March 1, 2026
Two New Breakthroughs Advance Neurological Disorders and Cancer Research
UC San Francisco researchers Daniele Canzio and Balyn Zaro have been named the 2026 Bowes Biomedical Investigator awardees for their separate breakthroughs in neurological and cancer research. Canzio’s team discovered that DNA can fold into billions of unique, origami-like patterns to create individual "barcodes" for neurons, a finding that could lead to new treatments for disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile, Zaro’s work identified how cancer cells manipulate immune cells to promote tumor growth, opening the door for more effective targeted therapies.
