{"id":79561,"date":"2026-06-09T14:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=awards&#038;p=79561"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:01:12","slug":"embo-gold-medal-for-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin","status":"publish","type":"awards","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/embo-gold-medal-for-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin","title":{"rendered":"EMBO Gold Medal for Gautam Dey and Omaya Dudin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>EMBL Group Leader Gautam Dey and his long-time collaborator Omaya Dudin, Group Leader at the University of Geneva, have both received EMBO Gold Medals in 2026 for outstanding work in evolutionary cell biology. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/dey\/\">Dey Group<\/a> studies the evolutionary origins of cell division and nuclear organisation, while the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dudinlab.com\/\">Dudin Lab<\/a> focuses on the evolution of multicellularity. Both teams are experts at using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/expanding-the-biological-world-through-microscopy\/\">expansion microscopy<\/a> \u2013 a powerful technique that allows close investigations of cellular ultrastructure across species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EMBO Gold Medal is awarded annually to scientists early in their independent careers who are based within European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) Member States. The award recognises exceptional contributions to life sciences in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recently caught up with Dey and Dudin, who shared some thoughts on this achievement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Congratulations on being awarded the 2026 EMBO Gold Medal! Can you tell us about your collaboration and how it feels to receive this award together?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Omaya Dudin (OD)<strong>: <\/strong>Gautam and I share the same obsession, understanding life across the evolutionary tree, with the same tools, the same curiosity, the same refusal to stay in one box. For years, I was told to focus, to pick one organism, one question. My brain never allowed it, and neither did his. Our labs work independently, but everything feeds everything else, and that&#8217;s what makes it real. Receiving this alongside him means more than I can easily put into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gautam Dey (GD): Science is a deeply human activity, shaped irrevocably by the people who dedicate their careers to understanding the universe we live, love, and die in. It has been one of the great privileges of my life to be a small part of a collective enterprise that is much, much bigger than just one person. This award belongs not just to Omaya and me, but to all the young scientists who took the gamble to work with two young, unproven PIs, our mentors, who gave freely of their time and wisdom, our families and friends, who lift us up and carry us through thick and thin, and the giants of cell and developmental biology, upon whose shoulders we stand.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8224-2-1024x768.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8224-2-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8224-2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8224-2-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">Members of the Dey and Dudin Groups in the Advanced Mobile Lab, along with collaborators Yannick Schwab, Chandni Bhickta, and Paolo Ronchi, during the TREC expedition. Credit: Niko Leisch\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What\u2019s the next big thing for you and your teams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>OD: The expansion microscopy atlas is becoming a discovery engine,&nbsp; a way to ask which species, which tools, which questions are ripe. We want to understand how life cycles and developmental programs evolved, how cells learned to cooperate, and how organisms adapt when their environment changes. We&#8217;re just getting started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GD: Building on several decades of exceptional mechanistic studies focused on a small number of species, Omaya and I belong to a small but growing community of cell biologists keen to marry the tools of modern molecular biology with an older naturalist tradition of viewing life in context. We hope this award will provide an additional small boost to the momentum the field of evolutionary cell biology has already gathered in the decade since its modern (re)incarnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Any final thoughts on receiving this award?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>OD: I am deeply humbled to receive this recognition. This belongs as much to my team, who bring curiosity and rigour every day, to my family, who hold everything together, and to my home, Palestine:&nbsp;the people, the place, the joyful stubbornness to enjoy life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GD: It is a special honour to receive this award from EMBO. The European project carries a lot of significance for both of us. It shows the rest of the world what we can achieve when we work together towards shared goals. Palestinian and Indian, we have made Europe our home, and it is deeply moving to be recognised in this way by our adopted community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Read the official announcement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embo.org\/press-releases\/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin\/\">from EMBO here.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two collaborators received the award for their contributions to the field of evolutionary cell biology, focusing on the origins of nuclear organisation and multicellularity, 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