Bangladesh researcher Dr Samir Saha wins UNESCO prize for microbiology

The UN’s cultural and educational body has named leading Bangladeshi researcher Dr Samir Saha as the winner of the 2017 Carlos J Finlay UNESCO Prize for Microbiology.

Dr Saha heads the microbiology department of the Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital. He is also the executive director of The Child Health Research Foundation at the Bangladesh Institute of Child Health.

He is sharing the award with Professor Shahida Hasnain of Pakistan.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova named the two laureates on the recommendation of an international jury of experts in microbiology, the organisation said in a recent media release.

The prize will be presented to the two laureates on Nov 6 during the 39th session of the organisation’s General Conference.

The 195 member states of the organisation will take part in the conference from Oct 30 to Nov 14.

As a leading researcher in paediatrics, Dr Saha played a crucial 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.

Professor Shahida Hasnain is the founder and chairperson of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan.

She has contributed to advances in research in environmental, agricultural and medical microbiology. She has worked on the heavy metal detoxification mechanisms, salt stress tolerance mechanisms, and bacterial morphogenesis.

The Carlos J Finlay Prize for Microbiology has an endowment of $10,000, which will be divided between the two laureates.

Created in 1977 by UNESCO at the initiative of the Government of Cuba, the prize rewards scientists whose research has made an outstanding contribution to microbiology and its applications.