Student Menna Zahran wins Unilever Research Prize

Medical Pharmaceutical Sciences student Menna Zaharan of the University of Groningen has been awarded the 2025 Unilever Research Prize for her Master’s thesis. At the award ceremony in Wageningen she received a EUR 2,500 cheque and a special piece of artwork. Menna’s research focuses on creating affordable and more precise cancer treatments.

The Unilever Research Prize rewards young top scientists whose research makes a positive contribution to solving some of the world's most pressing problems and is given to fourteen talented science students from Dutch Universities. 

Next-generation cancer therapeutics

During her master's degree, Menna developed next-generation cancer therapeutics that inhibit growth of cancer cells and boost the anti-cancer immune response by addressing the protein D-DT. She used a combination of organic chemistry, computer-aided design, and biological testing to develop molecules that provide a conceptual new avenue to the development of cancer medicines. In the long run, this will enable development of personalized, less toxic cancer treatments—especially for hard-to-treat cancers like neuroblastoma.

Shaping the academic community beyond the lab

Menna is also an active and influential member of the academic community. Coming from Egypt to the Netherlands, she integrated quickly and became known for her positivity, leadership, and ability to bring people together. She served as a student member of the Programme Board for the Pharmacy cluster, in which she represented the student interests. She organized employer-focused excursions to improve the link between the study program and the job market. And she played a key role in creating the new promotional video for the MPS master’s program.

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• Fourteen talented young scientists win the Unilever Research Prizes 2025 (Unilever)