Deadline: 24 January 2020
Open to: entrants younger than thirty-five (35) years of age, who hold an M.D., PhD.or M.D./Ph.D at the time of entry, and have received their degree in the last 10 years.
Benefits: Each Grand Prize winner will be awarded a cash prize in the amount of USD 25,000 and travel and accommodation for the prize ceremony

NOSTER & Science Microbiome Prize

About the Prize

No one walks alone. Every human is enveloped by and contains trillions of microorganisms. The past decade’s research has revealed the essential nature of the relationships with these other organisms for healthy development and adult life. Research on the microbiome has blossomed thanks to technological advances in genomics and bioinformatics. Already, many surprising discoveries have been made about the fundamental role the microbiota play in inflammation, cancer, obesity and many other chronic non-communicable diseases that assail humans. The groundwork has been laid for a shift of gear from mapping microbial associations with health and disease states to working out the mechanistic details and the dynamics of the interactions between hosts and their microbiota. This growing field promises to translate fundamental discoveries and help answer questions about healthy human development, metabolism, and immunity.
The NOSTER Science Microbiome Prize has been established to reward innovative research by young investigators working on the functional attributes of the microbiota of any organism that has potential to contribute to our understanding of human or veterinary health and disease or to guide therapeutic interventions.

Grand Prize winner receives:

Each Grand Prize winner will be awarded a cash prize in the amount of US$25,000 and travel and accommodation for the prize ceremony.
The Grand Prize winner will also receive a free five (5) year digital subscription to Science, and will have their winning essay published in Science (print and online).

Runner(s) Up receives:

Each Runner up will receive an award plaque and travel and accommodation for the prize ceremony.
The Runner(s) Up will also receive a free one (1) year digital subscription to Science, and will have their winning essay published in Science online. Maximum number of Runners Up is 2.
ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, AND ANY OTHER COSTS AND EXPENSES, ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OR USE OF THE PRIZE ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.

About Science/AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement and more.

About NOSTER

NITTO PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD. (Nitto Pharma) was established in Kyoto, Japan in 1947. Since its founding, the company has focused on research into perfecting the cultivation of a variety of anaerobic microorganisms in order to understand their function and potential utility to fight disease. To advance this drug discovery research and disseminate the findings to the world, NOSTER was founded in June 2017. Its vision is the realization of breakthrough therapies using the microbiome. NOSTER is creating a microorganism library of beneficial gut microbes that can serve as a source of microbe-derived drugs. In particular, it is interested in the utility of specific metabolites from these bacteria, known as “postbiotics,” that can be developed into effective therapeutic interventions to benefit patients across the world. To learn more about NOSTER, click here.