The World Laureates Summit 2026
The World Laureates Summit 2026 in Dubai convened more than 150 of the world’s most distinguished scientists, including Nobel Laureates and leading international prize winners, to explore how basic science can address humanity’s most complex challenges and help shape future global policy and innovation. This three-day gathering, held alongside the World Governments Summit, created a rare forum where scientific leaders engage with peers from across disciplines, government, and industry to advance cooperation on frontier areas such as artificial intelligence, genomics, neurotechnology, nanoscience, and more. The summit’s overarching theme, “Basic Sciences: Scientific Consensus for Addressing the Challenges of Humanity,” highlighted the central role of fundamental research in informing long-term decision-making and collective action.
Among the leaders representing Israel’s rising scientific community were two leading Zuckerman Faculty Scholars, Prof. Yoav Shechtman and Prof. Itay Tirosh.
Prof. Shechtman, recipient of the 2020 IUPAB Young Investigator Medal and Prize, participated as a panelist in the Genetic Science Forum, where he joined international leaders in discussing the future of genetic science, biomedical research, and their societal implications. His research focuses on the interface between physics, biology, and medicine, particularly on advanced imaging technologies and molecular-scale biological systems that enable deeper understanding of cellular and genetic mechanisms. At the summit, his contribution emphasized how cutting-edge molecular and genetic tools are reshaping modern medicine, enabling earlier diagnosis, more precise therapies, and fundamentally new approaches to understanding human health and disease. Part of his panel contribution can be viewed here.
Prof. Itay Tirosh, recipient of the 2024 Weizmann Institute Scientific Council Prize for Life Sciences, delivered a featured scientific presentation that highlighted one of the most transformative shifts in modern biology: the move from bulk biological analysis to single-cell science. For decades, biology treated tissues and samples as collective signals, averaging information across millions of cells. Prof. Tirosh’s research breaks from this paradigm by enabling scientists to study biological systems cell by cell, revealing hidden diversity within tissues and uncovering mechanisms that drive disease, development, and biological complexity. His work is reshaping how scientists understand cancer, immune systems, and tissue development, opening new pathways for personalized medicine, precision diagnostics, and targeted therapies. As described by the summit, his presentation demonstrated how single-cell technologies are redefining how we understand disease, development, and life itself, positioning this approach as a foundation for the next generation of biomedical breakthroughs. View his contribution here