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Breakthrough Prize for ALS-dementia gene discovery awarded to Rosa Rademakers
Rosa Rademakers, scientific director at the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, was awarded the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her discovery of the C9orf72 expansion and its link to frontotemporal dementia at the 2026 Breakthrough Prize ceremony, held in Los Angeles on 18 April.
The Breakthrough Prize recognizes Dr. Rademakers' role in discovering the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion, a genetic mutation that fundamentally reshaped understanding of FTD and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and is the most common inherited cause of both conditions. Dr. Rademakers made this discovery while leading a neurogenetics laboratory at Mayo Clinic in the USA.
The 2026 Breakthrough Prize ceremony gala brings together leaders from science, technology, and the arts to celebrate scientific achievement and inspire the next generation.
Founded by Sergey Brin (Google), Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Yuri and Julia Milner (DST Global), and Anne Wojcicki (23andme), the Prize celebrates advances that deepen our understanding of the Universe and improve human life.
Each Breakthrough Prize carries an award of $3 million, making it the largest monetary prize in science. Rademakers shares the award with Bryan Traynor for the discovery of the gene expansion on the C9orf72 gene that causes frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and the motor neuron disease ALS.
Source: VIB, Mayo Clinic
