Cigall Kadoch, PhD, Wins Prestigious Blavatnik National Award

In recognition of her groundbreaking scientific discoveries that have changed the understanding of cancer biology, Cigall Kadoch, PhD, has been named as the Laureate of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in the field of life sciences.

The award from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences is given to America’s most promising, faculty-level scientific researchers under age 42 and comes with a $250,000 cash prize, representing the largest unrestricted scientific prize for young researchers. Kadoch was selected by an independent jury comprised of some of America’s most distinguished scientists out of 331 nominations from 172 institutions that were received by the 2024 Blavatnik National Awards committee. National Laureates were also chosen in the fields of chemical sciences and physical sciences & engineering.

Kadoch is an associate professor of pediatric oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular biology at Harvard Medical School, co-director of the epigenomics program at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Kadoch established her independent laboratory in 2014 at just 28 years old immediately following her PhD studies and has rapidly become a prominent scientist for her seminal work involving the biology of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes.

Healthy cells rely on the intricate collaboration of thousands of biological molecules; even minor perturbations in these interactions can lead to diseases like cancer. In a series of transformational studies, Kadoch has decoded the role of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers—complex molecular machines called mSWI/SNF or BAF complexes that are made up of dozens of interacting proteins—in regulating DNA accessibility and gene expression. Importantly, the Kadoch Lab also unraveled how disease-causing mutations in these complexes impact their structure and function in an expanding list of diseases that includes cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, and immunodeficiencies. Kadoch has built upon these discoveries to develop novel therapeutics and inform their utility a wide range of disease settings; these agents are currently being tested in clinical trials and could revolutionize the treatment of diverse maladies.

“This recognition is one of the most prestigious honors for a scientist to receive,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber. “Cigall has already made several seminal discoveries that that have unequivocally enhanced our understanding of human cancer. Her team stepped into the unknown and developed pioneering new approaches that have unmasked the potential of this foundational biology to impact medicine and open new avenues of scientific inquiry.”

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists will celebrate the 2024 Laureates and Finalists and the 2024 Blavatnik Regional Awards Laureates and Finalists in a gala ceremony on October 1, 2024, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.