Carmen Sandi wins Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation Award
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EPFL neuroscientist Carmen Sandi has received the 2026 Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation Award in Translational Neuroscience.
The Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation Award in Translational Neuroscience is granted by the Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation in collaboration with the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS).
The Award recognizes “significant achievements by an individual in translational science, particularly those where fundamental and conceptual understanding of the nervous system has been brought to support clinically relevant progress.”
Professor Carmen Sandi, a leading neuroscientist at EPFL, has won the 2026 edition of the Award. The FENS citation reads: “Overall, Sandi’s work exemplifies the successful translation of fundamental neuroscience into insights and avenues that inform the etiology, prevention, and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders.”
Sandi is a professor at EPFL’s Brain Mind Institute within the School of Life Sciences, where she directs the Laboratory of Behavioural Genetics, and her research has profoundly advanced our understanding of how stress and anxiety impact brain function and behavior.
Sandi's work combines approaches from pharmacology, neurochemistry, genetics, behavioral economics, and neuroimaging to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying cognition and emotion. Recent studies from her lab have focused on the mesolimbic system, mitochondrial function in motivation, and the long-term effects of early life adversity on mental health. Her goal is to translate fundamental discoveries into therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders linked to stress and social dysfunction.
Sandi will receive the Award during the FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona where she will give the Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation Award Lecture.