The Microbiology Society has announced the finalists of the 2022 Sir Howard Dalton Young Microbiologist of the Year competition.
The prize, which recognises excellence in science communication, is awarded each year to an early career Society member as part of the Society’s mission to advance understanding of microbiology and champion the contribution made by microbiology, its members and their work in addressing global challenges.
For this year’s competition, the finalists were shortlisted by the Society’s Divisions from entrants who presented at the Annual Conference 2022. The finalists will each give a 10-minute presentation on their research to a panel of judges chaired by one of the Society’s Sustainability Committee co-Chairs, Sarah Maddocks, during the Society Showcase in October.
The 2022 finalists and the titles of the presentations they were shortlisted for are as follows:
Alix Lee, Queen's University Belfast, UK - Uncovering a type VI secretion molecular switch that governs the horizontal gene transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes, and virulence gene dissemination
Clodagh Carr, University College Cork, Ireland - Identification and expression of a putative polyesterase enzyme from deep-sea sponge-derived Brachybacterium sp. isolate, with potential use in polyester plastic hydrolysis
Brindha Gap-Gaupool, University of Leicester, UK - Nitric oxide treatment induces Resuscitation promoting factor (RPF)-dependency in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Aisling Brady, Imperial College London, UK - Investigating the role of the arbitrium system in prophage induction
Ailish McCafferty, University of Leeds, UK - Inflammatory response to ultraviolet radiation exposure enhances host susceptibility to mosquito-borne virus infection
Zihan Zhu, University of Oxford, UK - Mapping inhibitory sites on the RNA polymerase of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus using nanobodies
Ellen L. Harrison, University of Cambridge, UK - Utilising a novel microbiological assay to investigate Vitamin B12 uptake in microalgae
Bethany J Pettifor, Bangor University, UK - Investigating the Ecology and Infection Biology of Gymnopus fusipes, a Fungal Root Rot Pathogen of Woodland Trees.
You can learn more about the prize here - https://microbiologysociety.org/grants/all-grants-prizes/sir-howard-dalton-young-microbiologist-of-the-year-competition.html