French chemist Raphaël Rodriguez and biologist Gaëlle Legube have been named laureates of the 2026 ARC Foundation awards for cancer research, France Inter announced in an advance preview on Thursday, April 23, 2026.
Rodriguez, a researcher at the Institut Curie, received the Léopold Griffuel Prize, whereas Legube, director of research at the CNRS in Toulouse, was awarded the Grand Prix Oberling-Haguenau. The foundation will officially reveal the winners later that evening.
Legube’s work focuses on the mechanisms of DNA repair, particularly double-strand breaks, which she describes as damage that “literally cuts chromosomes in two.” She explained that while cells have molecular mechanisms to repair such damage, errors in this process can contribute to cancer development.
Both laureates highlighted significant progress in cancer research in recent years but warned of declining funding, which they said threatens to leisurely future advances.
