Prof. Uri Ben-David will receive the 2026 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists!

Prof. Ben-David is a Professor of Cancer Genetics in the Department of Human Genetics and Computational Medicine at the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University.

His research investigates how cancer cells cope with chromosomal alterations, a phenomenon known as aneuploidy. The Ben-David lab applies genomic and functional approaches to studying aneuploidy. Using a range of experimental and computational tools, his work reveals how these alterations drive tumor growth and resistance to drug treatments. He has also identified vulnerabilities of aneuploid cells, such as the activity of the protein KIF18A, which is currently a drug target in clinical trials. His discoveries lay the groundwork for more targeted and precise cancer therapies.

Prof. Ben-David is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the 2020 AACR ‘Next Generation Star’ Award, the 2020 ‘ERC Starting Grant’, the 2021 ‘Cells Young Investigator Award’, the 2022 ‘Krill Prize’ by the Wolf Foundation, and the 2023 ‘Kadar Award for Outstanding Research’, the 2025 ‘Schmidt Science Polymaths Award’, and in June 2026, the ‘Balvatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel’. Prof. Ben-David has been a member of the EMBO Young Investigators Network since 2022 and of the Israeli Young Academy since 2024.