Professor Stephen Ward, Deputy Director of LSTM, has been awarded the 2013 Sornchai Looressuwan Medal in Thailand, which is given annually to researchers whose efforts have been devoted to malaria.
Earlier today Professor Ward delivered a plenary speech at theJoint International Tropical Medical Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. His speech, entitled “From Mice to Men and the evolution of quantitative malaria infection models to accelerate antimalarial drug discovery”, was delivered at the close of the two day conference which brought together the world’s top experts, scientists and other leading innovators in the field of tropical medicine with an aim to share their research.
Following the closing session Professor Ward received the Sornchai Looressuwan Medal for 2013. The award recognises Professor Ward’s achievement in anti-malarial drug discovery and in the application of pharmacokinetic principles to the rational design and investigation of the anti-parasite dosage regimens, which the awarding committee describe as a cornerstone of many of the current global research programmes.
Professor Ward shares this year’s prestigious honours with Dr Louis Miller, who also delivered a speech in the closing session, of the American National Institute of Health. Dr Miller is recognised for his work in identifying the basic genetic mechanisms employed by malaria parasites to infect and survive in their hosts.
The medal is given in memory of prolific researcher Dr Sornchai Looressuwan, former Dean of the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, of The Mahidol Univerity in Thailand, who published 490 scientific articles and studies, many concerning malaria, before his death in 2007. Former Dean of LSTM, Professor Brian Maegraith (Dean 1946-1975), was instrumental in helping found the Faculty of Tropical Medicine at Mahidol University in 1960 along with the faculty’s first Dean, Professor Chamlong Harinasuta, a former student of LSTM.