Celebrating the achievements of those working to champion women working in cancer research

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2026 Pezcoller-Marina Larcher Fogazzaro-EACR Women in Cancer Research Award is Ayelet Erez (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel). 

About the Award and Award Lecture

The Pezcoller-Marina Larcher Fogazzaro-EACR Women in Cancer Research Award celebrates a cancer researcher of any gender who has demonstrated academic excellence and achievements in the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of women in cancer research. The award is presented at the annual EACR Congress to a researcher of excellence who has spent the majority of their research career in Europe, and the winner receives a €10,000 honorarium.

Ayelet Erez will deliver the Pezcoller-Marina Larcher Fogazzaro-EACR Women in Cancer Research Award lecture at the EACR 2026 Congress. She will also be invited to give a lecture in Trento, Italy, at the Pezcoller Foundation. On receiving the award, Ayelet commented, “I am deeply honored to receive this award, which recognizes the collective research efforts of my exceptional team and colleagues, whose dedication and collaboration made it possible.”

About the 2026 Winner

Ayelet Erez, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist who studies the gap between clinical medicine and basic science to advance healthcare. Her research centers on the metabolic crosstalk between the host and cancer, with a strong focus on translating metabolic insights into therapeutic and diagnostic innovations.
Dr. Erez earned her medical degree from the Technion Institute, and subsequently pursued a pediatric residency and a PhD in Cancer Genetics at Tel Aviv University. She then trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where she completed a clinical genetics fellowship and conducted postdoctoral research on the metabolism of human diseases.

In 2012, Dr. Erez returned to Israel to join the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she currently serves as Dean of the Weizmann MD-PhD School and Head of the Center for Rare Genetic Diseases. Beyond her academic leadership, she volunteers weekly at the Oncogenetics Clinic at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, where she assists in providing genetic counseling to pediatric patients with suspected hereditary cancer syndromes.

Dr. Erez’s scientific contributions have been recognized through numerous prestigious honors and awards, including the William Jr. Bowes Award in Medical Genetics from Harvard Medical School, the Career Development Chair Award from Dr. Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling, 2 ERC Consolidator Grants, the Lindner Award from the Israel Endocrine Society, the Krill Prize from the Wolf Foundation, the Rappaport Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Research, The Sir Ernst B. Chain Professorial Chair, the ERC Proof of Concept Grant, and the Mark Foundation Endeavor Award.

About the Pezcoller Foundation

The Pezcoller Foundation is a non-profit institution, whose goal is to promote scientific research against diseases which afflict mankind, specifically the fight against cancer. The Founder, Prof. Alessio Pezcoller, was Chief Surgeon at Santa Chiara Hospital in Trento, Italy. The Foundation was established in 1980.

The Foundation depends primarily on the substantial sum of money bequeathed by Professor Alessio Pezcoller, and by significant contributions from its sponsors: the Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto Foundation, the Province of Trento, the Administrative Councils of Trento and of Rovereto and other occasional private donations.

Due to its ever increasing recognition within the international oncological community, the Foundation collaborates with some of the most important cancer institutions: the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR). The Pezcoller Awards are officially recognised during the international conferences of the two above mentioned associations.