Subject Award · Health & Medicine · 2026
The ten finalist universities are the ten highest-ranked on the Medicine collaboration index, listed here alphabetically until the full index publishes on 15 September. Each finalist is represented by an academic whose recent work exemplifies why: a real project, drawn from the open scholarly record, cited so you can check it.
The finalists
Some lung cancers are driven by a single identifiable genetic change, which makes precise diagnosis the gateway to precise treatment. This clinical practice guideline covers oncogene-addicted metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, setting out recommended approaches to diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for the clinicians who manage the disease.
Multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants escape neutralization by vaccine-induced humoral immunity
Vaccines work by teaching the immune system to recognise a virus, and viruses change. This study examines several SARS-CoV-2 variants that escape neutralisation by the antibody response raised through vaccination, an observation with direct consequences for how vaccine protection is understood and monitored.
2022 ESC/ERS Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is difficult to recognise early and complex to treat. Produced jointly by two European professional societies, these 2022 guidelines set out agreed recommendations for its diagnosis and treatment, the kind of document that shapes daily clinical decisions in many countries at once.
Epidemiology of sarcopenia: Prevalence, risk factors, and consequences
Muscle mass and strength decline with age, and when that decline becomes sarcopenia it carries real consequences. Reviewing published meta-analyses, this study finds that roughly 10 to 16 per cent of older people worldwide are affected, with much higher rates among patients, from about 18 per cent in diabetes to 66 per cent in unresectable oesophageal cancer, and links the condition to poorer survival and surgical outcomes.
Convened by the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, the panel updates consensus guidance on managing high blood glucose in adults with type 2 diabetes. The new recommendations give greater attention to social determinants of health, physical activity and sleep, weight management as part of holistic care, and evidence from cardiovascular and kidney outcome trials of newer drug classes.
Hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases
Setting out the hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases, the work offers a framework for understanding conditions in which nerve cells progressively deteriorate. By identifying features shared across these diseases, the study gives researchers a common structure for thinking about how they arise and how they might be tackled.
Large language models in medicine
Large language models entered clinical conversation faster than the evidence about them accumulated. This work considers what such systems mean for medicine, where they might realistically help, and what questions need answering before they are relied on in the care of patients.
Age at onset of mental disorders worldwide: large-scale meta-analysis of 192 epidemiological studies
Mental illness tends to begin early, but exactly how early has been hard to pin down. Pooling 192 epidemiological studies of general populations, this meta-analysis estimates the proportion of people whose disorder begins before ages 14, 18 and 25, together with the peak age of onset overall and across diagnostic groups, evidence bearing directly on when prevention should start.
Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission
The work presents the 2024 report of a standing commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care. Spanning the full arc of the condition, from reducing risk to treatment and the care of people living with dementia, it consolidates current evidence to inform practice and policy.
Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2023 Report: GOLD Executive Summary
Setting out the latest evidence-based strategy for chronic obstructive lung disease, the work is the executive summary of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease's 2023 report. It distils the GOLD guidance on prevention, diagnosis and management of COPD, produced by an international author team spanning ten countries.
Exclusive to partners
Partners verify their data, feature their academics, and are eligible for the Subject Awards. Finalists are identified from open data; winners are decided by our editorial team and announced on 15 September 2026.
Explore partnership →The wider slate
Surviving sepsis campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021
The 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System: a summary