MultivisionDx grew directly out of Sara’s research program at the University of Helsinki, where the team first developed the proprietary biomarker discovery technology now at the core of the company. The technology was originally built as an internal tool to help researchers resolve biological signals from large, complex imaging datasets, and was used in the lab to unravel how biological programs linked to fibrosis, stem cells, cell state transitions, and immune activation affect outcomes in cancer patients. The technology was first published in Cell, describing the discovery of novel tumor-stroma interactions in head and neck cancer, and was awarded the Minerva Medix Prize for the top biomedical study in Finland. A second study demonstrating the use of the technology in colorectal cancer will be published later this year.
Sara plans to use the prize funding to investigate how cells can retain a “memory” of physical injury or mechanical stress, and whether such memories can be altered to prevent the development of harmful disease states like fibrosis and cancer. She continues to actively support MultivisionDx in her role as science advisor, providing insights on scientific matters and leading research collaborations.
Read the full story from Körber Stiftung here
About Sara Wickström
Sara Wickström is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, and Research Director at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Helsinki, Finland. Born in Finland in 1976, she studied medicine at the University of Helsinki, where she completed a MD/PhD programme, receiving her medical degree in 2001 and her PhD in 2004. After completing her doctoral studies, she conducted research at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, before establishing her own research group at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany, in 2010. The research group then moved to the University of Helsinki, and later expanded to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, where she serves as Director. Wickström became internationally recognised for her contributions to the emerging field of mechanobiology. She has received numerous international awards and was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2020.
About the Körber Prize
Sara Wickström will receive the Körber European Science Prize on 18 September 2026 in the Grand Hall of Hamburg City Hall. With prize funding of €1 million, the Körber Prize ranks among the world’s most valuable awards for scientific research. The prize money is used for research and science communication, with ten per cent available for personal purposes. Since 1985, the Körber-Stiftung has awarded the prize annually to recognise outstanding scientific breakthroughs in the physical or life sciences in Europe. The prize honours excellent, forward-looking research with strong potential for practical application. Eight Körber Prize laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.
About MultivisionDx
MultivisionDx is a spatial oncology company founded in 2025 as a spinout from the University of Helsinki, building a biomarker discovery platform for use across biological research, clinical diagnostics and pharmaceutical development. The technology is based on an award-winning scientific discovery from Sara Wickström’s lab at the University.