Huw Smith Award
Professor Huw V Smith
Professor Huw Vaughan Smith, consultant clinical parasitologist and director of the Scottish Parasite Diagnostic Laboratory (SPDL) in Glasgow, Scotland, died in October 2010 after a brief illness. He was 63 years old. Huw was widely recognised for his research on diagnosis and detection of many different parasites, and was a real inspiration for many researchers. Huw co-founded SPDL in the early 1980s and played a leading role in developing the unit. Although his interests covered a wide range of parasites, he was probably most widely known for his work on Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Huw will probably be remembered best as an intelligent, generous, inspirational colleague, who took great pleasure in acting as a catalyst, bringing together different people to discuss scientific challenges – particularly over a pint. He established many collaborative partnerships in developing countries, and was instrumental in initiating various field-based research projects.
The Huw Smith Award
The Huw Smtih Award, in memory of Professor Huw V. Smith, is in recognition of an individual researcher’s contribution to 'Innovation, Communication, and Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Cryptosporidium or Giardia Research’, with particular emphasis on diagnosis or environmental transmission.
Past Huw Smith Awardees
Prof. Michelle Power (centre) - 1st Huw Smith Awardee, IGCC 2012, Wellington, New Zealand
Michelle Power (She/Her) is a Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, MacQuarie University in Sydney Australia. Michelle is particularly interested in reverse zoonoses or the transmission of disease agents from humans to wildlife species. Michelle studies a suite of pathogens with an emphasis on gut parasites (Cryptosporidium and Giardia) and bacteria, and the interactions of these agents with diverse hosts (flying foxes, possums, koalas, Tasmanian devils, penguins, Australian sea lions and people). Prof. Power also uses innovative ways to increase public awareness on issues of AMR. The use of Citizen Science through the Scoop a Poop project has both engaged citizens through knowledge and active participation in the project.
Dr María Carolina Touz - 2nd Huw Smith Awardee, IGCC 2014, Uppsala, Sweden
Dr. Carolina Touz is the Principal Investigator at Argentina's National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). She holds the position of Director at the Medical Research Institute Mercedes and Martín Ferreyra (INIMEC) in Córdoba, Argentina. She earned her Masters in Biochemistry and Ph.D. from the School of Chemistry at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, followed by postdoctoral studies at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. Dr. Touz's current research focuses on elucidating the communication mechanisms among parasites and their implications for drug resistance and survival of G. lamblia. Her dedication and leadership continually contribute significantly to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of parasitology and microbiology.
Assoc. Prof. Aaron Jex (centre) - 3rd Huw Smith Awardee, IGCC 2017, Havana, Cuba
Assoc. Prof. Aaron Jex is a lab head in the Population Health and Immunity division of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and Assoc. Prof. in Parasitology in the Faculty of Science of the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. His team’s research focused on the genomics, genetics and molecular biology of a wide variety of gastrointestinal parasites, including Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Assoc. Prof. Jex has made significant contributions to the understanding of Cryptosporidium and Giardia genomics and epidemiology, as well as provided major insights into the molecular biology of drug resistance, stress responses and cellular regulation in Giardia and a variety of other parasites.
Dr Marco Lalle (centre) - 4th Huw Smith Awardee, IGCC 2019, Rouen, France
Dr. Marco Lalle (M), Biologist, PhD, is senior researcher at Dep. Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy, with more than 20 years experience in cellular and molecular biology of parasitic protozoa with clinical and veterinary relevance (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, Plasmodium). His main research topic is Giardia, spanning from epidemiology, diagnostic, treatment options and host-pathogen interaction, including also Giardiavirus biology. He has authored >60 publications (Scopus h-index 26). He received several national and international grants. He currently coordinates the ISO/TC 34/SC 9/WG 6 "Food-borne parasites" committee. He is member at large of the World Federation of Parasitologists Executive Board.
Eligibility
Nominees must fulfil the following requirements:
Attendance at the Conference where the presentation of the Award will be made.
Due to the lengthy delay in IGCC2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be awarding two Huw Smith awards this year. One for researchers under 49 years of age at the time of nomination (i.e., that would have been eligible had the conference been held in 2022 as originally planned) and a second that will be available for researchers under 45 years of age at the time of nomination.
Nominations
Nominations are being accepted from 1st October 2024 until 1st January 2025. If you would like to nominate someone, or yourself, please send the name of the person that you would like to nominate along with an outline (approximately one A4 page) of why you believe that person should receive the award to: Lucy.robertson@nmbu.no. Nominations should be marked: Nominee for Huw Smith Award.
Please include information on the nominee’s research interests, achievements, current and previous places of work, and any presentation that they will be making at the conference. Please also include the date of birth of the nominee.
Award selection and announcement
The winner of the Award will be selected following thorough review of the nominations by the Huw Smith Award committee.
Further Information
If you would like any further information about the Award, or if you would like to show your appreciation of your work or friendship with Huw by contributing to the Huw Smith Award Fund, please contact Lucy Robertson (Lucy.robertson@nmbu.no).