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Professor Fiona Tomley  Dr Ben Swift named

                CBE awarded                                          as the newest                                            <


                the prestigious                                      winner of the

                Plowright Prize by                                   Basil Jarvis Prize


                RCVS Knowledge                                       for microbiology





                 n recognition of her key contributions to the field of      r Swift was named as winner of the prize at the
                 animal infectious diseases, Professor Fiona Plowright      prestigious EMI lecture 2023, held at BMA
                 has received the prize fund of £100,000 to establish       House in London on November 16th. The prize
               Ia mentoring network to support the next leaders in  Dis part of the Applied Microbiology International
                infectious disease One Health research.              Horizon Awards, which celebrates the brightest minds
                                                                     in the field and promotes the research, group, projects,
                The first year of the mentoring scheme, funded by the   products and individuals who continue to help shape the
                prize, will focus on identifying mentors within UK veterinary   future of applied microbiology.
                schools and research institutes and from established
                networks within Africa and South Asia. The network will   Dr Ben Swift, Senior Lecturer in Antimicrobial Resistance,
                then recruit its first cohort of early career researchers in   is the Founder and Director of Research and
                2025, to access mentoring and establish new relationships   Development at PBD Biotech, whose team are
                via one-to-one mentoring, group mentoring and peer   currently researching and developing novel tools for the
                mentoring sessions.                                  detection and treatment of mycobacterial infections.
                Fiona currently holds the position of Professor of   Congratulations, Ben! We look forward to seeing future
                Experimental Parasitology at the RVC and is Director    developments from you and your team.
                of the UKRI GCRF One Health Poultry Hub. Spanning
                more than four decades, her career has included basic
                science discovery, technological advances, industrial
                collaboration, international research leadership, and
                knowledge exchange.
                She has contributed substantially to the understanding
                and control of animal disease, particularly viral and
                parasitic pathogens of poultry, and is renowned
                internationally for her work on Eimeria and coccidiosis.





























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