A University of Exeter expert has been recognised as an 'outstanding early career biomedical researcher' after he was selected as a 2026 Lister Prize Fellow.
Dr Mark Hanson will receive £300,000 in flexible funding over the next five years to expand his research into how immune systems respond differently to infection.
His team will use the funding to develop genetic tools to investigate the rules governing immune system evolution, with implications for understanding zoonotic disease transmission.
Dr Hanson said: "The Lister Prize is an incredible gift and opportunity to pursue something I believe could start a revolution in my field, but also others.
"My group will pursue an ambitious and challenging task earnestly, but the benefits of that labour will ripple outward. We will develop genetic tools in a non-model system that rival some of the approaches of the premier genetic workhorse, Drosophila melanogaster.
"These tools will enable us to ask topical questions regarding the rules of immune system evolution, with implications for zoonotic disease transmission, and what forces shape our immune system's first responders."
Eight scientists were selected as 2026 Lister Prize Fellows, with the judging committee praising "the originality of their questions, the quality of their science and the potential of their work to open up new areas of understanding", adding that they "represent an exciting cohort of future leaders in biomedical research".
The Lister Prize is among the UK and Ireland's most prestigious awards for biomedical researchers in the early years of establishing their own laboratories and research groups.
Unlike project-based grants, the Prize provides a lump sum that can be spent flexibly to give Fellows the freedom to take their science in bold new directions.
Prize recipients also join a community of current and former Lister Fellows and benefit from mentorship at the Lister's Annual Fellows Meeting.
