We are delighted to announce Parasitology's joint-prize winners for the 2019 Early Career Researcher Award (for papers published in the journal in 2018). Only researchers who are no more than 7 years post award of their PhD were eligible to receive the award. Decisions on the winning papers were made by Stephen Phillips and his team of supporting Editors. The winning papers are freely available.

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Beatrice Tchuidjang Nganso

A Cameroonian national, Dr. Beatrice Tchuidjang Nganso is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Volcani Center, Israel under the mentorship of Dr. Victoria Soroker since February 2019. Her research interest focuses on the interactions between the ecto-parasitic mite Varroa destructor and honey bees, which is of global relevance because the mite is considered the greatest threat to the health of honey bees. In 2018, Beatrice was the first runner-up, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya, Governing Council Award for second best published science paper by an icipe scholar entitled: “Low fertility, fecundity and numbers of mated female offspring explain the lower reproductive success of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in African honeybees. Parasitology 145: 1633-1639”. In 2017, she was the recipient of the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 19th International Conference on Apiculture and Bee Health, Rome, Italy entitled: “Assessment of Tolerance Mechanisms in African and European Honeybees against Varroa Destructor”. In 2015, she was the recipient of the icipe Governing Council award for best science poster entitled: “Aspects of the Mechanisms of Tolerance in Apis mellifera scutellata Colonies to Varroa destructor Mite in Kenya”.  Beatrice has published 5 peer-reviewed papers. She obtained her PhD in Entomology from the University of Pretoria, South Africa under the auspices of the African Regional Postgraduate Program in Insect Science (ARPPIS) based at icipe under the mentorship of Prof. Baldwyn Torto at icipe and Prof. Christian Pirk at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She obtained her M. Phil in Entomology from the University of Ghana and was the recipient of Prof. J. N. Ayertey Prize for the Best M. Phil Student in Entomology for the 2010/2011 Academic Year. She obtained her BSc. in Zoology from the University of Buea in Cameroon. 

Beatrice Tchuidjang Nganso has been awarded the Early Career Researcher Prize for submitting the paper entitled:

Low fertility, fecundity and numbers of mated female offspring explain the lower reproductive success of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in African honeybees

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Javier González Miguel

Javier González Miguel completed his PhD at the University of Salamanca (Spain) in 2015, obtaining the PhD Extraordinary Award for their doctoral thesis related to the relationship between the parasite Dirofilaria immitis and the fibrinolytic system of its host. He has done research stays at the University of Parma (Italy), the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC), and the Sechenov University of Moscow (Russia), where he is currently working as a senior researcher. His scientific activity is focused on molecular aspects of the parasite-host relationships, mainly on the interaction of helminth parasites with the haemostatic system of the host.

Javier has been awarded the Early Career Researcher Prize for submitting the Open Access paper entitled:

Numerous Fasciola plasminogen-binding proteins may underlie blood-brain barrier leakage and explain neurological disorder complexity and heterogeneity in the acute and chronic phases of human fascioliasisNumerous Fasciola plasminogen-binding proteins may underlie blood-brain barrier leakage and explain neurological disorder complexity and heterogeneity in the acute and chronic phases of human fascioliasis