This year, the Hamburg based life sicences company Eppendorf SE awarded its prestigious research prize for the 30th time. The independent jury chaired by Professor Laura Machesky, Cambridge, UK, selected Dr Varun Venkataramani, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany as the winner of the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators 2025.
Varun Venkataramani received the 20,000 Euro award for his research on how synaptic neuron-tumour networks can drive brain tumour progression. The jury acknowledged the importance of the emerging field of neuro-oncology and Dr Venkataramani’s role in unravelling how neurons and tumours interact and the translational potential of this work.
The award acknowledges the important contributions to understanding the complex interplay between neurons and cancer cells in brain tumors, revealing how cancer cells form synapses with neurons and exploit neuronal mechanisms for tumor growth and invasion. These findings are establishing cancer neuroscience as a new field at the intersection of neuroscience and oncology, which will potentially lead to neuroscience-instructed treatment strategies for patients with brain tumors, for whom current therapeutic options remain limited.
The Award Ceremony took place on 3 July 2025 at the Advanced Training Center of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany.
