2011 Awards Ceremony honours achievements in TB and HIV
Outstanding contributions in the fields of TB and HIV were honoured at an awards ceremony during the inauguration of the 42nd World Lung Conference in Lille on 27 October.
The Union’s new Young Investigator Prize was awarded to Dr Keren Middelkoop, clinician and senior investigator at the Desmond Tutu HIV Research Centre, the University of Cape Town, for her work in the epidemiology of TB and HIV and the impact of HIV and antiretroviral therapy on patients with TB. This prize was established in recognition of scientific achievement in the fields of TB or lung health in the past five years while the researcher was aged 35 years or younger.
Dr Haileysus Getahun of the World Health Organization’s Stop TB Department received the 2011 Union Scientific Prize, which acknowledges researchers at any stage of their career in TB or lung health. Dr Getahun has contributed to the development of evidence-based TB and HIV policy and practice. As coordinator of the Global TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership, he has helped in setting the global advocacy agenda for worldwide response among stakeholders.
Also presented at the 2011 Awards Ceremony held as part of the conference Opening Ceremony were The Stop TB Partnership-Kochon Prize and the Princess Chichibu Global TB Memorial Award.
The Stop TB Partnership-Kochon Prize is a US$ 65,000 award that supports the global fight against TB. The prize is awarded once a year to persons, institutions, or organisations that have made a highly significant contribution to combating TB. It is fully funded by the Kochon Foundation, a non-profit foundation registered in the Republic of Korea. This year’s award was shared between an organisation, the International Nepal Fellowship and Professor Alimuddin Zumla, Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health, University College London Medical School.
Dr Deependra Kuma Gautam, Executive Director of the International Nepal Fellowship, accepted the prize for his organisation’s work delivering quality TB services and charitable support to patients in Nepal’s mid-western region. Professor Zumla was honoured for his leadership in TB and TB/HIV research and for establishing north-south partnerships for TB research. He announced that he will be donating his share of the prize to support the work of grassroots healthcare workers in developing countries.
The Princess Chichibu Global TB Memorial Award, presented annually in memory of Princess Chichibu of Japan by the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA), was awarded to Richard J. O'Brien, Senior Consultant for TB Product Development, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland. Dr O’Brien was honoured for his commitment and contribution to global TB control and prevention, especially in the research and development for new drugs and diagnostics.