On Tuesday, June 9th, 2026, The Pershing Square Foundation (PSF) held its annual Prize Award Dinner at THE POOL in New York City. This was a celebratory event highlighting the winners of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize, the MIND Prize, and the Lotus Award, the three internal life science funding programs at PSF. Attendees included current and past Prize winners, scientific board members, friends of PSF, and other philanthropic and for-profit investors. The evening featured a performance by Grammy-nominated violinist Sami Merdinian.

Over the past 13 years, PSF has committed over $90 million through these three key programs, supporting 133 scientists across the United States. These initiatives focus on high-risk, high-reward research in oncology and brain science. Established in 2013, the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize aims to grant scientists the freedom to take risks and pursue their most ambitious projects, particularly at stages where traditional funding is scarce. This year marked a significant milestone as the program expanded nationally for the first time, broadening its reach beyond the greater New York City area. Building on the success of this model, the MIND (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) Prize was introduced in 2022, and continues to celebrate exceptional researchers from across the nation dedicated to advancing our understanding of the brain and cognition. Launched last year, the Lotus Award for ovarian cancer research is a nomination-based program that aims to inspire investigators with unique expertise to apply their knowledge to ovarian cancer and empower ovarian cancer researchers to pursue their boldest ideas.

Talented individuals have always been at the center of PSF’s approach, supporting leaders who transform systems, embrace new paradigms, and have an innate drive to make an impact. Beyond financial support, all three initiatives offer winners the chance to present their work to members of the Foundation’s vast ecosystem, fostering connection, collaboration, awareness and clinical translation.

The 2026 Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize winners are: Aparna Bhaduri, PhD from University of California, Los Angeles, Fei Chen, PhD from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Santiago Correa, PhD from Columbia University, Fleur Ferguson, PhD from University of California, San Diego, Ryan Flynn, MD, PhD from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University, Livnat Jerby, PhD from Stanford University, Caleb Lareau, PhD from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Robbie Majzner, MD from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Natasha Pavlova, PhD from University of Utah, Mia Petljak, PhD from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Marcus Ruscetti, PhD from UMass Chan Medical School, Benjamin Sabari, PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Jessica Stark, PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The 2026 MIND Prize winners are: Sarah Ackerman, PhD from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Corina Amor Vegas, MD, PhD from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Ryan Corces, PhD from Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Pascal Geldsetzer, MD, PhD from Stanford University, Daniel Hochbaum, PhD from Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Guosong Hong, PhD from Stanford University, Maxim Prigozhin, PhD from Harvard University, and Marissa Scavuzzo, PhD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

The 2026 Lotus Award winners are: Swarnali Acharyya, PhD from Columbia University, Jose Conejo-Garcia, MD, PhD from Duke University School of Medicine, Tal Danino, PhD from Columbia University, Richard Gregory, PhD from UMass Chan Medical School, Dan Landau, MD, PhD from Weill Cornell Medicine, Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD from University of Chicago, Scott Lowe, PhD from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Ie-Ming Shih, MD, PhD from Johns Hopkins University.