Prof. Omaya Dudin Receives the EMBO Gold Medal 2026
Geneva, June 9th, Dr Pierrick Berruyer.
The School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science, University of Geneva (UNIGE), is proud to celebrate Prof. Omaya Dudin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, as co-recipient of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Gold Medal 2026. This prestigious award is one of the highest honors in European life sciences for researchers under the age of 40. Prof. Dudin receives this distinction in recognition of “his outstanding work shedding light on the evolutionary origins of multicellularity.” The medal is shared with Dr Gautam Dey (EMBL Heidelberg), a close collaborator of Prof. Dudin.
Prof. Omaya Dudin investigates the cellular and evolutionary mechanisms that drive the transition from single-celled eukaryotes to multicellular life. To address this fundamental question, his research follows two complementary approaches. First, the laboratory dissects the molecular and cellular machinery underlying multicellular development in ichthyosporeans, marine microbial eukaryotes that are among the closest relatives of animals. This work traces how developmental programs first emerged and what they reveal about the origins of early animal life. Second, in close collaboration with Dr Gautam Dey at EMBL Heidelberg, the lab maps cellular organization across hundreds of microbial species using expansion microscopy. This effort is building a comparative atlas of cell architecture across the eukaryotic tree of life. Together, these approaches are inseparable: the atlas identifies evolutionary patterns across the tree, while the mechanistic work in ichthyosporeans explores how these strategies are built and why they emerged.
"The expansion microscopy atlas is becoming a discovery engine—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 are just getting started," explained Prof. Dudin.
Prior to joining UNIGE, Prof. Dudin completed his PhD at the University of Lausanne, where he studied cell fusion mechanisms in fission yeast. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, supported by SNSF Mobility and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships. He established his independent research group at EPFL in 2020 before relocating his laboratory to UNIGE in 2024.
The EMBO Gold Medal recognizes the exceptional promise and productivity of early-career scientists. Prof. Dudin has received numerous distinctions, including his appointment as an EMBO Young Investigator (2024–2027), the Friedrich Miescher Award 2026, and major competitive funding such as an SNSF Starting Grant (2024–2029) and a FEBS Excellence Fellowship (2024–2027).
Upon receiving the award, Prof. Dudin stated:
“I am deeply humbled to receive this recognition. This belongs as much to my team, who bring curiosity and rigor every day, to my family, who hold everything together, and to my home, Palestine: the people, the place, and the joyful stubbornness to enjoy life.”Collaboration as an unapologetic scientific strategy
The 2026 EMBO Gold Medal is shared with Dr Gautam Dey, Group Leader in the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit at EMBL Heidelberg. The award also highlights the collaboration between Prof. Dudin and Dr Dey. Together, they lead an ambitious project supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to build a global atlas of microbial eukaryotic cell architecture. Their partnership has already produced a landmark study published in Cell. Together, they plan to push this atlas from a resource into a research program: one that asks how life cycles evolved, how multicellular development was assembled, and how cells respond to a changing world. The EMBO Gold Medal committee highlighted their partnership as a model of the “collaborative spirit at the heart of EMBO’s mission.”
Reflecting on this collaboration, Dr Dey commented:
“It is a special honor to receive this award from EMBO. The European project carries a lot of significance for both of us. It is far from perfect, but it shows the rest of the world what even the smallest countries can achieve when they work together toward shared goals, beyond nationalist jingoism and the recent memories of bitter wars fought—and lost, because wars have no winners. Palestinian and Indian, we have made Europe our home, and it is deeply moving to be recognized in this way by our adopted community.”About the EMBO Gold Medal
Each year, EMBO awards the Gold Medal to early-career group leaders in recognition of outstanding contributions to the life sciences in Europe. Candidates are nominated by EMBO Members, with the aim of highlighting exceptional creativity, excellence, and scientific impact. The full list of past recipients is available at this link.
Prof. Dudin and Dr. Dey.
9 Jun 2026