Vizgen Founder Professor Xiaowei Zhuang Awarded 2026 Ernest Solvay Prize
Prize celebrates breakthrough work that resulted in the MERSCOPE® Platform
Waltham, Mass. – March 31, 2026 – Xiaowei Zhuang, PhD, the David B. Arnold, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, was recently awarded the 2026 Ernest Solvay Prize. Dr. Zhuang is a founder of Vizgen and a member of its Scientific Advisory Board. She received this latest award for pioneering the development of genome-scale imaging and spatial genomics.
In announcing the prize, the Syensquo Fund characterized Dr. Zhuang’s work as having “fundamentally changed how scientists observe biological systems and processes and understand how living organisms function at the molecular level.” The Ernest Solvay Prize celebrates breakthrough scientific discoveries that shape the chemistry of tomorrow. Established in 2013, it has honored researchers whose work drives human progress. A complete list of laureates in addition to Dr. Zhuang is available through Syensqo.
In 2015, Dr. Zhuang and colleagues published their seminal work on technology for understanding the molecular and cellular architecture of complex tissues. Multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH) was subsequently made available to researchers globally through the launch of the original MERSCOPE® platform, which has since been expanded to include the high-throughput MERSCOPE Ultra™ instrument and next generation MERFISH 2.0™chemistry.
Prof. Zhuang’s laboratory, renowned for developing MERFISH and STORM, has enabled scientists to visualize molecular architecture of cells and cellular organization of tissues at unprecedented resolution and molecular throughput. Her achievements have been honored with numerous accolades in addition to the Solvay Prize, including the induction to National Inventors Hall of Fame, the Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the NAS Award for Scientific Discovery, and the Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, among others. She has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Vizgen CEO Rob Carson said “We are thrilled that Xiaowei’s extraordinary contributions were recognized with the Ernest Solvay Prize. On behalf of Vizgen employees worldwide, I congratulate her on this latest recognition.” He added that Dr. Zhuang’s transformational research now directly powers Vizgen’s purpose to bring about a world where every disease has a map and every cure has a path.
The Ernest Solvay Prize award ceremony was held on March 10, 2026, at the Palais des Académies in Brussels.
For more information about Prof. Zhuang’s research, please visit https://zhuang.harvard.edu.
About Vizgen®
Vizgen is at the forefront of spatial biology and multiomics innovation. Co-founded by leaders in single-cell and spatial genomics, including Xiaowei Zhuang, PhD, David Walt, PhD, and Jeffrey Moffitt, PhD, Vizgen builds technologies that equip researchers for discovery in foundational biology and human disease. These include its pioneering MERFISH 2.0™ chemistry and MERSCOPE Ultra™ Platform for in situ single-cell spatial genomics along with its high-fidelity InSituPlex® protein assays and AI-driven STARVUE™ spatial image analysis technology. MERFISH and InSituPlex are for research use only. Vizgen is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with R&D and lab services operations in nearby Cambridge. For more information, visit www.vizgen.com or connect on social media X, LinkedIn and Facebook.
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Media Contact:
Anjana Narayanan, PhD
Vizgen
anjana.narayanan@vizgen.com