Jean Langhorne, who heads the Malaria Immunology Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Biology and Pathology of the Malaria Parasite (BioMalPar) conference in Heidelberg, Germany, in May.
The 2016 award was presented during the 12th annual conference in recognition and celebration of Jean's illustrious career and achievements. Jean leads a team of over a dozen scientists that are focused on understanding the immune response to the malaria parasite and how it causes disease. An understanding of the mechanisms of disease and immunity will pave the way for effective interventions. During her career Jean has also mentored dozens of scientists, several of whom are currently heading up their own laboratories.
Dr Patrick Duffy of the National Institutes of Health gave a congratulatory speech, saying "Jean has had a lifetime of true achievement - by opening up fields in malaria research, and by mentoring young scientists around the globe."
On receiving the award, Jean said: "I am not finished yet! I still have a lot that I would like to do."
Prof Andy Waters, Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology and Chair of the BioMalPar Steering committee said: "We congratulate Jean on this outstanding achievement, she has been the world leading authority on the host immune response to the malaria parasites for many years and I'm delighted to see that she intends to remain in that position for many years to come!"
Dr Julian Rayner of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Deputy Chair of the BioMalPar steering committee added: "I am thrilled to see Jean receive this well deserved award. Her passion and commitment to a disease that still afflicts so many low and middle income countries, as well as her unique scientific insight and vision, are an inspiration to us all."
The BioMalPar conference, and its associated network of malaria scientists, uses an integrated and highly collaborative approach to study the biology of malaria parasites and was originally formed as an EU Network of Excellence. It is hosted annually at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg Germany.
Find out more here at the EMBL website.
