ETH Professor Nicola Aceto receives the 2025 Cloëtta Prize

This is the 52nd time the Professor Dr. Max Clo?tta Foundation has granted its award for medical research. This year¡¯s winners are Nicola Aceto, Professor of Molecular Oncology at ETH Zurich, and Virginie Hamel and Paul Guichard, who jointly head a research group at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Geneva.

The ETH professor is delighted to receive the award: ¡°The Clo?tta Prize is a great honour for me and my research group.¡±

Aceto¡¯s research focuses on circulating tumour cells (CTCs). These are cancer cells that detach from solid cancerous lesions and spread throughout the body via the bloodstream, promoting the formation of metastases.

Decoding new mechanisms

By employing advanced techniques such as single-cell analysis, CRISPR screens and microfluidics, his team has deciphered new mechanisms behind metastasis formation and identified potential therapeutic targets. Several of these targets have already been tested successfully in early clinical trials. 

In a pioneering study, he and his team showed that metastatic breast cancer cells spread more frequently during sleep. This finding provides an important clue for administering therapies at the right time.  

¡°Circulating tumour cells represent an exciting new frontier in our understanding of metastasis and our efforts to combat it. By decoding their biological features and vulnerabilities, we could pave the way for more precise and effective cancer treatments,¡± says Aceto. 

Endowed with 50,000 Swiss francs, the Clo?tta Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for medical research in Switzerland, granted since 1973. Several researchers from ETH Zurich have received this award: Andrea Alimonti (2024), Annette Oxenius (2022), Timm Schroeder (2018) and Sabine Werner (2008). In addition, the Clo?tta Anniversary Prize 2023 was awarded to ETH professors Tanja Stadler and Barbara Treutlein.

The award ceremony will take place on 31 October 2025 in Zurich.