The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) is awarding the 2026 HFSP Nakasone Award to Dr Erin Schuman (Managing Director, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, and a Vallee Visiting Professor) for her breakthrough related to the function and plasticity of neuronal synapses, their mRNA triggered function, and change during memory formation. 

Schuman’s groundbreaking research revealed that proteins critical for neuron communication, plasticity and memory storage, are produced locally at synapses, the junctions between neurons. This insight overturns the previous belief that all proteins are made in the cell body and then shipped out to synapses where they function. 

“HFSPO is thrilled to honor Dr Erin Schuman as her discovery is influencing the entire field of neuroscience where the focus is increasingly on individual synapses, rather than whole neurons,” said HFSPO Secretary-General Pavel Kabat. “This is the nature of the Nakasone Award: it is given to those pioneers who literally advance the frontiers of a whole discipline.” 

The HFSP Nakasone Award was established in 2010 to honor scientists who have made key breakthroughs in fields at the forefront of the life sciences. It recognizes the vision of Japan’s former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who envisioned and created the International Human Frontier Science Program beginning with a charter by the global leaders of the G7 nations in 1987.

Further Information
For details on Schuman’s discoveries, standing, and citations, please see HFSP full description of the 2026 Nakasone Award.
For more details, please see the Schuman Lab Website.

(Photo credit: Marcus Gloger, Körber Stiftung)