Friedhelm Hummel, EPFL professor, co-recipient of the 2026 Leenaards Science Prize in Lake Geneva region; CHF 1.4M prize and noninvasive stimulation restores cognition

Friedhelm Hummel, co-recipient of the 2026 Leenaards Science Prize - EPFL

Friedhelm Hummel, co-recipient of the 2026 Leenaards Science Prize

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The winning team led by Elena Beanato of the HUG, with Friedhelm Hummel (EPFL) in the center and Pierre Mégevand (HUG). ©Noxediem

The EPFL professor is collaborating on one of the two winning projects, which aims to restore cognitive functions through electrical stimulation without surgery.

People’s ability to orient themselves in their surroundings – an essential function of the human brain – can be temporarily or permanently altered by even a mild traumatic brain injury (like a concussion) or some forms of epilepsy. Around 80% of traumatic brain injuries can be classified as mild to moderate and, of these, nearly 15% result in a disorder that continues more than six months after the trauma. This disorder includes impaired spatial memory, an inability to situate oneself and disorientation. “Even simple tasks like getting your bearings in a city, finding your way and remembering familiar routes can become a real challenge,” says Elena Beanato, a project manager at the HUG Outpatient Clinic for Brain and Mental Health. She is leading the second winning project, in collaboration with Friedhelm Hummel, head of EPFL’sHummel Laband associate professor at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, and Pierre Mégevand, a neurologist at HUG and researcher at the Human Neuron Lab at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine.

For now, few options are available for treating this condition. Beanato’s cross-disciplinary research group is working to change that by developing an innovative method for deep brain stimulation without invasive surgery. The team has designed a procedure that uses temporal interference to stimulate areas deep inside the brain. In their method, two high-frequency electric fields are applied to a patient’s scalp. “The two fields intersect deep within the patient’s brain and produce a modulation that can influence neural activity in a targeted way – particularly in the hippocampus, which is a key region for memory and spatial orientation,” says Beanato.

Potential applications for other neurodegenerative diseases

To better understand how their new method affects cognitive function, the research team is working with epilepsy patients who received intracranial electrode implants as part of their treatment. In the second phase of the research, the team is testing their method on patients who have suffered brain trauma. These patients are placed in an immersive virtual reality environment, and scientists measure their ability to orient themselves and move around, both before and after receiving the stimulation. “Our initial tests seem to confirm that the electric-field stimulation improves patients’ spatial orientation capabilities,” says Prof. Hummel. “We hope to eventually develop rehabilitation strategies as well as new therapeutic approaches.”

More information on2026 Leenaards Science Prize

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On Wednesday, April 29, two research groups in the Lake Geneva region received the 2026 Leenaards Science Prize, which comes with a total of nearly CHF 1.4 million in award money. One of the projects aims to reduce the impact of the hepatitis E virus. The other, including EPFL professor Friedhelm Hummel, an international expert in neuroscience and neurological rehabilitation, seeks to restore cognitive functions through electrical stimulation.People’s ability to orient themselves in their surroundings – an essential function of the human brain – can be temporarily or permanently altered by even a mild traumatic brain injury (like a concussion) or some forms of epilepsy. Around 80% of traumatic brain injuries can be classified as mild to moderate and, of these, nearly 15% result in a disorder that continues more than six months after the trauma. This disorder includes impaired spatial memory, an inability to situate oneself and disorientation. “Even simple tasks like getting your bearings in a city, finding your way and remembering familiar routes can become a real challenge,” says Elena Beanato, a project manager at the HUG Outpatient Clinic for Brain and Mental Health. She is leading the second winning project, in collaboration with Friedhelm Hummel, head of EPFL’sHummel Laband associate professor at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, and Pierre Mégevand, a neurologist at HUG and researcher at the Human Neuron Lab at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine.For now, few options are available for treating this condition. Beanato’s cross-disciplinary research group is working to change that by developing an innovative method for deep brain stimulation without invasive surgery. The team has designed a procedure that uses temporal interference to stimulate areas deep inside the brain. In their method, two high-frequency electric fields are applied to a patient’s scalp. “The two fields intersect deep within the patient’s brain and produce a modulation that can influence neural activity in a targeted way – particularly in the hippocampus, which is a key region for memory and spatial orientation,” says Beanato.Potential applications for other neurodegenerative diseasesTo better understand how their new method affects cognitive function, the research team is working with epilepsy patients who received intracranial electrode implants as part of their treatment. In the second phase of the research, the team is testing their method on patients who have suffered brain trauma. These patients are placed in an immersive virtual reality environment, and scientists measure their ability to orient themselves and move around, both before and after receiving the stimulation. “Our initial tests seem to confirm that the electric-field stimulation improves patients’ spatial orientation capabilities,” says Prof. Hummel. “We hope to eventually develop rehabilitation strategies as well as new therapeutic approaches.”More information on2026 Leenaards Science Prize