Gonville & Caius College Fellow Professor Christine Holt has won the world-renowned Kavli Prize for Neuroscience, honouring her decades of research on brain development.
The Kavli Prize, awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters since 2008, honours scientists for breakthroughs in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, transforming our understanding of the big, the small and the complex.
Professor Holt is one of four Kavli Laureates in Neuroscience named on Wednesday. The 2026 recipients will receive the prize at a ceremony in Oslo presided over by the Norwegian Royal Family in September.
Professor Holt, Kelsey Martin, Erin Schuman and Oswald Steward received the Kavli Prize for Neuroscience “for the discovery of local protein synthesis in neurons and establishing its importance for brain development and plasticity”. The quartet, who made separate but related discoveries, shared a US Dollars 1million prize.
“I’m absolutely delighted and deeply honoured to receive the Kavli Prize of Neuroscience,” said Professor Holt, pictured. 
“It’s a wonderful recognition of the research my colleagues and I have done over the years. Our discovery that local protein synthesis occurs in the axons of neurons and is needed for their correct guidance was first published in 2001.
“It took another 15 or so more years of intensive research by our team and collaborators to gain a better understanding of this RNA-based mechanism and its importance in wiring the brain and, importantly, in maintaining nerve connections in adulthood.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with many talented students, postdocs, and colleagues, particularly Bill Harris with whom I collaborated extensively, so this prize recognises the work of all of them too. It highlights the importance of doing basic research that is curiosity-driven. And that curiosity-driven research often brings new understanding to practical issues, in this case neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.
“I am particularly delighted to share this prize with my esteemed colleagues Erin Schuman, Kelsey Martin and Oswald Steward whose separate discoveries have inspired my own research.”
Professor Emerita of Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, Professor Holt’s work showed that the growing tips of axons require local protein synthesis to navigate and form connections in the developing brain. Her team found that hundreds, perhaps thousands of different mRNA molecules are selectively shipped to growing axonal tips where specific new proteins are made in response to different guidance cues, such as attractants and repellents. Professor Holt’s work overturned the dogma that all new proteins in axons have to be shipped there from the cell body. Her lab also found links between local protein synthesis and axon degenerative disorders, such as ALS.
The Kavli Prize is her latest award. Professor Holt in March 2023 received The Brain Prize, the world’s largest award for outstanding contributions to neuroscience.
In June 2024, she received a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List for services to Neuroscience.
Photo: Liwlig/Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
