Announcement of The Brain Prize Winners 2026

Описание: The recipients of The Brain Prize 2026 are revealed in this official announcement film, which describes their groundbreaking research and the perspective of The Brain Prize selection committee. The video also features a clinician’s perspective on how the winners’ discoveries may shape future benefits for patients.

The 2026 Brain Prize honors Professors David Ginty (Harvard Medical School, US) and Patrik Ernfors (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) for their pioneering discoveries on how the nervous system detects and processes touch and pain.

Together, their work has transformed our understanding of somatosensation—the sense of our own body and its physical interactions with the world. Without it, sensations such as pain, a comforting touch, or the feeling of movement would not be possible.

For decades, scientists lacked a clear understanding of how many distinct sensory neuron types exist, how they are constructed, and how their signals are organized and routed to the central nervous system.

The Brain Prize winners have changed this. By identifying and classifying distinct sensory neuron types, linking them to specific end organs and neural pathways, and developing widely used genetic and molecular tools, they have established a blueprint for understanding normal touch—and for pinpointing what goes wrong in conditions such as chronic pain and hypersensitivity.

Their work has rewritten textbooks and opened new avenues for the development of targeted treatments for conditions such as chronic pain and hypersensitivity to touch.

Related content:
Watch The making of The Brain Prize medal:    • The making of The Brain Prize medal  

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