The Brain Prize: HM The King of Denmark presents prestigious prize to US and German scientists for seminal discoveries in brain cancer

Two pioneering scientists received The Brain Prize 2025 for their discoveries that open an entirely new way of thinking about and understanding brain cancers, and the potential strategies to treat them.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HM King Frederik of Denmark presented neuroscientists, Professors Michelle Monje (USA) and Frank Winkler (Germany), with their Brain Prize medals and a diploma at a ceremony in Copenhagen Wednesday evening. The Brain Prize is the world’s largest award for outstanding contributions to neuroscience worth EUR 1.3 million.

During the ceremony, HM The King gave a speech praising the two prize recipients for their discoveries:

“Your achievements in cancer neuroscience are truly extraordinary. You are an inspiration not only to your peers, but to generations of scientists yet to come. Thanks to your tireless efforts, there is hope that one day all types of brain cancer can be cured.”

Monje and Winkler have made transformative discoveries by showing that the everyday activity that takes place in the brain drives the development of cancers within it. Recent studies further show that the influence of the nervous system is not only limited to tumours in the brain, but also tumours throughout the body.

These remarkable findings have laid the foundation for an entirely new field of research called ‘Cancer Neuroscience’ that represents a paradigm shift in the understanding of these cancers, and which offers vital new opportunities for treatment. New treatments are critical since cancers that arise in the brain, particularly the ones known as gliomas, are extraordinarily difficult to treat, and are the leading cause of brain tumour-related deaths in both children and adults.

The Brain Prize has been awarded every year since 2011 by the Lundbeck Foundation. The celebration takes place in Copenhagen, and this year 360 invited guests attended. Guests of honor were the prize winners and their families, as well as patron of the prize, HM The King of Denmark.

The Brain Prize 2025 is awarded to:

Michelle Monje MD, PhD, the Milan Gambhir Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Stanford Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator,

and

Frank Winkler, MD, Professor of Experimental Neuro-Oncology,

Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, Department of Neurology, and German Cancer Research Center

for:

Pioneering Cancer Neuroscience: disease-driving interactions between the brain and brain tumours.

MORE INFO

A portrait film about the 2025 Brain Prize winners and their science (10 min.) is available at www.thebrainprize.org alongside various additional information on the prize.

Press kit available at https://brainprize.org/media

PRESS CONTACT

Martin Meyer | Director of The Brain Prize | Lundbeck Foundation mm@lundbeckfonden.com
Anne Sophie Tønnesen | Sr. Communications Partner | Lundbeck Foundation ast@lundbeckfonden.com

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