Neurobiology trio honoured for 2025 Eppendorf Prize
2 Nov 2025
Sainsbury Wellcome Centre fellow Sara Mederos was one of three finalists at this year’s Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology.
The London based scientist joined winner, postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University Cheng Lyu and co-finalist Constanze Depp, postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Lyu’s study focused on rewiring the olfactory neural circuit in fruit flies, linking genetic variation to animal behaviour, “paving the way to explore how developmental changes influence brain function,” said organisers.
Explained Lyu: “We found that the fly olfactory neural circuit builds its three-dimensional structure by breaking the developmental task into a series of one- dimensional steps. By manipulating this process, we rewired the neural circuit and altered the animal’s courtship behaviour.”
Mederos’s work looked at how the brain learns to adapt fear responses and to suppress these; Depp’s examined the role of myelin and oligodendrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease.
Open to scientists who aged 35 or younger, the competition celebrates those who have made outstanding contributions to neurobiological research.
This can be based on actively performed or directed laboratory work of molecular, cellular, systems, or organismic biology.
Each yearly winner receives US$ 25,000, support to attend the prize ceremony held on 16 November in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, USA.
They also have the opportunity to publish an essay on their work in the journal Science, co-host of the award with life science company Eppendorf.
Eppendorf has awarded the prize in tandem with the journal Science since 2002, with more than 70 winners and finalists being recipients.
Click here for more information about the Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology. The deadline for applications for the 2026 award is June 15, 2026.
www.eppendorf.com/prize.
