The SWISS BRIDGE AWARD of 500,000 Swiss francs was presented yesterday, in Zurich, recognising three young, ambitious cancer researchers. The award winners were: Dr Andrea Alimonti, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI), Dr Bellinzona, Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Dr Anna Sablina, VIB Research Institute, K.U.Leuven, Belgium.

For over ten years, SWISS BRIDGE has been supporting scientists, whose work promises major advancements in cancer research and in the fight against the disease.

This year's award is dedicated to promoting cancer researchers, who stand at the beginning of their career. With the 11th SWISS BRIDGE AWARD, junior researchers who aim to transform the way we fight cancer are recognised: They are promising basic researchers, who are currently establishing a team at their institute or have recently become team leaders.

Over 60 researchers responded to the call for applications by submitting a short project description. These applications were evaluated by an international scientific committee under the operative lead of the Scientific Office of the Swiss Cancer League. Six researchers were invited to submit a detailed project description and finally, three projects were nominated for the award. The president of the Scientific Committee, Professor Gordon McVie of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, presented the award to the three winners, who will use the funding for the realisation of their innovative research projects.

Source: SWISS BRIDGE