Veronika Sexl

Veronika Sexl (born February 27, 1966) is an Austrian pharmacologist and toxicologist with a research focus on cancer. Since March 1, 2023, she has served as rector of the University of Innsbruck. She has received several awards, including the City of Vienna Prize in the medicine category, the Novartis Prize for Medicine and the Alois Sonnleitner Prize, and the Cardinal Innitzer Award for Natural Sciences.

Life Sexl studied medicine in Vienna, then worked in Seattle and Memphis. She returned to Vienna in 2007 when she was appointed professor at the Medical University of Vienna.

Her main research areas include comparative and translational medicine, using transgenic animals and human patient samples as disease models; NK cell–mediated tumor surveillance with a focus on leukemia; and signaling pathways involved in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis, with an emphasis on JAK-STAT signaling and the novel role of CDK6 as a transcriptional regulator.

In 2017, Sexl was awarded the City of Vienna Prize in the medicine category for “her outstanding performance during her career”. She is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In 2023, she was honoured with the Cardinal Innitzer Award for Natural Sciences “for her outstanding achievements in the field of cancer research”.

Awards 2005: Novartis Prize for Medicine 2006: Alois Sonnleitner Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) 2008" “Major Central European Prize of the City of Vienna Fund for innovative interdisciplinary cancer research” - Major Award for Cancer Research of the Vienna Fund 2015: Elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OAW) 2017: Award for Medical Sciences of the City of Vienna

Selected publications