Professor Christopher Stewart has been named the Life Sciences Laureate at the 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.

The awards, announced by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences, celebrates Britain’s greatest young minds in their fields.

This year, the three Laureates—each awarded £100,000 in unrestricted funds—were chosen from a shortlist of nine finalists, representing some of the brightest young scientific minds across the UK.

‘Life-saving impact’

Professor Stewart leads a Newcastle laboratory where groundbreaking research on microbiome-based therapies for pre-natal infant mortality is already making a life-saving impact.

He said: "Being named Laureate for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK is beyond my wildest dreams.

"The list of previous Laureates in the Life Sciences category is incredible, and I am excited, and still in shock, to now be named alongside them.

"My receipt of this prestigious award is only possible because of the many amazing people who have supported my research over the past 15 years. Bringing this recognition of microbiology and emerging human organoid technologies to Newcastle, the city I grew up in, makes it extra special."

Professor Stewart is an expert in developing microbiome-based approaches to prevent necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), the leading cause of death in preterm infants.

His work revealed the role of human breast milk in shaping the gut microbiome in premature infants, by providing abundant sugars that serve as an energy source for beneficial bacterial species.

Professor Stewart has also established a novel premature gut organoid model and probiotic strategies to address NEC. This work is changing both local and global clinical practice, including clinical trials to improve infant nutrition and microbial-based therapy for premature infants in low-resource settings.

The three Laureates awarded across the UK are tackling some of the most complex and pressing issues in science and society:  infant mortality, green manufacturing and predicting long-term climate change.

The announcement was made at a black-tie gala, held at The Orangery at Kensington Palace, hosted by Sir Leonard and Lady Emily Blavatnik and presented by Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King’s College London.

‘Changing the world’

Each Laureate shared their prize-winning research with the country’s leading figures in research, academia, business and the arts.

Professor Shitij Kapur, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor and President of King’s College London and internationally renowned psychiatrist and neuroscientist, told this year’s honourees: “As pioneers in your fields – your voices count.

“And in your own way, taking your own steps, as King’s graduate Bishop Desmond Tutu says, 'you can change the world.' And that is what we will hear about tonight – how your science is changing the world.”

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are the most substantial unrestricted awards available to UK scientists under the age of 42. Since their establishment, the Awards have recognised more than 70 honourees from over 100 research institutions. To date, the Blavatnik Awards have contributed more than £3.1 million to UK research.

Professor Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council, said: “Since their inception, the Awards, administered by our Academy, have received close to 7,500 applications from over 450 research institutions across the US, the UK, and Israel.

“Over these 18 years, the Blavatnik Awards have recognised 540 scientists from 120 research institutions, a testament to the programme's growing international reach.”