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Anjali is one of just five researchers awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Biological Sciences this year. The £100,000 prize, awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, recognises researchers whose work has achieved international recognition and whose future research holds exceptional promise.

Anjali’s research has advanced our understanding of meiosis, the specialised process by which eggs and sperm are formed. Her work has uncovered fundamental mechanisms governing where genetic recombination occurs, how DNA breaks are repaired, and how these processes shape genetic variation. In a study published in Science in 2023, her laboratory demonstrated that meiotic DNA repair is far more mutagenic than previously thought, revealing an important source of new mutations in human eggs and sperm.

A distinctive feature of her research is the integration of large-scale human genomics with experimental biology. This combination has enabled discoveries about molecular processes that are otherwise exceptionally difficult to observe directly, with implications for understanding genome stability, mutation and evolution.

The prize provides flexible funding to explore new scientific questions and expand the scope of her research, which increasingly includes understanding how genomes are maintained over long timescales, including in ageing human eggs.

Anjali said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive a Philip Leverhulme Prize. It is wonderful recognition of my team’s work and that of our many colleagues and collaborators.

“What makes this prize particularly exciting is the freedom it offers to explore new ideas and pursue fundamental scientific questions.”

Anjali began her career in finance before completing a DPhil at Oxford. She established her independent research group at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics before moving to the Dunn School in 2024. She holds a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, has received a Wellcome-Beit Prize, and was recently awarded a Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowship.

The Philip Leverhulme Prizes recognise outstanding early-career researchers across rotating academic disciplines. Previous Dunn School recipients include Tanmay Bharat.