BioVision Lilly Award names winners
Four young scientists living and working in a developing country take the accolades
The winners were selected from among 40 entries by an international jury, chaired by Jacob Palis, president of TWAS, and professor at the Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Digby Warner, senior research officer, MRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa won the 2011 BioVision Lilly Award for his work on mycobacterial metabolism, which promises to have a major impact on understanding the development of drug-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The runner-up was Thomas Scriba, senior researcher, South African TB Vaccine Initiative, University of Cape Town, who was honoured for his work on TB vaccines.
The first- and second-place winners received US$5,000 and US$2,000, respectively, to continue their research.
Dihandenys Lemus, Tuberculosis National Reference Laboratory in Havana, Cuba and Joy Sarojini Michael, Christian Medical College of Vellore, India were joint third. Lemus was honoured for her work in drug-resistant tuberculosis and Michael for her research in new TB diagnostics.
‘We have been impressed with the quality of the competition and especially the winners,’ said Bart Peterson, senior vice-president, corporate affairs and communication, Eli Lilly and Company.
‘TB largely afflicts the developing world and I’m heartened to see that young developing world scientists are taking their position at the forefront of global research being carried out into this debilitating disease.’
In 2009 more than nine million people became ill with TB and some 1.7 million died of the disease. The number of new cases arising each year is still increasing in Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia.
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