Brice Bathellier, a CNRS researcher at the reConnect Institute and head of the Neural Dynamics and Codes team, was awarded the 2025 Innovators Prize for his work on a brain stimulator designed to restore hearing. Each year, this award highlights significant advances in the field of health. The ceremony took place on October 1 during Medicen Day 2025, presided over by Amanda Silva Brun, a member of the Regional Scientific Council and herself a 2020 award recipient.
The Innovators Award recognizes researchers, clinicians, and engineers under the age of 45, honoring their work with high innovative potential. In 2025, three winners shared a total prize of 100,000 euros to support their respective projects on hearing, gastrointestinal cancers, and von Willebrand disease. Brice Bathellier, the first-prize winner, received 50,000 euros to carry out his project on hearing and neurotechnology. This new approach combines an artificial intelligence algorithm, biomimicry, and high-density stimulation of a central area of the auditory system.
A recipient of the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2017, Brice Bathellier is an expert in sensory perception. In all of his research projects, he studies the fundamental mechanisms by which the brain integrates auditory information.
Press review:
Health: The three winners of the 2025 Innovators Award are... | Île-de-France Region
2025 Health Innovators Awards: Here Are the Winners from the Île-de-France Region
