UK – Applied Microbiology International, the oldest microbiology society in the UK, has announced the winners of the Applied Microbiology International Awards for the year 2022 in a magnificent ceremony held at London’s Science Museum.
The awards honor the top minds in the industry and raise awareness of the people, organizations, initiatives, and products that are reshaping the area of applied microbiology.
Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam MBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, was the honoree at the illustrious occasion and was also appointed an Honorary Fellow.
The four awardees were chosen from a fiercely competitive field that included nominations from more than 30 nations.
Joshua Quick of the University of Birmingham received the WH Pierce Prize for his work on low-cost amplicon sequencing techniques, which have been crucial in the response to outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, and the Covid19 pandemic, in which over 10 million genomes have been sequenced.
The WH Pierce Prize was established in 1984 in honor of the late WH (Bill) Pierce, former Chief Bacteriologist of Oxo Ltd and a longtime member of the Society. It is given to a researcher who has significantly advanced One Health through the application of microbiology.
Davide Bulgarelli, a Senior Lecturer and a Principal Investigator at the University of Dundee, received the Dorothy Jones Prize for his work bridging the fields of computational biology, plant genetics, and microbial ecology.
The Dr. Dorothy Jones Award honors a scientist who has made a significant contribution to our understanding of terrestrial life, rhizospheres, and soil microbiomes, or to the preservation of our planet’s ecosystem.
Dr. Dorothy Jones served as President of Applied Microbiology International from 1989 to 1991 and was the third female President of the Society.
Tanushree B. Gupta, an AgResearch Senior Scientist based at the Hopkirk Research Institute in New Zealand, received the Basil Jarvis Prize for her work in dairy and meat microbiology.
Her research focuses on identifying the sources of pathogens and spoilage bacteria that live on farms and can enter the food supply chain, posing a threat to food quality and safety.
She is also investigating brand-new, all-natural ways for compounds to lengthen the shelf life and improve food safety throughout the food chain.
This award is given to a microbiologist who has significantly improved food safety, food fermentations, or food security. It is named after Professor Basil Jarvis, a renowned food microbiologist and former president of Applied Microbiology International.
Product of the Year Award
The Innovate Autosampler III from Hygiena won the Applied Microbiology Product of the Year Award.
A walk-away automatic system used to expedite product sampling efficiency, according to Hygiena, the Innovate Autosampler III offers a fully digital interface intuitive for the operator and ready for future generations of software, with industry 4.0 components that provide increased safety and operational efficiency, giving real-time feedback about system operations.
The company said the machine is capable of sampling up to 2,000 samples per hour and can handle any format of sample cartons, while onboard homogenization reduces the time required in the Innovate System to increase laboratory efficiency.
Following a thorough 12-month strategic assessment, the event provided Applied Microbiology International (formerly Society for Applied Microbiology) with the chance to formally announce a significant rebrand.
The organization’s standing as a global community of microbiologists who have banded together to improve scientific influence in the area is reflected in the new brand.
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