4 February 2026,
Last week, the Royal-Mach Gaensslen Prize award ceremony was held, at which Dr Lena Palaniyappan received the prize.
During the ceremony, a video specially produced for the occasion was shown to highlight the major impact of her research. Winner of the 2025 award, Dr Palaniyappan is revolutionising youth mental health by combining cutting-edge imaging and language analysis to detect the early warning signs of psychosis even before episodes occur.
Rooted in the reality of families and the community through the Centre of Excellencein Youth Mental Health, his work carries a resolutely optimistic vision: to transform care so that one day, science can offer hope for lasting recovery.
« You can’t prevent what you can’t predict. The brain has its way of keeping its secrets. What markers can you use to predict psychosis?»
— Dr. Lena Palaniyappan
The entire ceremony is available below: