Join us for an inspiring open lecture with renowned Professor Francesco Muntoni, recipient of the 2026 Novo Nordisk Prize awarded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
When Francesco Muntoni began his career in the late 1980s, researchers had only just identified the gene behind Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD): the dystrophin gene, which encodes the protein essential for maintaining muscle integrity. For families, however, the breakthrough changed little. Doctors could name the cause, but they still had no way to slow down the disease.
For Muntoni, that gap became a scientific challenge: if the gene was known, could medicine learn to act on it?
Over the following years, through genetic insight, clinical leadership and international collaboration, he became one of the pioneers of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies — short, designed strands of genetic material that help cells bypass faulty gene sections. In early clinical trials, he and his collaborators showed in patients that this approach — known as exon-skipping — could restore some dystrophin protein, the missing component in DMD.
“Seeing dystrophin reappear in patient muscle biopsies was a profound moment,” Muntoni recalls. “It showed that genetic intervention was not just theoretical — it was biologically possible.”
Those studies helped pave the way for the first approved RNA-based medicines for DMD in 2016 and 2019 — milestones that showed a fatal genetic disease could be treated by targeting the faulty gene itself.
This lecture is a unique opportunity to delve into the groundbreaking research that earned Professor Muntoni the prestigious Novo Nordisk Prize 2026 awarded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The lecture is open for all and free. Registration is required.
Deadline: Please register no later than 22 April 2026. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis.
