In 2023, the ISAPP board of directors launched the Sanders Award for Advancing Biotic Science to mark the retirement of ISAPP’s longtime Executive Director, Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders PhD. This award will be given annually to someone who has helped advance the biotics field, including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. Nominations are accepted for individuals from any sector — including academia, industry, or government.
2026 nominations now open!
Winner 2025
Prof. Remco Kort PhD, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Prof. Kort is a microbiologist whose research spans microbiome interventions, microbial genomics, and fermented foods, as well as citizen science initiatives on vaginal and gut health. He co-founded the Yoba for Life Foundation and co-developed ARTIS-Micropia, the world’s first microbe museum. He has authored over 100 scientific publications and the popular science book ‘De Microbemens’.
Past Winner 2024
Dr. Maria Pía Taranto PhD, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CERELA-CONICET), Argentina
Dr. Taranto leads the YOGURITO program, which delivers yogurt and other foods enriched with a probiotic to more than 200,000 lower income schoolchildren. For this program, Dr. Taranto and colleagues initially assessed candidate strains and selected L. rhamnosus CRL1505, and then led several preclinical and clinical studies demonstrating how it improves immune function.