Eppendorf, the Hamburg life sciences company, is presenting its highly prestigious research prize for the 26th time. The independent Eppendorf Award Jury chaired by Prof. Reinhard Jahn announced Dr. Tanmay Bharat, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom as the winner of the Eppendorf Award for European Investigators 2021. Tanmay Bharat, born 1985, receives the € 20,000 prize for his pioneering work on the structure and function of extracellular surface layers that surround and protect prokaryotic cells.
„In particular, his work elucidated how filamentous phages (symbiotic viruses released from the bacteria) protect pathogenic bacteria from the attack of certain antibiotics“, says the Jury. „His work has far-reaching general implication and also opens the door for the development of new antibiotics that are urgently needed.“ Tanmay Bharat: „I am humbled and honoured to receive the prestigious Eppendorf Award. This prize is a direct result of contributions by my talented colleagues and collaborators, and recognises the importance of the research conducted in my laboratory. We study how pathogenic bacteria form multicellular communities called biofilms, with a particular emphasis on cell surface molecules bacteria employ to evade antibiotic treatment within biofilms. With an ever-increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance, our fundamental research will aid in the development of strategies for therapeutic intervention against bacterial infections.“ Due to the still ongoing Covid-19 crisis situation, there was a virtual award ceremony with livestream on June 24, 2021, in which the 2020 award winner, Prof. Dr. Randall Platt from ETH Zurich, was also honoured at the same time.
With the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators, which was established in 1995, Eppendorf honors outstanding work in biomedical research and supports young scientists in Europe up to the age of 35. The Eppendorf Award is presented in partnership with the scientific journal Nature. The Award winner is selected by an independent committee composed of Prof. Reinhard Jahn (Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany), Prof. Maria Leptin (Embo, Heidelberg, Germany), Prof. Martin J. Lohse (Universität Würzburg, Institut für Phamakologie und Toxikoloie, Germany), and Prof. Laura Machesky (Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, UK).
