Fleming Showcase speaker profile: Professor Bonnie Bassler
09 November 2020
In celebration of the Microbiology Society’s 75th anniversary, 'Why Microbiologists Matter: a digital celebration of the journeys of our members’ will include a Fleming Showcase between Monday 23 afternoon and all day Tuesday 24 November 2020. We will be welcoming a range of guest speakers whose profiles we will share in the lead up to the event. This week we learn more about Professor Bonnie Bassler from Princeton University, USA.
The Fleming Prize, named after founding member and the first President of the Society, Sir Alexander Fleming FRS, is awarded each year to an early career researcher who has achieved an outstanding research record within 12 years of being awarded their PhD.
The Fleming Showcase will be a celebration of outstanding science in recognition of the legacy of past Fleming Prize winners and it will demonstrate the impact of both established and up-and-coming scientists in addressing important challenges. The showcase is organised by a Committee of Fleming Prize Winners, Chaired by Sir Paul Nurse FRS.
Professor Bonnie Bassler
Bonnie Bassler is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Squibb Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University.
The research in her laboratory focuses on the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use for intercellular communication. This process is called quorum sensing. Bassler’s research is paving the way for the development of novel therapies for combating bacteria by disrupting quorum-sensing-mediated communication.
“Some of my research seeks to develop new antimicrobials. It is thrilling to celebrate the scientists who made that entire research arena possible”.
Bassler has received may prizes including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine, and the Dickson Prize in Medicine. She has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and is a foreign member of the Royal Society. Bassler served as the President of the American Society for Microbiology and Chair of the American Academy of Microbiology Board of Governors. She was a member of the National Science Board and was nominated to that position by President Barack Obama.
Find out more about the Fleming Showcase event and register your place on our website.
Image: Bonnie Bassler.