Chana Kranzler

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Bar-Ilan University
Faculty of Life Sciences

Award Citation:

“For her pioneering research uncovering the hidden interactions between viruses and phytoplankton, and for illuminating their critical role in global marine ecosystems.”

Phytoplankton are marine microorganisms responsible for approximately half of all photosynthesis on Earth. They produce the oxygen we breathe, regulate the climate, and form the foundation of the marine food web. These microorganisms are in constant interaction with their environment, responding to the availability of light and nutrients, the presence of neighboring organisms, and predation and infection by zooplankton and viruses.

Dr. Chana Kranzler investigates how changing environmental conditions influence the life cycle of phytoplankton, with a particular focus on their interactions with viruses. In her groundbreaking research, she combines laboratory experiments with oceanographic sampling expeditions, tracking natural populations of phytoplankton and viruses. Her goal is to understand when viral infection occurs, which environmental conditions promote or inhibit it, and how these interactions affect the broader ecosystem. Her findings have shown, for example, how deficiencies in iron or phosphorus can alter infection rates, thereby influencing the cycling of carbon, silica, and marine life.

Dr. Kranzler’s pioneering work not only reveals previously hidden biological mechanisms but also provides critical insights into the potential impacts of climate change on global marine ecosystems. She is regarded as an inspiring scientist whose curiosity, creativity, and systems-level perspective are advancing our understanding of the hidden forces that sustain life on Earth.

 Menachem (“Hemi”) Rotenberg

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Biomedical Engineering

Award Citation:

“For developing innovative wireless technologies for cellular stimulation, expanding the frontiers of bioelectronics and biomedical applications.

The cells in our bodies respond to electrical and mechanical stimuli in a variety of ways. Neurons use electrical signals to control how we think, walk, and breathe, and they also regulate the heartbeat. Our immune system is likewise activated by electrical activity, while cells grow, migrate, and regenerate in response to electrical and mechanical stimuli—such as stretching and contraction—that govern how the body heals from injury. Despite their importance, existing methods for inducing these stimuli within the body are limited: they often require wiring, physical connections, or genetic manipulation, and frequently lack the necessary spatial precision.

Dr. Rotenberg’s work is pioneering the field of bioelectronics by creatively integrating life sciences, advanced materials, and biomedical engineering. In his laboratory, he has developed novel materials and technologies for the wireless stimulation of cells—both electrical and mechanical—across multiple scales, from whole organs down to the stimulation of specific regions within a single cell. His approach employs optoelectronic nanomaterials that convert light into electrical stimulation, as well as magnetic particles that enable precise mechanical control through externally applied magnetic fields.

The technologies developed by Dr. Rotenberg offer transformative solutions to longstanding challenges in medicine and science, such as stimulating the heart using infrared light and creating magnetically coordinated environments for tissue engineering. His work provides new insights into complex biological mechanisms and supports the development of groundbreaking clinical applications—all without the need for external wiring or genetic intervention.

Yiska Weisblum

Affiliation at the time of the award:

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Award Citation:

Dr. Yiska Weisblum leads pioneering research focused on one of the major threats to public health—viruses with pandemic potential. The goal of her work is to predict how viruses are likely to evolve, identify their hidden vulnerabilities, and harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to stay ahead of future outbreaks. In her research, Dr. Weisblum investigates the molecular interactions between viruses and their host cells—a complex network of interactions that influences patterns of infection and transmission. Understanding this “molecular game of chess” is essential not only for treating existing viruses but also for preparing for future pandemics. Using advanced genetic tools, she has uncovered previously unknown immune defense mechanisms, as well as viral weaknesses that may serve as targets for the development of new drugs and vaccines.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Weisblum was among the first researchers to predict the emergence of new viral variants before they became widespread in the population. She also identified promising antibody-based treatments. As part of efforts to prepare for future threats, she is developing non-pathogenic viral models that enable the safe study of how animal viruses adapt to infect humans. These models also serve as platforms for vaccine development.

Yonatan Belinkov

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Taub Faculty of Computer Science

Award Citation:

“For his innovative contributions to elucidating the internal mechanisms of artificial intelligence systems and developing methods to intervene in their computations.”

Dr. Yonatan Belinkov is a researcher in the fields of natural language processing and artificial intelligence. His research addresses a fundamental question: how do deep learning systems that generate text, images, and insights actually work, despite remaining “black boxes” – transparent in their outputs but opaque in their internal mechanisms? Dr. Belinkov develops methods for analyzing, understanding, and intervening in these models in order to uncover how meaning is represented, how biases emerge, and how incorrect information can be corrected.

His work combines advanced computational approaches with principles from linguistics, extending the reach of artificial intelligence into fields such as computational biology – for example, by building connections between different “languages,” such as human language and the language of DNA. Alongside his fundamental research, he has made major contributions to the precise control of large AI models, including the identification of individual neurons responsible for specific syntactic properties or factual knowledge.

Dr. Belinkov’s influence within the international research community is evident both in establishing new theoretical foundations and in shaping entire lines of research. His pioneering work sheds light on the inner workings of artificial intelligence systems and advances our ability to understand, interpret, and exert control over the technologies that are increasingly shaping our digital world.

Or Perlman

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Tel Aviv University
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering

Award Citation:

“For developing innovative methods for precise, non-invasive brain imaging using artificial intelligence, advancing the field of personalized medicine.”

Dr. Or Perlman’s research in medical imaging focuses on developing innovative methods for the early diagnosis of brain diseases and for monitoring patients’ responses to treatment through a unique integration of artificial intelligence and physics-based models. His laboratory aims to provide physicians with new tools for precise, rapid, and non-invasive imaging of molecular processes in the brain, including changes in acidity (pH), proteins, and metabolites—early biomarkers of diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Perlman’s work has already led to significant breakthroughs. For example, his research enabled the early detection of brain cancer responses to an innovative viral therapy, and the resulting model has been translated into clinical use at several hospitals around the world. In addition, his work has contributed to substantial improvements in the accessibility and efficiency of MRI examinations, reducing patient waiting times for scans and directly enhancing both patients’ quality of life and physicians’ ability to make more accurate clinical decisions.

The combination of interdisciplinary expertise, a creative research approach, and significant contributions to the advancement of personalized medicine places Dr. Perlman at the forefront of medical research.

Yiska Weisblum

Affiliation at the time of the award:

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Award Citation:

” For her contributions to understanding the interactions between viruses and the immune system, and for developing innovative approaches to addressing future pandemics.”

Dr. Yiska Weisblum leads pioneering research focused on one of the major threats to public health-viruses with pandemic potential. The goal of her work is to predict how viruses are likely to evolve, identify their hidden vulnerabilities, and harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to stay ahead of future outbreaks. In her research, Dr. Weisblum investigates the molecular interactions between viruses and their host cells-a complex network of interactions that influences patterns of infection and transmission. Understanding this “molecular game of chess” is essential not only for treating existing viruses but also for preparing for future pandemics. Using advanced genetic tools, she has uncovered previously unknown immune defense mechanisms, as well as viral weaknesses that may serve as targets for the development of new drugs and vaccines.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Weisblum was among the first researchers to predict the emergence of new viral variants before they became widespread in the population. She also identified promising antibody-based treatments. As part of efforts to prepare for future threats, she is developing non-pathogenic viral models that enable the safe study of how animal viruses adapt to infect humans. These models also serve as platforms for vaccine development.

Today, Dr. Weisblum continues to lead groundbreaking research in her laboratory, integrating genomics, virology, and synthetic biology. Her work advances our understanding of the immune system and expands the scientific tools available for combating future pandemics.

Yiska Weisblum

Affiliation at the time of the award:

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Award Citation:

” For her contributions to understanding the interactions between viruses and the immune system, and for developing innovative approaches to addressing future pandemics.”

Dr. Yiska Weisblum leads pioneering research focused on one of the major threats to public health-viruses with pandemic potential. The goal of her work is to predict how viruses are likely to evolve, identify their hidden vulnerabilities, and harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to stay ahead of future outbreaks. In her research, Dr. Weisblum investigates the molecular interactions between viruses and their host cells-a complex network of interactions that influences patterns of infection and transmission. Understanding this “molecular game of chess” is essential not only for treating existing viruses but also for preparing for future pandemics. Using advanced genetic tools, she has uncovered previously unknown immune defense mechanisms, as well as viral weaknesses that may serve as targets for the development of new drugs and vaccines.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Weisblum was among the first researchers to predict the emergence of new viral variants before they became widespread in the population. She also identified promising antibody-based treatments. As part of efforts to prepare for future threats, she is developing non-pathogenic viral models that enable the safe study of how animal viruses adapt to infect humans. These models also serve as platforms for vaccine development.

Today, Dr. Weisblum continues to lead groundbreaking research in her laboratory, integrating genomics, virology, and synthetic biology. Her work advances our understanding of the immune system and expands the scientific tools available for combating future pandemics.

James P. Eisenstein

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Caltech, USA

Award citation:

“For advancing our understanding of the surprising properties of two-dimensional electron systems in strong magnetic fields”.

Prize share:

James P. Eisenstein

Jainendra K. Jain

Mordehai Heiblum

James P. Eisenstein (1952, USA) earned his AB degree from Oberlin College in 1974 and completed a Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980. After serving as an assistant professor at Williams College, he joined Bell Laboratories in 1983 as a member of the technical staff. In 1996, he accepted a faculty position at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and became the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics and Applied Physics in 2005. He retired as professor emeritus in 2018 and concluded his experimental research in 2021. Eisenstein has contributed to several National Research Council committees, including the Solid State Sciences Committee and the Board on Physics and Astronomy. He also served as associate editor for the Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics from 2014 to 2017.

The three awardees have profoundly transformed our understanding of the fractional quantum Hall effect, (a Nobel prize-winning phenomenon) in which a thin layer of electrons in a magnetic field behaves as if the electrical current is carried by particles charged with a fraction of the electron charge.
A powerful and intuitively appealing way to understand these particles was developed by Dr. Jain, who introduced the concept of a composite fermion: a particle formed by binding an electron to a magnetic flux tube. The idea that large numbers of strongly interacting electrons behave as weakly interacting composite particles explains the intricate sequence of fractional quantum Hall states observed in the laboratory, now known as the Jain states. The composite fermion theory has provided quantitatively precise agreement with numerical studies, and it has predicted and explained experiments that find behavior reminiscent of a superconductor at special values (filling fraction 5/2) of the electron density.
Dr. Heiblum pioneered the exploration of these exotic particles in the laboratory. By developing ultra-high-purity materials and electron interferometry techniques, Heiblum’s group could provide concrete evidence for the fractional charge and verify fundamental predictions, including the anomalous statistics (intermediate between that of fermions and bosons). A milestone experiment was the observation of half-integer quantized thermal conductance at filling fraction 5/2, confirming the prediction that the corresponding composite fermions are Majorana fermions, and with potential implications for quantum computation.
Dr. Eisenstein co-discovered the fractional quantum Hall state at filling factor 5/2 and went on to explore exotic phases of two-dimensional electron systems. This includes an anisotropic state where the resistance probed along one direction is much larger than the resistance along the perpendicular direction, reminiscent of a liquid crystal. Eisenstein’s development of methods to separately contact individual electron layers enabled the study of the correlated motion of electron-hole pairs in the two layers, with the breakthrough observation of their Bose-Einstein condensation.
The award of the 2025 Wolf prize to these three physicists honors their extraordinary contributions to the exploration of quantum matter, with far-reaching impact on emerging quantum technologies.

Pamela J. Bjorkman

Affiliation at the time of the award:

Caltech, USA

Award citation:

“For pioneering innovative strategies to overcome viral defenses through novel antibody-focused approaches”.

Prize share:

None

Pamela J. Bjorkman (1956, USA) is the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering; Merkin Institute Professor, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Bjorkman grew up in Portland, Oregon, USA. She received a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Oregon and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University. As a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow with Don Wiley at Harvard, she solved the first 3-D structure of a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule, which functions to present pieces of potentially dangerous pathogens to T lymphocytes during immune recognition of infected cells. Dr. Bjorkman continued her postdoctoral training at Stanford with Mark Davis, where she worked on T cell receptors, and then joined the faculty at Caltech in 1989.
Bjorkman has spent decades studying how the immune system recognizes invading pathogens, aiming to develop therapeutics that enhance its response in novel ways. Her research focuses on the structure and function of molecules involved in cell surface recognition, particularly those mediating immune system recognition. She is investigating immune responses to a diverse range of viral pathogens to develop improved therapeutics and vaccines.
Pamela Björkman has made major contributions to four different areas during her career. First was her solution of the Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex Antigen (MHC) structure, a major accomplishment that transformed understanding of T-cell recognition of antigen. Next, in characterizing evolution of MHC-related proteins, she shed light on how MHC antigens could be targeted by systems other than T-cell recognition. Third, seeking how to generate a clinically effective immune response to HIV, she showed the vital importance of immunization strategies focused on conserved epitopes in order to defeat viral variants. Finally, since the advent of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, she took the lead on mapping structures engaged by antibodies on the coronavirus spike protein and relating them to the rapid evolution of this virus. Then, she developed a novel strategy, based on antibody structural constraints, to design immunogens to selectively elicit wide-spectrum antibodies against this family of coronaviruses. Taken together, hers represents a career of exceptionally sustained creativity and impact, fusing basic research and medically applicable science at the highest level.

Björkman’s recent work has been boldly innovative in designing more potent approaches to overcome viral defenses. Her studies on HIV illuminated the importance of antibodies that recognize invariant parts of the viral surface proteins. However, viral surface proteins often fold so that the immune system primarily detects parts that are easy for the virus to mutate without reducing its fitness. To overcome this, Björkman invented a new way to select positively for antibodies that target features conserved between different viral strains by exploiting the obligate dimer property of antibody structures. This innovative work represents a conceptual breakthrough and should potentially be much broader in application. Pamela Björkman’s work provides a glimpse of a new rational design strategy for future vaccines to deal with humanity’s greatest immunization challenges.

Mordehai (Moty) Heiblum

Affiliation at the time of the award:

The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Award citation:

“For advancing our understanding of the surprising properties of two-dimensional electron systems in strong magnetic fields”.

Prize share:

Mordehai Heiblum

Jainendra K. Jain

James P. Eisenstein

Mordehai (Moty) Heiblum (1947, Israel) is a physicist and electrical engineer, he graduated from the Technion (B.Sc., 1973) and Carnegie Mellon University (M.Sc., 1974) before earning his Ph.D. in 1978 at UC Berkeley. He began his career at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he worked for 12 years. In 1990, Heiblum returned to Israel to establish the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Center for Submicron Research at the Weizmann Institute, where he has served as director since its inception. He also founded and directed the Department of Condensed Matter Physics and holds the Alex and Ida Sussman Professorial Chair of Submicron Studies.

The three awardees have profoundly transformed our understanding of the fractional quantum Hall effect, (a Nobel prize-winning phenomenon) in which a thin layer of electrons in a magnetic field behaves as if the electrical current is carried by particles charged with a fraction of the electron charge.
A powerful and intuitively appealing way to understand these particles was developed by Dr. Jain, who introduced the concept of a composite fermion: a particle formed by binding an electron to a magnetic flux tube. The idea that large numbers of strongly interacting electrons behave as weakly interacting composite particles explains the intricate sequence of fractional quantum Hall states observed in the laboratory, now known as the Jain states. The composite fermion theory has provided quantitatively precise agreement with numerical studies, and it has predicted and explained experiments that find behavior reminiscent of a superconductor at special values (filling fraction 5/2) of the electron density.
Dr. Heiblum pioneered the exploration of these exotic particles in the laboratory. By developing ultra-high-purity materials and electron interferometry techniques, Heiblum’s group could provide concrete evidence for the fractional charge and verify fundamental predictions, including the anomalous statistics (intermediate between that of fermions and bosons). A milestone experiment was the observation of half-integer quantized thermal conductance at filling fraction 5/2, confirming the prediction that the corresponding composite fermions are Majorana fermions, and with potential implications for quantum computation.
Dr. Eisenstein co-discovered the fractional quantum Hall state at filling factor 5/2 and went on to explore exotic phases of two-dimensional electron systems. This includes an anisotropic state where the resistance probed along one direction is much larger than the resistance along the perpendicular direction, reminiscent of a liquid crystal. Eisenstein’s development of methods to separately contact individual electron layers enabled the study of the correlated motion of electron-hole pairs in the two layers, with the breakthrough observation of their Bose-Einstein condensation.
The award of the 2025 Wolf prize to these three physicists honors their extraordinary contributions to the exploration of quantum matter, with far-reaching impact on emerging quantum technologies.