Freedman, Johnson, and Surendranath named 2023 Blavatnik Award Finalists
The Blavatnik Family Foundation has announced the Finalists for the World’s Largest Unrestricted Prizes to Early Career Scientists.
The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists has announced that Professor Danna Freedman, Professor Jeremiah Johnson, and Professor Yogesh Surendranath are three of its 28 finalists for 2023. These awards, the largest unrestricted prizes for early career scientists, honor America’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers. They celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of young faculty members working in the three disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry.
“I congratulate all the laureates and finalists whose outstanding research gives us hope for the future,” said Len Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries. He is head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation and a member of the President’s Council of the New York Academy of Sciences.
The 2023 Blavatnik National Awards received 267 nominations from 134 institutions in 38 U.S. states. Nominees are faculty-level scientific researchers, 42 years of age or younger.
Freedman was recognized for her work elevating molecules to the cutting edge of quantum information technology, having achieved record stability and optical read-out from a molecular quantum bit.
Johnson was selected in recognition of his breakthrough control over the synthesis of organic polymers, unlocking real world applications ranging from more easily recycled plastics to the delivery of cancer therapeutics.
Surendranath was chosen for transforming the field of electrochemistry with his development of tunable graphite-based catalysts, which he is using to reveal new molecular-level insights into electrochemical reaction mechanisms.
