Andrea Ablasser receives NOMIS Award
Andrea Ablasser. Credit: EPFL
Professor Andrea Ablasser at the EPFL School of Life Sciences has been honored with the prestigious NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award for 2024. The Award recognizes her groundbreaking contributions to the field of innate immunity and her significant impact on scientific research.
The NOMIS Foundation serves as a catalyst to “support and enable insight-driven science across all disciplines, focusing on researchers who put forth bold new ideas, exhibit a pioneering spirit and seek to inspire the world around them.” Founded in 2008, NOMIS promotes innovative scientific work that aims to provide profound insights into the basic mechanisms of life and to foster connections across diverse fields of study.
Since 2016, the NOMIS Foundation has presented the NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award to “exceptional scientists and scholars, whose innovative ideas and approaches involve interdisciplinary collaboration and apply a broad range of methods, building bridges across the boundaries of the sciences and humanities.” The Award honors those who actively share their work and seek new collaborative opportunities. By funding groundbreaking research, the award supports these scholars in exploring unconventional academic paths, aligning with the vision of NOMIS to ignite creativity in the scientific community.
The NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award for 2024 has been awarded to Professor Andrea Ablasser at EPFL. Professor Ablasser's research has been instrumental in uncovering how the innate immune system detects and responds to DNA from pathogens. Her work has opened new avenues for the development of therapies aimed at modulating the immune response, thereby offering potential treatments for a variety of diseases.
Recently, her studies have shown how the cGAS-STING DNA-sensing pathway is involved in chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration associated with aging, providing insights that could lead to novel strategies for combating these conditions
In addition to the NOMIS Award, Professor Ablasser has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Paul Martini Prize in 2023, the William B. Coley Award in 2020, the EMBO Gold Medal in 2021, and the National Latsis Prize in 2018. Her contributions to the scientific community extend beyond her research, as she actively participates in fostering scientific dialogue and collaboration.