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ISAPP awards the Glenn Gibson Early Career Research Prize to two diet and gut health researchers

/in ISAPP Science Blog, News /by KC

The ISAPP board of directors is pleased to announce that the 2022 Glenn Gibson Early Career Research Prize has been awarded to two promising researchers in the field of probiotics, prebiotics and related substances.

Dr. Martin Laursen, Senior Researcher at the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, has demonstrated excellence in his work on the impact of probiotics and human milk oligosaccharides on infant gut microbiota and health. Dr. Eirini Dimidi, Lecturer at King’s College in London, UK, has carried out meaningful work on probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods and their impact on constipation.

The award criteria stipulated that the researchers must be fewer than five years from their terminal degree, and their scope of research must be basic or clinical research disciplines in the fields of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics or fermented foods. In addition, the researchers were required to show evidence of a significant research finding and its publication(s), new ideas that advance the field, and / or evidence of impact through citizenship, general outreach, social media or other means.

The prize committee chose the two recipients from among dozens of applicants and identified each of them as having made important contributions to the field at this early stage in their scientific careers. Each winner will receive a cash prize and an opportunity to speak at the ISAPP annual meeting, to be held in Spain in June, 2022.

Stay tuned to learn more about these rising star researchers!

See here for details about the 2022 Glenn Gibson Early Career Research Prize

ISAPP board member Prof. Colin Hill receives Career Achievement Research Award from University College Cork

/in News /by KC

This month, ISAPP board member and former president Professor Colin Hill received a prestigious award from University College Cork (Ireland), where he has worked since 1992: The UCC Career Achievement Research Award. The prize honours leading researchers whose influential work has been recognized globally.

Hill’s research interests lie in molecular microbiology—specifically, issues around infection. His team was the first to discover lacticin 3147 and thuricin CD, two examples of a class of anti-microbials produced by bacteria that kill bacteria. He is also a leading scientist exploring the human virome: his team developed tools for gut virome analysis, performed phage therapy in vivo, and increased the number of known phage genomes by tens of thousands. Hill is the inventor on 23 patents, has published over 570 research articles, and to date, has secured over €25 million worth of research funding. His publications and citations put him in the top 1% of researchers worldwide.

Hill has served on the ISAPP board of directors since 2009, and was president from 2012-2015. He has supported ISAPP’s efforts to advance the science of probiotics through his scientific insights and leadership: he was lead author on the landmark ISAPP consensus paper on probiotics, participated in the recent ISAPP consensus panel on postbiotics, led numerous ISAPP discussion groups during the ISAPP annual meetings, and co-authored 10 ISAPP publications.

Prof. Todd Klaenhammer, who is a founding ISAPP board member, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and a retired professor from North Carolina State University, says of the award, “This is fantastic and a huge honor for Colin, one that is very well deserved. He has distinguished himself as a leading scientist, with some of the most brilliant work I have seen from anyone who has successfully crossed disciplines—as he has with his work on phage, probiotics, listeria, among others.”

ISAPP’s Executive Science Officer, Dr. May Ellen Sanders, says, “Colin is a rare combination of great scientist, effective leader and engaging person. During his tenure as president, ISAPP really made it onto the global map. It was a productive and really fun three years with him at ISAPP’s helm.”

Hill’s ISAPP colleagues know him for his exceptional curiosity and willingness to push boundaries, and wish him the best of success as he continues his groundbreaking scientific work.