The “Oscars® of Science” award prizes of $3 million for advances against cancer, cystic fibrosis and Parkinson’s disease; In-depth knowledge of quantum field theory and differential geometry
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences awarded to Carl June and Michel Sadelain; Sabine Hadida, Paul Negulescu and Fredrick Van Goor; Thomas Gasser, Ellen Sidransky, and Andrew Singleton
John Cardy and Alexander Zamolodchikov receive the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
Simon Brendle receives the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics
Six New Horizons Prizes Awarded for Early Achievement in Physics and Mathematics
Three Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Awards awarded to female mathematicians for early career achievements
Laureates will be honored at the awards gala ceremony in Los Angeles on April 13, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Breakthrough Prize Foundation today announced the winners of the 2024 Breakthrough Prizes, honoring an esteemed group of the world’s greatest minds for impactful scientific discoveries, including a subset responsible for Substantial advances in the understanding and treatment of major diseases.
Science is an endless revolution. Diseases that seemed invincible twenty years ago can now be controlled or cured. Our deepest physical theories explain the world with astonishing precision. And in the field of mathematics, new ideas are reaching the frontiers of the unknown. The Breakthrough Prize, popularly known as the “Oscars® of science,” was created to celebrate the wonders of our scientific age by founding sponsors Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.
The latest list of award winners is driving this revolution. They include 11 winners of the Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics, who share five $3 million prizes between them; 12 early-career physicists and mathematicians share six $100,000 New Horizons in Physics awards; and three women mathematicians who recently completed their doctorates, each of whom received a $50,000 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Award. This year’s prize money totals $15.75 million, bringing the amount awarded over the thirteen years of the Breakthrough Prize to $308 million.
life sciences
This year’s Life Sciences honorees include honorees recognized for key advances in the fight against three major diseases: cancer, cystic fibrosis and Parkinson’s disease.
Carl June and Michel Sadelain genetically engineered T cells (key players in the body’s immune system) with synthetic receptors called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to instruct the T cells to recognize cancer cells from individual patients. These CAR T cells have remarkable success rates against liquid cancers, including types of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. In some patients, the tumors have been completely eradicated and have not returned years after treatment.
Sabine Hadida, Paul Negulescu and Fredrick Van Goor invented the first effective medications to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. This deadly disease of the lungs and other organs is caused by a protein that cannot do its job of allowing ions to enter and leave cells. These researchers discovered four drugs, the last of which is a triple combination drug, which allows the protein to work, greatly improving the quality of life (and length of life) of people with this disease.
Thomas Gasser, Ellen Sidransky and Andrew Singleton discovered the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. Sidransky identified mutations in the GBA1 gene, which encodes an enzyme that breaks down fatty substances in cells, as a genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s; while Gasser and Singleton independently demonstrated that mutations in the LRRK2 gene result in increased activity of a protein thought to contribute to neuronal damage in the disease. These discoveries offer clues to the mechanisms that cause the disease, pointing to the role of the lysosome, the cellular organelle that degrades and recycles cellular components.
Fundamental physics
In fundamental physics, John Cardy and Alexander Zamolodchikov have contributed a lifetime of deep insights into quantum field theories, which describe not only particle physics but also emerging phenomena from magnetism and superconducting materials to the information content of black holes, and have also become a rich source of information. field of study of mathematics.
Mathematics
Mathematician Simon Brendle has contributed a number of notable advances in differential geometry, a field that uses the tools of calculus to study curves, surfaces and spaces. Many of his results concern the shape of surfaces, as well as multiple dimensions in dimensions higher than those we experience in everyday life.
“The work of these awardees is very impressive, whether exploring abstract ideas or unraveling the causes of human diseases and producing effective treatments that impact millions of lives.” -Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg
“Humanity’s collective intelligence is our most significant achievement. Great scientists, including Breakthrough Prize winners, are at the forefront of this incredible phenomenon in our Universe.” -Yuri Milner
“Each year I am inspired by the ideas, discoveries and commitment to progress of the women and men who win the Breakthrough Prize.” -Anne Wojcicki
“Oscars® of Science”
The winners will be honored on April 13 at the 10th annual Breakthrough Prize ceremony, to be held in Los Angeles. The Breakthrough Prize ceremony is the only one of its kind that puts scientists center stage, and is attended by luminaries from film, sports, comedy and music to give their attention to the scientists.
Last year’s ceremony, the first in Los Angeles, was hosted by James Corden and featured Kristen Bell, Magnus Carlsen, Lily Collins, Danny DeVito, Robert Downey Jr., Gal Gadot, Mae Jemison, Brie Larson, Edward Norton, Leslie Odom Jr., Chris Pine, Lauren Ridloff and Chloé Zhao, with music by John Legend, will.i.am and Estelle. Featured videos and photos can be found here.
Early career researchers
Early career researchers in a variety of fields are also recognized, including nine researchers who are making breakthroughs in astronomy and cosmology. The New Horizons in Physics awards recognize Michael Johnson and Alexandru Lupsasca, for their studies of photon rings (light trapped in orbit around black holes) and their work showing how they can be detected with future experiments; Laura M. Pérez, Paola Pinilla, Nienke van der Marel and TilBirnstiel, who discovered and characterized dust traps: regions of dynamic rings of gas and dust around stars where dust particles aggregate; and Mikhail Ivanov, Oliver Philcox, and Marko Simonović, who studied the structure of the cosmos on a galactic scale and found ways to use that knowledge to contribute new insights to fundamental physics.
Today, physics and mathematics are deeply interconnected, and discoveries from one discipline often lend powerful tools and concepts to the other. This year, the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize is awarded to Roland Bauerschmidt for his work on probability theory and the renormalization group, a concept that emerged from quantum field theories studied by the winners of this year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. year, and has become an important object of study in mathematics. Angkana Rüland is honored for her work that also addresses ideas derived from physics, such as transitions between states of matter, which are now studied in mathematical fields such as analysis, the branch of pure mathematics that emerged from calculus. And Michael Groechenig receives the prize for his knowledge of arithmetic geometry.
For her work in algebraic geometry, Hannah Larson wins the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Award; together with Laura Monk for her discoveries about hyperbolic surfaces; and MayukoYamashita, for her contributions to mathematical physics and rate theory.
Full mentions for the 2024 winners
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Carl H. JunePerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Michel SadelainMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
For the development of CAR T-cell immunotherapy in which the patient’s T cells are modified to attack and destroy cancer cells.
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Sabine Hadida, Paul Negulescu, Fredrick Van Goor
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
To develop life-transforming drug combinations that repair the defective chloride channel protein in patients with cystic fibrosis.
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Thomas GasserHertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Ellen SidranskyNational Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Andrew SingletonNational Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
For identifying GBA1 and LRRK2 as risk genes for Parkinson’s disease, implicating autophagy and lysosomal biology as critical contributors to the pathogenesis of the disease.
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
John CardyAll Souls College, University of Oxford
Alexander ZamolodchikovStony Brook University
For profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics.
Breakthrough Award 2024 in Mathematics
Simon BrendleColumbia University
For transformative contributions to differential geometry, including sharp geometric inequalities, many results on Ricci flow and mean curvature flow and Lawson’s conjecture on minimal 3-sphere tori.
2024 New Horizons Prize in Physics
Michael JohnsonCenter for Astrophysics | Harvard
Alexandru LupsascaVanderbilt University
To elucidate the substructure and universal characteristics of black hole photon rings and their proposed detection using next-generation interferometric experiments.
2024 New Horizons Prize in Physics
Mikhail IvanovMIT
Oliver PhilcoxColumbia University and Simons Foundation
Marko SimonovićUniversity of Florence
For contributions to our understanding of the large-scale structure of the universe and the development of new tools to extract fundamental physics from galaxy studies.
2024 New Horizons Prize in Physics
Laura M. PérezUniversity of Chile
Paola PinillaUniversity College London
Nienke van der Marel Leiden Observatory
Til BirnstielLudwig Maximilian University of Munich
For the prediction, discovery and modeling of dust traps in young circumstellar disks, solving a long-standing problem in planet formation.
New Horizons 2024 Prize in Mathematics
Roland BauerschmidtNew York University
For outstanding contributions to probability theory and the development of renormalization group techniques.
Michael GroechenigUniversity of Toronto
For contributions to the theory of rigid local systems and applications of p-adic integration to mirror symmetry and the fundamental lemma.
Angkana Rüland University of Bonn
For contributions to applied analysis, particularly the analysis of microstructure in solid-solid phase transitions and the theory of inverse problems.
Premio Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers 2024
Hannah LarsonUniversity of California, Berkeley(PhD Stanford University 2022)
For advances in Brill-Noether theory and the geometry of the module space of curves.
Laura MonkUniversity of Bristol(PhD University of Strasbourg 2021)
To advance our understanding of large genus random hyperbolic surfaces.
Mayuko YamashitaKyoto University(PhD University of Tokyo 2022)
For contributions to mathematical physics, index theory.
About the Breakthrough Prize For the twelfth year, the Breakthrough Prize, known as the “Oscars® of science,” recognizes the world’s best scientists. Each award amounts to $3 million and is presented in the fields of biological sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics. In addition, up to three New Horizons in Physics awards, up to three New Horizons in Mathematics awards, and up to three Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers awards are awarded to early-career researchers each year. Laureates attend a gala ceremony designed to celebrate their achievements and inspire the next generation of scientists.
The Breakthrough Awards were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner and Anne Wojcicki and have been sponsored by foundations established by them. Selection committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize winners in each field choose the winners. Information about the Breakthrough Prize is available at breakthroughprize.org.
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