition of the Ranking of Top 1000 Female Scientists in the World. Ranked 15 in United Kingdom, and 192 in the world. She is ranked seventh in the list of the world’s Best Scientists in Plant Sciences. Christine is an expert in plant biochemistry and metabolism. With a strong focus on reduction/oxidation (redox) processes and signals that regulate plant growth and stress tolerance, her lab studies how primary processes such as photosynthesis regulate plant, growth development and defence, particularly through effects on the redox status of cells and cell signalling under optimal and stress conditions. Using model (Arabidopsis), crop plants and trees, her lab investigates the responses of photosynthesis and associated processes to abiotic stresses including elevated carbon dioxide.Christine said: “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award, which means a great deal to me, not least because I undertook my PhD in the Department of Biochemistry in King’s College at the University of London. While the Department of Biochemistry evolved into a new structure long ago, I have remained a biochemist at heart and I encourage early-stage researchers to continue to embrace this important topic, which remains a fundamental basis for understanding cell functions.”The 2026 Centenary Award will be presented to Professor Kevan Shokat (UCSF). Kevan is currently an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and a Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley. Kevan received his undergraduate degree at Reed College, his PhD at UC Berkeley and did post-doctoral training at Stanford University. He was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (2010), the National Academy of Medicine (2011) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011). His lab is most well-known for drugging the “undruggable” oncogene K-Ras (G12C) in 2013. K-Ras was the first human oncogene to be discovered in 1982 and remained undrugged until work from the Shokat lab at UCSF. In May 2021, the drug sotorasib that binds to the pocket identified by Shokat on K-Ras (G12C) was approved for the treatment of lung cancer patients with this mutation. The field of K-Ras drug discovery is expanding quickly to hunt for drugs to target the other K-Ras mutants such as those which drive colon and pancreatic cancers, which collectively represent almost 20% of all cancer patients worldwide.Kevan said: “I would like to thank the Biochemical Society for this recognition of our lab’s efforts to develop tool molecules and drugs which target key drivers of cancer including protein and lipid kinases and the GTPase K-Ras.”The 2026 Colworth Medal will be awarded to Dr Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon, Group Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB). Benjamin obtained his BSc in Human Genetics from University College London, where he was awarded the Lilian Clarke Prize. He completed his graduate research with Michel Goedert at the LMB, receiving a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge. During this time, he investigated molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the recently described prion-like propagation of assembled tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases. Benjamin subsequently carried out a postdoc with Michel Goedert and Sjors Scheres at the LMB, where he helped to determine the first structures of pathological protein assemblies in neurodegenerative diseases using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM).Benjamin established his independent research group at the LMB in October 2019. His team combines structural and cell biological approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms of pathological protein assembly responsible for motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and frontotemporal dementias. Benjamin is a Young Investigator at the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Co-investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute. For his research, Benjamin has received the Alzheimer’s Research UK Rising Star Award, the Breuer Foundation Alzheimer’s Research Award, the SCOR Young European Researcher Prize and the Vallee Scholar Award.Benjamin said: “I am honoured to have been chosen for this prestigious award and to receive recognition for the contributions we have made to understanding the structural basis of pathological protein assembly in neurodegenerative diseases. I share the honour with the many outstanding colleagues that I have had the privilege to work with, including team members, mentors and collaborators. It is my hope that this award will highlight our work to a broader audience of biochemists, fostering new ideas and collaborations to help understand the biological underpinnings of neurodegenerative diseases.”One of four 2026 Early Career Research Awards will be presented to Dr Georgia Atkin-Smith (Senior Postdoc and NHMRC Research Fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research). She is mentored by Associate Professor Edwin Hawkins, Professor Andreas Strasser and Professor Gemma Kelly. Georgia completed her PhD in 2019 at La Trobe University, receiving the Nancy Millis Medal for the top 5% of PhD theses. During her postdoctoral tenure, Georgia secured multiple highly competitive research grants, including an NHMRC Investigator Grant, a L’Oreal UNESCO for Women in Science Fellowship and multiple philanthropic grants. Her research combines a variety of high-resolution imaging techniques to study cell death, efferocytosis and cancer. Specifically, Georgia specialises in intravital microscopy, which provides an unparalleled approach to track the development and treatment of blood cancers in vivo. Her exciting research program has resulted in multiple high-impact first-author publications such as in Nature Communications (x2), Communications Biology, Cell Reports and more. She is the President and Founder of the Australasian Cell Death Society and Editor at Cell Death and Disease. Also known as Some Blonde Scientist, Georgia is a passionate science communicator, Keynote speaker and advocate of women in STEM.Georgia said: “I am extremely thankful to the Biochemical Society for this incredible honour. This recognition will assist me in establishing my independent research team and with it, generate new knowledge into the development of blood cancer in vivo. I hope this can be celebrated by all new mums who are striving to find the balance between their careers and parenthood – success comes only through the combination of support and sacrifice.”One of four 2026 Early Career Research Awards will be presented to Dr Nicholas M. Riley (Assistant Professor at the University of Washington). Nick is originally from Louisville, KY, and earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina. He then moved to Madison, WI, for his graduate studies with Professor Josh Coon at UW-Madison, where he worked on mass spectrometry instrumentation and proteomics methodology. He focused on methods involving electron transfer dissociation, which introduced him to glycoproteomics. His newfound interest in glycoproteins led him to a postdoc with Professor Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford University, where he worked on new chemical biology, mass spec and informatic tools to characterise mucin-domain glycoproteins and cell-type-specific secretomes. Since starting in in his group mass spectrometry and chemical to develop to investigate Specifically, his group is in understanding how cell in cancer and drive said: “I am honoured to a group of Biochemical Society I am most for how this can further my are so many where and I hope this can be an exciting to highlight the methods our group has so that we can with others to expanding our of understanding of how cell of four 2026 Early Career Research Awards will be presented to Dr (Assistant Professor at the University of received his PhD in Chemistry in from the University of a postdoc at the University of he moved to in to continue his career as a postdoc at the Department of Sciences of receiving an Fellowship under the Since he a at the University of and as a Researcher at University of His current research understanding different that protein the that biological and would have on the and of protein and said: “I was to the from my at the University I that I have been awarded the Early Career Research I was delighted and extremely The list of winners is The first that to my my of was to I am extremely He has been an my career me the to a I am also to and who my and are also researchers. I would like to thank the colleagues and I had working at the group as well as all my other colleagues working at this recognition is really and my commitment to research at the this will my career new for my established group at the University of of four 2026 Early Career Research Awards will be presented to Dr La at the is from a where he completed his in Biology and Biochemistry and on a in Molecular was to the PhD in Plant and Sciences at The and The Laboratory in he worked in the structural basis of how the plant recognise work, in with colleagues in UK and the understanding of plant immunity and led to the of plant for in his he moved to the Institute in where he research field and his to investigate the basis of in a protein While his in and with the of these to investigate the cellular the of plants and said: is an honour to receive this recognition from the Biochemical Society. at the list of great scientists it and to be listed 2026 Award will be presented to Professor (Professor of at College and a Group Leader at the a BSc at Institute, was awarded a from the National Science Foundation to a PhD in at University. She then moved to the University of to work with Professor under an postdoctoral and a from Research Institute. During this time, a training in structural and a with which the for her independent research career at College London. In was as a in the Department of Sciences and was awarded a Career Award from Research UK to her research She was to in in in 2021 and Professor of in Her research fundamental mechanisms in immunity and how cellular Using microscopy, discovered molecular drivers assembly of the an that and model in structural biology, how human cells are from by the the said: honoured to receive the Biochemical Society’s Award for my research in structural It the approaches of my team and our to the most important in 2026 and Award will be presented to the – of in and obtained his PhD from the University of in postdoctoral research in and a at University in 2009, he to to his independent group as In he was awarded an ERC and moved to the University of where he was to in He has received awards, including the Institute and Award for in In he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of The and molecules and targeted protein He a approach including chemical and structural and biophysics to molecular and and proteomics and cellular to is passionate fundamental research with the and by of such as that he in He is the and of for which in said: “I am delighted to receive this award on of the It the and success of our in at the of the new of targeted protein It has been one of the and collaborations by with a It is a to the and of all scientists at and that have worked to develop new as for cancer I hope that this award will our with that it will others to and of to and 2026 and Award will be presented to Professor Institute of and obtained her PhD in from the University of in by postdoctoral research in the of at the University of and at the University of the of University in is currently a Georgia Research Scholar and the Chair of Molecular at the Georgia Institute of as well as a Professor at University. Her research focuses on understanding the of in protein and how this can be to with In has in science in particular as to science and careers and has as a Chair of the Young Academy of and a member of the of the Society. has been in women in in and the careers of including and on this topic, and as a and to the of Young said: the human underlying I have chosen to be my with and my as a to help others of that receiving this award, which those and their in my career my really means a to I hope the this award provides me will and to each of as are on the that scientific on a in to the the most of this award to me is the it provides for me to to the and to our 2026 Award will be presented to Dr Professor at the University of is a biochemist research has our understanding of and to diseases such as and cancer. Her work fundamental biochemistry with key mechanisms that regulate and Using techniques such as and Dr has the between mass and through the with for Her research has also on the of the GTPase in a in and with her and for in and cancer. She with including Medicine and drug development Her publications in such as Nature Science and have earned her over the of her Dr researchers through and at the University of fostering excellence in scientific her and research, Dr is the future of biochemistry and to said: “I am honoured to receive this not for but on of the incredible and who have made our discoveries This award the of biochemistry with research to and I am for this and the it to this 2026 will be presented to Professor Society Research Professor at College is a field in on and him an biophysical He did Biochemistry at the University of a PhD at University College London, postdoctoral work at the University of and the In he moved to College London. his discoveries and to the (i) the responsible for that plant (ii) the primary electron (iii) the of the and the of in by redox introduced the that redox is for in in and This interest in new research In his team in a This work (i) the understanding of in (ii) the of the to the of (iii) for photosynthesis and a new and said: is the heart of is the for the and it the It is a privilege to to the understanding of how it and it is an honour to be on the list of awardees that the of researchers who have been my or my 2026 will be presented to Dr Leader at the with on understanding the of signalling of their early work the structures of the lipid by this the involved in their and the molecular mechanisms by which they as work established that cell a that the which as an to regulate the protein kinases and also the This work has to the of knowledge that has established as of cell and This work also a for how as that the and of on the in which they and also discovered the in cells and some of the molecular for how this is by and the work has also the of as a and both and and the the assembly of in said: Biochemical Society’s has a long and of to outstanding work on and it is to the work our team has will be listed as in the I am this year, the award will those team who will be to work on a and their work is 2026 Research Award will be presented to Dr at the University of leads focused on the and of research and She has a key in research at the University by competitive to support and and fostering across and the University in to the development and of the of research helped in the of the This the growth of the the of Biology, and the development of one of the world’s all in the for Research building at the which in has helped over in from and to the of a new Sciences This is to support to and and to technology and a in her postdoctoral at Research UK and the University of and a PhD from the University of said: “I am and honoured to receive this award from the Biochemical Society. the Research Award is an incredible and I would like to my to my colleagues who nominated me and my The Biochemical Society’s to the Research Award the of in research and In these particularly times for the it is that we continue to work and the scientific research is a team and I am to work many we have to and support to into and I would like to thank all my colleagues and mentors at the University of as well as our and for their support and on a wide range of 2026 Excellence Award – Early Career will be presented to Dr Professor in Biology at the University of her career really in where for biological with a year and biochemistry with a year, the for these Her current for development in across the of biological through of the for has this the of the and the an advocate for staff in has established a of has also the of and as of this has with colleagues to a for their awarded the European Award for this work, which they have with other and through publications and their annual is also the 2024 of her and Prize for Excellence in her to new to her and their through such as and or in such as through and said: “I am so to have this Excellence Award from the Biochemical Society. The to share been working on and receive such is greatly and and honoured to be to in and in the to those that nominated me or my and to the Biochemical thank 2026 Excellence Award – will be presented to Dr for at College is a an career in research, to focus on at her in research and to and advocate of the scientific in the to develop knowledge and In has a in which and their has a which a national to investigate a and their and a of for to of The of of approaches on and has others to and in their at and the and and have been recognised by many and received the Society for first Excellence Award and was awarded a National Fellowship of the said: “I am extremely honoured to have been awarded the Excellence Award by the Biochemical Society. The recognition of my and by educators in my field my my and me to continue my This award also the support I have received from and present the I had to with exceptional and the work we all in training the of for the Biochemical Society’s Awards will in and can be made by and for and