Prestigious international prize awarded to Belgian researcher

As the ISSCR points out, "the Momentum Award recognises the outstanding achievements of a researcher whose innovative research has established a major field of stem cell research with a solid trajectory for future success." And the 2023 winner is Cédric Blanpain, Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He becomes the first researcher working in Europe to be awarded this prestigious prize!

Together with his team, he discovered the dynamics of stem cells acting during the development, homeostasis and repair of the epidermis and revealed a new paradigm of segregation of different cell subtypes in the mammary gland and prostate.

His laboratory has developed new approaches to unravelling the mechanisms that regulate the tumour states responsible for tumour growth, metastasis and resistance to cancer therapies. With his team, Cédric Blanpain is therefore considered in the scientific world as a pioneer in the identification of the cellular origin of skin and breast cancers.

Already the three-time recipient of an ERC (European Research Council) grant and winner of the Francqui-Collen 2020 Prize, Cédric Blanpain said he was, "very grateful to the past and present members of my laboratory, the doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers and technicians who have carried out all the work for which this prize has been awarded."

Congratulations to this Belgian researcher on receiving this rare international recognition!