Zurich. For the 53rd time, the Professor Dr Max Cloëtta Foundation is presenting its renowned prize for medical research.
The Cloëtta Prize in 2026 is awarded for their outstanding research to:

Professor Martin Jinek, Full Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Zurich, and Professor Mirjam Christ-Crain, Professor of Endocrinology and Clinical Research at the University of Basel and Head of the Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University Hospital Basel.

Martin Jinek
Professor Jinek has made fundamental contributions to the molecular understanding and development of CRISPR-Cas genome-editing technologies. His work helped establish Cas9 as a programmable tool for precise genetic engineering and continues to uncover the mechanisms of protein-nucleic acid complexes in genome regulation and defence pathways. Building on this pioneering role, his group uses biochemical and structural approaches to reveal how RNA-guided enzymes recognise, cut and rearrange DNA. These insights advance next-generation genome-editing tools, including bridge recombinases for programmable DNA integration in human cells, with far-reaching potential for biomedical research and future therapeutic applications.
Mirjam Christ-Crain
Professor Christ-Crain has reshaped the diagnosis and treatment of vasopressin-dependent disorders of water balance, including arginine vasopressin deficiency and hyponatraemia. As a clinician-scientist, she has led multicentre studies establishing copeptin as a robust diagnostic biomarker and developed patient-oriented approaches that have rapidly translated into clinical benefit. Her research has also opened the field of clinically relevant oxytocin deficiency in patients with vasopressin deficiency, creating a bridge between endocrinology, neurobiology and mental health. By combining rigorous clinical trials with mechanistic insight, she exemplifies translational research with immediate relevance for patients.

Venue
The Cloëtta award ceremony will take place on October 30, 2026, at 5:00 pm in Basel. The exact venue will be announced by the Professor Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation.

The call for applications 2026 for the Clinical Medicine Plus scholarships is now closed.

Deadline was 31 May 2026.

The final selection will take place at the beginning of October 2026. Until then, we kindly ask all who submitted applications for their patience.