The Scientist’s Top Innovations competition showcases the latest advances in life science techniques and products. Each year’s winners represent the technologies poised to propel research and healthcare forward.
In 2026, The Scientist has recognized 10 winners across four categories. We are happy to announce the new technologies that our panel of independent judges selected as this year’s Top Innovations.
Lab Research Tools: Innovations that support groundbreaking research in a variety of life science fields
- PaintScape™ 3D Genomics Visualization, Bruker Spatial Genomics: Platform for direct, in situ 3D genome imaging
- 3DMap™ MEA, Axion BioSystems: Flexible electrode technology for monitoring 3D cell models
- Trekker® FX Single-Cell Spatial Mapping Kit, Takara Bio: Single-cell spatial solution for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples
Biotechnology: Advancements in therapeutics, biomanufacturing, agriculture, and beyond
- Pre-formed Vesicles, Acuitas Therapeutics: Off-the-shelf modular lipid nanoparticle platform
- eProtein Discovery™ System, Nuclera: Multiplex, cell-free membrane protein screening instrument
Healthcare and Diagnostics: Diagnostic tests, medical devices, and more striving to bring healthcare to the next level
- NeuXplore™, Taudia: Automated solution for high-throughput protein biomarker quantitation
- FoundationOne®MRD, Foundation Medicine®/SAGA Diagnostics®: Platform for multicancer minimal residual disease (MRD) detection
Emerging Startup Technologies: The newest innovations looking to disrupt the market
- Pixelgen Proxiome Kit, Immuno 155, Pixelgen Technologies: Solution for mapping single-cell protein interactomes
- Adhesion Chromatography, Infiltrate Bio: Platform for predicting tumor infiltration potential of cell therapies
- Derisq™, GATC Health: AI-powered platform for in silico clinical outcome prediction
Thanks to the contest judges
Rushdy Ahmad, PhD
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Director, Wyss Diagnostics Accelerator
Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Rushdy Ahmad is the director of strategic partnerships and the director of the Wyss Diagnostics Accelerator at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute, where he leads global institutional partnerships across the institute’s full portfolio of biologically inspired engineering and translational research. He has more than 25 years of experience in biomarker science, with foundational work in plasma proteomics, including the development of a tuberculosis triage test through a multinational collaboration spanning a 12-year discovery-to-publication arc. His current work spans women’s health, infectious disease, and child health, with active programs focused on congenital syphilis, aortic aneurysm, and neurodegenerative biomarker discovery.
Yasmine Ali, MPA
Executive Director
SalivaDirect
Yasmine Ali joined the SalivaDirect team in 2021 as the business and strategy manager and became executive director in 2023. She provides strategic leadership, oversees operations, and fosters partnerships, helping drive forward the organization’s mission of equitable and accessible infectious disease diagnostics.
Amy Engevik, PhD
Assistant Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology
Medical University of South Carolina
Amy Engevik received her PhD in systems biology and physiology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2015 and conducted postdoctoral research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she studied the pathogenesis of a congenital diarrhea disorder. She started her laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2021, where her research uses advanced imaging techniques to understand the mechanisms that contribute to gastrointestinal health and disease. Engevik has published her work in prestigious journals and received numerous awards for her research contributions.
Elaine Mardis, PhD
Co-executive Director, The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Professor of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine
Elaine Mardis is the co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert in cancer genomics and immunogenomics, her ongoing research interests lie in the molecular profiling of pediatric cancers to identify somatic and germline contributors to cancer onset and to characterize the tumor immune microenvironment. Mardis is the former president of the American Association for Cancer Research, a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, and a member of the US National Academy of Medicine.
Greg Neely, PhD
Professor of Functional Genomics, Charles Perkins Centre
University of Sydney
Greg Neely is a professor at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, where his laboratory integrates forward genetic screens with human genomics to uncover the molecular basis of pain and the actions of painful venoms. He is particularly interested in translating basic biological discoveries into new therapeutics.
Neville Sanjana, PhD
Core Faculty Member, New York Genome Center
Professor of Biology, Neuroscience, and Physiology, New York University
Neville Sanjana is a core faculty member at the New York Genome Center and a professor of biology, neuroscience, and physiology at New York University. Recent work from his laboratory identified synthetic cell programs to enhance cell therapies for blood cancers and solid tumors and developed new methods to identify causal noncoding variants and their target genes at scale. Sanjana is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Engineers and Scientists, the AAAS Wachtel Prize for Cancer Research, the NIH’s New Innovator Award, the Cancer Research Institute Technology Impact Award, the DARPA Young Faculty Award, the Kimmel Scholar Award, and the MRA Young Investigator Award.
Editor’s Note:
The judges considered dozens of entries submitted for a variety of life science products by companies and users. The judging panel evaluated submissions with only basic instructions from The Scientist, and its members were invited to participate based on their familiarity with life science tools and technologies. They have no financial ties to the products or companies involved in the competition.
