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Prof. Li Tang from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has received the 2025 Stanisław Lem European Research Prize (Lem Prize). The award committee recognized his groundbreaking discoveries related to the functioning of the immune system in combating cancer.
The Stanisław Lem European Research Prize (Lem Prize), worth 100,000 PLN, has been awarded by Wrocław University of Science and Technology for the fifth time. It is granted to young researchers (up to 40 years old) studying or conducting research in the European Union or associated countries.
The international committee, chaired by Prof. Maciej Lewenstein (The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona), evaluates candidates’ recent discoveries or significant achievements in broadly understood fields of science and engineering, with strong elements of technology, interdisciplinarity, creativity, and vision.
The winner of the 2025 edition was announced during the Wrocław Tech Festival by the rector, Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs. Following the committee’s decision, the prize was awarded to Prof. Li Tang from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland for the project “A Paradigm Shift in Cancer Immunotherapy: Harnessing Type 2 Immunity for Curative and Accessible Therapies”.
Prof. Li Tang’s research brings new insights into how T cells respond to immunomodulatory cytokines such as IL-10 and IL-4, a process that had not been fully understood. T cells are a key component of the immune system. They are white blood cells that help the body fight disease. The team of the 2025 Lem Prize laureate has discovered new properties of these cells, helping scientists better understand how they recognize and destroy cancer cells. This is an important step toward developing more effective cancer therapies that harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms—immunotherapy.
As a scientist working in the field of immuno-engineering and cancer immunotherapy, I'm inspired every day by the idea that science and imagination together can expand the boundaries of what's possible for human health.This also well echoes the spirit of Stanisław Lem.
“As a scientist working in the fields of immunoengineering and cancer immunotherapy, I’m inspired by the idea that science and imagination together can expand the boundaries of what is possible in human health. This also well echoes the spirit of Stanisław Lem,” said Prof. Li Tang in a message addressed to the Wrocław Tech community. “I dedicate this award to my team, my collaborators—especially clinicians and patients—and to all who believe that science guided by imagination can shape a better world”.
Prof. Li Tang will receive the award in person in 2026. During a special ceremony at Wrocław University of Science and Technology, he will be presented with a statuette created by renowned artist Prof. Przemysław Tyszkiewicz.
Prof. Li Tang received his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University, China, in 2007, and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, in 2012, under the supervision of Prof. Jianjun Cheng.
He was a CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Darrell Irvine at Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 2013-2016.
He joined the faculty of Institute of Bioengineering, and Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in 2016, and promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2022.
He is currently the Vice Dean for Innovation and Director of Innovate4Life program at School of Life Sciences, EPFL.
His research focuses on developing multidimensional immunoengineering approaches for enhanced cancer immunotherapies.
The central paradigm of cancer immunotherapy for decades has been the exclusive focus on "type 1" immunity. While powerful, this approach has inherent limitations, leaving many patients with relapsed or incurable disease.
The Tang lab discovered that a completely different, and largely neglected, arm of the immune system—type 2 immunity—holds the key to achieving lasting cures. The IL-10-expressing CD19 CAR-T cells they developed have achieved breakthrough clinical efficacy at extremely low doses in several on-going Phase 1 clinical trials.
Dr. Tang is the recipient of Friedrich Miescher Award (2025) from Life Sciences Switzerland (LS2), Leenaards Prize for Translational Medical Research (2025), Biomaterials Science Lectureship (2025), CAB Mid-Career Investigator Award (2024), Biomaterials Award for Young Investigators (2024), Cancer Research Institute CLIP Award (2021), Anna Fuller Award (2021 and 2022), European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant Award (2018), and named in the MIT Technology Review’s "Top 35 Innovators under Age 35" list of China region (2020).
The Stanisław Lem European Science Prize (Lem Prize) was established to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the eminent Polish science fiction novelist, who received an honorary doctorate from Wrocław University of Science and Technology in 1981. Each year, the laureate is chosen by a chapter composed of prominent academics from abroad and the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and Tomasz Lem, the writer's son.
Benefactors of the Lem Prize 2024: Bergman Engineering, PCC Group, KGHM Polska Miedź and Impel Group.
Previous winners of the Lem Prize:
2021 - prof. Randall J. Platt (ETH w Zürich),
2022 - prof. Samuel Stranks (University of Cambridge),
