Oxoid and the Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM) invite SFAM members to submit nominations for this year's W H Pierce Memorial Prize
Oxoid and the Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM) invite SFAM members to submit nominations for this year's W H Pierce Memorial Prize - the prestigious £2,000 prize awarded by Oxoid, under the auspices of SFAM, to a young society member (under 40) who has made a substantial contribution to the science.
The award is presented annually at the society's summer conference, where the winner is invited to give a presentation of their work. Members wishing to make a nomination for the 2003 W H Pierce Memorial Prize should write in confidence to the cociety office, including a full CV of the person nominated and a letter of support.
The closing date for entries is 6 June 2003.
The W H Pierce Memorial Prize was instituted in 1984 by the directors of Oxoid to commemorate the life and works of the late W H (Bill) Pierce, former chief bacteriologist of Oxo and long-time member of the society.
Bill Pierce was a pioneer in the development of dehydrated culture media and was a great contributor to the foundation of the Oxoid range.
Last year's prize was awarded to Phil Hill of Nottingham University's School of Bioscience for his work on GFP-lux marker/reporter gene systems. Significantly, his research has opened up this technology to gram positive bacteria, including important pathogens such as staphylococci, streptococci and listeria.
This has permitted the development of new methods to assess intracellular growth and gene expression of bacteria within mammalian cell lines in a hands-off, non-destructive assay.
The award of £2000 allowed Dr Hill to purchase a laptop computer that will enable him to keep in touch with the university and his students while he is on sabbatical in the USA next year.
