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.
You may also like
Research & Development
€2.5m boost for SensABLATE to revolutionise real-time lung cancer treatment
The next-generation AI and photonics system is designed to provide instant intraoperative confirmation during lung cancer ablation and aims to improve precision, reduce repeat procedures and enhance patient outcomes
Regulatory
FDA grants Medivir’s MIV-711 Orphan Drug Designation for Osteogenesis Imperfecta treatment
The FDA has awarded Orphan Drug Designation to Medivir’s selective cathepsin K inhibitor MIV-711 for Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a rare genetic bone disorder, after preclinical and clinical data suggests the therapy may strengthen bone
Research & Development
Vivan Therapeutics and MRC LMS launch partnership to study how KRAS mutations, diabetes and diet shape cancer drug response
The new collaboration will investigate how KRAS mutations and metabolic conditions such as diabetes influence chemotherapy effectiveness, using high-throughput in vivo “fly avatar” models
Research & Development
Gates Foundation awards Keltic Pharma $1.3 million for malaria drug research
The University of Glasgow spin-out's malaria programme is moving towards IND enablement within the next 12 months and is designed to deliver a single-dose cure — a potential breakthrough in efforts to combat one of the world’s most lethal diseases