The KT Jeang Retrovirology Prize is awarded annually to a colleague who has made outstanding contributions to the field of Retrovirology and is in the middle of their career.
Initially known as the Retrovirology Prize, this award was started in 2005 by the founding Editor of Retrovirology, Kuan-Teh Jeang (Teh). In his 2005 editorial (Retrovirology 2005 2:26), Teh argued that there were few prizes dedicated to the “silent majority” of mid-career scientists whereas prizes for younger or older colleagues were numerous. He concluded that a prize honouring the achievements of colleagues in the 45-60 age bracket in the field of Retrovirology would fill an important niche.
After the untimely passing of Teh, the prize was renamed the KT Jeang Retrovirology Prize to honour Teh’s contribution to our field. Several outstanding scientists have been awarded with Retrovirology Prize since its inception, and the full list is available here.
Nomination process
Nominations should be sent to Will Shadbolt at Retrovirology by email. The nomination call is open between May 10th, 2023 and June 7th, 2024. Late nominations will not be accepted. Nominations are usually submitted by members of the Retrovirology editorial board but self-nominations are also permitted. All nominations will be treated as confidential.
Nominations should include a full CV and a statement clearly explaining the key scientific contributions to the field that have been made by the nominee and may be related to fundamental mechanisms of retrovirus replication, host-pathogen interactions, immune responses to retroviruses, development of animal models and clinical science related to retroviruses. A single key scientific contribution is sufficient.
Eligibility
Be “mid-career”, which we define as 45-60 age bracket.
Nominations of individuals from under-represented groups are encouraged.
Selection criteria for the Prize
Nominations are evaluated by the Retrovirology Prize committee of 12 members. Members of this committee include past awardees and individuals who are outside of the Retrovirology Editorial team. Appointment to this committee will be for 3 years and committee members cannot be nominated for the award during their tenure as assessors of the Retrovirology Prize.
Prize Committee
Petronela Ancuta, Centre de Recherche Hospital Universite’ de Montreal (CHUM), Canada
Karen Beemon (Chair), Johns Hopkins University, USA
Eric Freed, National Cancer Institute, USA
J. Victor Garcia-Martinez, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
Rosemary Kiernan, Institut de Genetique Humaine, France
Peter Cherepanov, Cancer Research UK, UK
Florence Margottin-Goguet, Institut Cochhin, France
Michael Malim, King’s College London, UK
Masafumi Takiguchi, Kumamoto University, Japan
Anne Gatignol, McGill University, Canada
Kathleen Boris-Lawrie, The Ohio State University, USA
Leslie Parent, Pennsylvania State University, USA
The Committee members will discuss the nominations, then the voting process is carried out by secret ballot using a ranking method. The nominee who has more than six first place votes wins. If no nominee has more than 6 first place votes, the total score of the ranked vote is calculated and the nominee with the lowest total wins.
The committee will look for evidence of one or more key seminal scientific contributions to the field of Retrovirology. Contributions must be original and should have made a difference to our field. The Committee will also look for evidence of contributions that are not only central to Retrovirology but that also impacted investigations outside as that defines the breadth of the contribution.
The winner will receive:
- A cash prize of 2,000 GBP
- A trophy
Past winners of the KT Jeang Retrovirology Prize
A full list of the past winners of the KT Jeang Retrovirology Prize, and the published Editorials announcing each winner, is available here.