(Vienna, 05 May 2026) Lisa Mayr from the Medical University of Vienna has been awarded the Johann Wilhelm Ritter von Mannagetta Prize for Medicine by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for her publication on the targeted treatment of PDGFRA-altered high-grade paediatric gliomas. The award ceremony took place in the Johannessaal of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
The award recognises the paper “Effective targeting of PDGFRA-altered high-grade glioma with avapritinib”, published in Cancer Cell, for which Lisa Mayr was already honoured as “Researcher of the Month” by MedUni Vienna in January 2026. The study demonstrates the potential of the PDGFRA/KIT inhibitor avapritinib for the treatment of aggressive paediatric brain tumours and combines molecular characterisation, preclinical models and initial clinical experience. The award-winning study examined a group of more than 200 highly aggressive paediatric gliomas; alterations in the PDGFRA gene were identified in 15 per cent of cases. Avapritinib proved effective in the models studied, crossed the blood-brain barrier and demonstrated good tolerability in first clinical applications. A clinical and radiological response was observed in three out of seven patients.
The award-winning work was carried out as part of Lisa Mayr’s PhD studies at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in Johannes Gojo’s research group, in collaboration with national and international research partners, including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the University of Michigan, the Center for Cancer Research at MedUni Vienna, the Department of Neurosurgery and the Division of Neuropathology and Neurochemistry at the Department of Neurology.
About the person
Lisa Mayr studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna and undertook study visits abroad in Shanghai and Berlin. From 2012, she worked in Walter Berger’s research group at the Center for Cancer Research. After completing her studies, she moved to the Paediatric Neuro-Oncology department of the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, where she completed her training in paediatrics. She then spent twelve months as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since March 2025, she has been working as an attending physician in the Department of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at MedUni Vienna. She is also enrolled in a PhD programme in Clinical Neurosciences and is actively involved in teaching and supervising research theses.