During National Postdoc Appreciation Week, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences are proud to announce the three Laureates and six Finalists of the 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists
, the Blavatnik Awards’ flagship prize that honors outstanding postdoctoral scientists from academic research institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards Laureates are:
Life Sciences: Veena Padmanaban, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University
Recognized for discovering a molecular mechanism allowing sensory neurons to communicate with breast cancer cells to drive metastasis and uncovering novel actionable therapeutic targets.
Physical Sciences & Engineering: Valentin Crépel, PhD, nominated by the Flatiron Institute
Recognized for advancing theories describing stacked, single-atom-thick materials, enabling easier control of their behaviors for applications in quantum technology and opening up new avenues for developing materials useful in novel quantum computing platforms.
Chemical Sciences: Xiao Xie, PhD, nominated by Princeton University
Recognized for pioneering chemical biology tools to map protein phase separation and copper signaling, which uncover molecular mechanisms underlying cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Xie is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of 2015 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate, Christopher Chang, PhD.
The Finalists are:
LIFE SCIENCES
Maria Cecilia Campos Canesso, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University
Recognized for advancing our understanding of food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease by developing new tools to uncover how immune cells communicate in the intestine, laying the foundation for more effective treatments.
Ipshita Zutshi, PhD, nominated by New York University
Recognized for discovering how the brain integrates dynamic goals with sensory inputs (sound, vision) to guide memory and decision-making — providing a framework for understanding cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES & ENGINEERING
Ore Gottlieb, PhD, nominated by the Flatiron Institute
Recognized for shifting the paradigm describing neutron star mergers, giving scientists a roadmap for finding and studying these rare events.
Viraj Pandya, PhD, nominated by Columbia University
Recognized for groundbreaking discoveries on early galaxy evolution, reshaping our understanding of how galaxies formed and challenging longstanding theories of the early universe.
CHEMICAL SCIENCES
Lucien Dupuy, PhD, nominated by Rutgers University, Newark
Recognized for developing quantum-classical and machine learning simulations that elucidate how molecules respond to light, crucial to understanding diverse topics like DNA stability, photocatalysis, and energy conversion. Dupuy is the first Blavatnik Awards honoree from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.
Yunjia Lai, PhD, nominated by Columbia University
Recognized for pioneering mass spectrometry innovations to map and screen environmental exposures and biological changes that drive neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
