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Shahida Hasnain and Dr Samir Saha won the Prestigious UNESCO Award For Microbiology
Professor Shahida Hasnain and Dr Samir Saha have been named as the two laureates of the 2017 Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize for Microbiology. The award will be presented to them on 6 November 2017 at the 39th session of the General Conference of UNESCO . The Government of Cuba and UNESCO have established the prize in honour of one of the most important microbiologists in history: Carlos J. Finlay.
The Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize rewards the efforts of an individual, or of an institution, non-governmental organization or other entity which, through research and development, has made an outstanding contribution to the field of microbiology and its applications.
Shahida Hasnain, founder and chairperson of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Punjab in Lahore (Pakistan),
"Professor Hasnain significantly contributed to advances in research in environmental, agricultural and medical microbiology. She has notably worked on the heavy metal detoxification mechanisms, salt stress tolerance mechanisms, and bacterial morphogenesis," said a statement from UNESCO.
Recently shahida published her article in Journal of Bacteriology & Parasitology with the title
“Cross-Kingdom Pathogenicity across Plants and Human Beings”. her research describes Plants normally harbour microorganisms beneficial to the plants. However, many of these microbes may cause diseases to human beings in form of food-borne infections. Moreover, plant pathogens may also infect human beings, resulting in cross-kingdom pathogenicity. For instance, many members of Enterobacteriaceae which are pathogens to human beings are also known to cause rots and blights in plants. Many microbes found in rhizospheres of plants are also known to cause diseases (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratiamarsescens, etc.). Therefore, many inhabitants of plants (both rhizosphere and phylosphere) residing in or on plant tissues can be opportunistic pathogens of humans .Despite of the morphological and physiological changes of hosts, microbes have evolved surprisingly to inhabit diverse hosts, thus leading to cross kingdom pathogenicity. There are a number of microbial pathogens capable of infecting both plants and humans. It has been suggested that human pathogens are indirectly transferred to plants through environment or with the aid of any carrier. Plant pathogens can be shifted to humans by direct contact or indirectly through environment.
Dr Samir Saha is the head of the Microbiology Department of the Dhaka Shishu Hospital for children (Bangladesh). He is also the Executive Director of The Child Health Research Foundation at the Bangladesh Institute of Child Health.
As leading researcher in paediatrics, he played a key role in introducing to Bangladesh vaccines against two bacteria that cause meningitis, which had a direct positive impact on the health of children in the country. He has also led research into the resistance to treatment of some pneumococcal diseases.
Under this Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology has an endowment of $10,000, This award Created in 1977 by UNESCO at the initiative of the Government of Cuba, the Prize rewards scientists whose research has outstanding contribution to microbiology and its applications.
