The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prizes. Awarded annually, the Vilcek Foundation Prizes recognize and celebrate the extraordinary contributions of immigrant professionals in biomedical science and in the arts and humanities in the United States. In 2022, the Vilcek Foundation Prizes are awarded in Biomedical Science, in Dance, and for Excellence in Biotechnology, comprising a total award sum of $600,000.

The foundation’s prizes are a vital part of how the Vilcek Foundation accomplishes its mission. When we celebrate outstanding immigrants with our prizes, we raise awareness of the enormous contributions that immigrants make to intellectual and cultural life in the United States.

The recipients of the 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prizes have contributed to our understanding of the immune system, and cell pathology; they discovered methods for stabilizing mRNA, making the development of mRNA vaccines possible; and they have enriched and expanded the use of dance as an art form through their evocative performances and choreography.

Congratulations to all of our 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prizewinners!

Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

Vishva M. Dixit

Vice President of Early Discovery Research and Physiological Chemistry, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group

Born in Kenya

Vishva M. Dixit receives the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science for his groundbreaking discoveries on the mechanism of apoptosis – a biochemical process of programmed cell death implicated in both normal human development and disease – and for his research into the cellular and molecular processes that drive inflammatory signaling.

Vilcek Prize in Dance

Soledad Barrio

Founding member, choreographer, and dancer, Noche Flamenca; Resident teaching artist at NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Born in Spain

Soledad Barrio receives the Vilcek Prize in Dance for her commitment to the growth and evolution of the genre of flamenco through her artistic leadership and instruction with Noche Flamenca, and for the creative vision and technical mastery she brings to her performances.

Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Biotechnology

Katalin Karikó

Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania; Senior Vice President, BioNTech SE

Born in Hungary

Katalin Karikó receives the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Biotechnology for her pioneering research leadership into the development of mRNA therapeutics, which led to the development of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19.

Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

Markita del Carpio Landry

Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley; Investigator, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Investigator, Innovative Genomics Institute

Born in Canada

Markita del Carpio Landry receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for the development of probes to visualize neurochemical communication in the brain, and for breakthroughs in gene-editing technologies with applications for agriculture and the development of biologic drugs.

Hani Goodarzi

Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco

Born in Iran

Hani Goodarzi receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for using modeling and computational methods to uncover novel molecular players and pathways and therapeutic targets in cancer metastasis and for developing sophisticated molecular tools for the early detection and monitoring of cancer.

Harris Wang

Associate Professor of Systems Biology, Columbia University In the City of New York; Scientific Advisory Board Member, SNIPR Biome; Scientific Advisory Board Member, Kingdom Supercultures

Born in China

Harris Wang receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for the development and application of Mutiplex Automated Genome Engineering (MAGE), a platform to track, program, and engineer entire microbial communities and ecosystems for a range of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Dance

Tatiana Desardouin

Choreographer, director, dancer, lecturer of Passion Fruit Dance Company

Born in Switzerland, of Haitian descent

Tatiana Desardouin receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance for her presentation of hip-hop and house dance that brings the vernacular tradition of these genres in the Black diaspora to her performances, choreography, and artistic direction.

Tamisha Guy

Dancer

Born in Trinidad and Tobago

Tamisha Guy receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance for her evocative and intuitive performance style that blends elements of contemporary, modern, and narrative dance traditions, and for her commitment to furthering her own practice through instruction, collaboration, and mentorship.

Leonardo Sandoval

Artistic Director, Music From The Sole; Dancer, Dorrance Dance

Born in Brazil

Leonardo Sandoval receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance for his dynamic choreography that expands the boundaries of tap as a genre and his unique practice that engages elements of Afro-Brazilian dance traditions including samba, forró, maracatu, and passinho.