Gene therapy pioneer Marina Cavazzana wins the 2026 Taylor Prize

Dr. Marina Cavazzana, a professor of hematology at Université Paris Cité, is the 2026 recipient of the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine. The prize was established in 1985 to honour outstanding basic and clinical research, and this year’s $50,000 award recognizes gene therapy. The announcement came from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.

She began treating children with gene therapy more than three decades ago, when the approach was unproven: collect a patient’s own stem cells, add a working copy of the faulty gene in the lab and return the cells to the body. Early patients included children with severe combined immunodeficiency, who are born with little or no functioning immune system. A bone marrow transplant can cure it, but a suitable donor is not always available.

Robert Bartha, Western’s vice dean of research and innovation, said her work has been instrumental in the field, from its earliest successes to safer treatments. Cavazzana recalled telling worried families that there was hope.