COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 18, 2025 — Two professors engaged in neuroscience research have received a major scientific award for their use of two-photon imaging and optogenetics to develop a new understanding of the way cancers (especially gliomas) progress in the body and the brain. The recipients of the 2025 Brain Prize were Michelle Monje, the Milan Gambhir Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Stanford Medicine, and Frank Winkler, a professor of experimental neuro-oncology at Heidelberg University.
Initially working independently and then collaboratively, the two used innovative imaging methods to reveal that for brain cancer to flourish, the synapses of the neural network within an individual’s brain are effectively hijacked. Focusing on the nervous system, the scientists came to understand that the nervous system is key to the sophisticated communication that develops between cancer cells and with other mechanisms in the body.
Monje’s lab used optogenetics to stimulate neurons that accelerated the growth of gliomas, proving the link between specific synapses and cancer cells. Winkler’s team utilized two-photon imaging to confirm that glioma cells do not operate independently of neural biology, but in fact link through microtubes — similar to the way neurites typically form in between brain cells.
The 2025 Brain Prize amounts to DKK 10 million ($1.5 million) and was awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation, one of Denmark’s largest enterprise foundations, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on public research, particularly in the area of neuroscience. The award ceremony took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the King of Denmark in attendance.
Professor Frank Winkler of Heidelberg University, a co-recipient of the 2025 Brain Prize, examines two-photon images of brain activity, which may be a key driver of glioma growth. Courtesy of Heidelberg University.
In the recent announcement of the prize, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, chair of the selection committee, cited the advancements in understanding and clinical practice that the scientific breakthroughs of Monje and Winkler could achieve.
“Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors. They are very difficult to cure, and the more rapidly growing forms are almost universally fatal,” Meyer-Lindenberg said. “Working independently, Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler have transformed our understanding of the biology of these neurological cancers.”
In a recent interview with Photonics Media, Winkler said that during a conversation he had with Monje at Heidelberg University, they learned they had arrived at similar conclusions using distinctly different — but related — optical technologies.
“Historically, the nervous system has not been fully appreciated or studied when it comes to brain cancer, which in some ways is surprising, because the brain is the most important part of the nervous system,” Winkler said. “What we have learned is that brain cancer shows neural features, and the cancer cells communicate with each other, and with normal neurons.”’
He said that his team’s recent instrumentation has included the ZEISS Laser Scanning Microscope 780, as well as a Coherent Discovery NX laser for multiphoton excitation. Leveraging this technology, the team has not only shown that tumors colonize the brain, but that the communication networks can be interrupted.
“We see that by using intravital microscopy, it is possible to probe and interrogate these networks,” Winkler said. “But there are also inhibitors on the market that target gap junctions [a central part of the communication between the microtubules] and calcium pathways. We may know the results of clinical trials in these areas within the next two to three years.”
Ultimately, he said these techniques may help surgeons identify the boundaries of resection in real time. He said in awarding the Brain Prize, the Lundbeck Foundation has acknowledged the burgeoning field of cancer neuroscience, which Winkler hopes attracts scientists from a variety of disciplines.