Alexander Harms (Biozentrum / University of Basel and D-HEST IFNH / ETH Zürich) received the 2023 SSM Encouragement Award for the successful combination of highly original research with effective teaching, outreach, and community service activities. His young research group is exploring a new world of bacteriophage biology by isolating new phages with fascinating capabilities in order to reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms (Maffei, Shaidullina, et al., PLoS Biology (2021)) and Maffei et al., Nature Communications (2024)). This highly creative approach is bridging the traditional gap between deeply mechanistic studies and the broader scope of microbial ecology and evolution research. Many of these phages have been isolated in collaboration with high schoolers, and Alexander’s group is widely sharing them with the microbiology community. In addition to education and community service, Alexander has also integrated outreach projects in his work and, e.g., organized an art exhibition of colorized phage electron microscopy pictures for the general public. He presented his award lecture “Going viral in the community with research, teaching, and outreach on new bacteriophages” at the SSM General Assembly 2023 in Lausanne.

Médéric Diard, Institute of Microbiology, D-BIOL, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (group of Prof. Hardt) received the 2017 SSM award for his noteworthy investigation of the evolutionary dynamics of pathogenic bacteria. In particular, the virulence of Salmonella Typhimurium (Nature 494 (7437), 353-356, 2013), the selection for virulence by antibiotic treatment (Current Biology 24 (17), 2000-2005, 2014), and the impact of the host immunity on the dynamics of horizontal gene transfer during infection (Science 355 (6330), 1211-1215, 2017 and  Nature (544), 498–502, 2017).

Gaël Panis, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland (group of Prof. Patrick Viollier). Gaël received the 2016 SSM award for his scientific contributions on the Caulobacter crescentus cell cycle, more particularly his investigation to understand how an epigenetic regulatory pair, composed by the CcrM methyltransferase and the enigmatic transcriptional regulator GcrA, controls cell cycle transcription in this synchronizable bacterial model (PLOS Biology, 11(12):e1001749, 2014). The committee also wanted to encourage his ongoing works on the ΦCbK bacteriophage, a specific Caulobacter virus (Journal of Virology, 86(18):10234-5, 2012). Gaël gave his award lecture entitled "GcrA/CcrM epigenetic module in bacterial cell cycle control and host-pathogen interactions."

Nicolas Jacquier, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne, Switzerland (group of Prof Greub) received the 2015 SSM award for his outstanding research on the biology of Chlamydia and Chlamydia-like organisms, and more specifically on their division (Nat Commun. 2014; 5: 3578-3580; Chemistry & Biology 2015; 22, 1217–1227) and their specific peptidoglycan (Nat Commun. 2014; 5: 4200-4202).

Tobias J. Erb. Dr. Tobias Erb forscht und lehrt seit Juli 2011 am Institut für Mikrobiologie der ETH Zürich als SNF-Ambizione-Gruppenleiter. Seine Arbeiten konnten eine zuvor von einer anderen Forschergruppe aufgestellte Behauptung, dass GFAJ-1 Arsen in seine Erbsubstanz einbauen kann, widerlegen und ausserdem das Problem der Originalstudie, welches zu falschen Schlüssen geführt hat, identifizieren. Die Resonanz auf die im Juli 2012 in Science veröffentlichte Studie Erb et al. war sehr gross und reichte von Berichten in Onlinemedien und Internetforen, über Printmedien bis zu Radiointerviews wie Swissinfo und BBC. Eine Zusammenarbeit mit der Gruppe von Professor Dan Tawfik am Weizmann-Institut in Israel setzte die Arbeiten zum Arsen fort und Dr. Erb konnte mithelfen, aufzuklären, wie Mikroorganismen es schaffen, Arsenat aus der Zelle fernzuhalten und dennoch lebenswichtiges Phosphat aufzunehmen. Diese Arbeit ist im Oktober 2012 in Nature erschienen. Tobias Erb leitet eine eigene Arbeitsgruppe im wichtigen Bereich der mikrobiellen CO2 Fixierung. Ihre Ergebnisse haben bereits zu einem Durchbruch geführt, in dem zum ersten Mal ein Intermediat einer neuartigen reduktiven Carboxylase nachgewiesen werden konnte und damit ein neuer Mechanismus eines NADPH- abhängigen Enzymes experimentell gestütztwerden konnte. Die Ergebnisse und Implikationen sind tiefgreifend und werden zum Umdenken von zumindest einem wichtigen Teil von Pyridinnukleotid-abhängigen Enzymen führen (u.a. der Fettsäuresynthese).

Silvio Brugger, Dr.med. et Dr. phil., Inst. für Infektionskrankheiten, Universität Bern, Prof. Dr.med. et phil. Kathrin Mühlemann. Dr. Bruggers actual research work is on the physiological regulation of the capsule characteristics of pneumococci and the epidemiology and biology of nasopharyngeal colonization. The awardee has already published an impressive number of papers in renowned journals and has obtained his MD-PhD degreee with "summa cum laude".

Michael Berney, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Michael gave his award lecture entitled "How dead is dead?" on survival of pathogenic bacteria in hostile environments. Please find below the abstract of his presentation: Pathogenic bacteria are a general threat to human health around the world and a constant battle is being fought to contain them. A central question in this battle is the efficacy of measures taken against the pathogens (e.g. water disinfection, antibiotic treatment). In order to determine the efficacy of antibacterial treatments, reliable information pertaining to the physiological state of the cells and the mode of action of the antibacterial agent have to be gained. However, accurate determination of bacterial viability has been a long standing microbiological conundrum due to the ability of bacteria to enter physiological states commonly described as persistent, dormant, viable but non-cultivable etc. This presentation will demonstrate how the mode of action and the viability of treated bacteria were revealed for Solar Water Disinfection, a simple, low cost water disinfection method that helps to improve the drinking water quality in geographic regions where no other measures are taken and disease can spread rapidly.

Socorro Mesa, Institute of Microbiology ETH Zürich. The awardee holds a group leader position in Hauke Henneckes lab where she is working on the regulatory networks in the soil bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum (read more about these projects). She has impressed the jury by the high quality and consistency of her scientific contributions as well as by her very personal and unique approaches in contributing to key findings in the projects she is involved. Dr Mesa is about to establish her own research group. The committee could not find a better moment of encouraging her with the SSM award 2009.

Bärbel Stecher, Institute of Microbiology ETH Zürich for her work on the mechanisms of diarrheal Salmonella infections. In particular, Dr. Stecher’s research focuses on the consequences of the infection for the normal gut microflora. She found that Salmonella typhimurium, a common agent causing food borne diarrhea, deliberately triggers the gut immune system to provoke an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response suppresses the gut micro flora and thereby allows Salmonella typhimurium to grow in the host’s intestine. This represents a new paradigm in infection biology: Normally, inflammation helps the body to eliminate pathogens. However, some pathogens seem to subvert this immune response for their own benefit.

Matthias Christen, Biocenter, Basel, for his work on the allosteric control of cyclic di-guanosine monosphate (c-di-GMP), a novel secondary messenger in bacteria that has been implicated in biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, and persistence of pathogenic bacteria in their animal host.

Thomas K. Meier, Institute of Microbiology, Eidg. Techn. Hochschule (ETHZ), Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10, CH 8093 Zurich, Switzerland for his work to elucidate the molecular architecture of a biological turbine from Ilyobacter tartaricus, the Fo nanomotor in sodium translocating F-ATP synthases.

Gabriella Pessi, Institute of Microbiology ETHZ/HCI G429, CH-8093 ZURICH Switzerland. Gabriella Pessi was awarded for her outstandig work in the field of membrane synthesis of Plasmodium falciparum, an intraerythrocytic protozoan parasite which causes Malaria the most pernicious and among the most prevalent of the parasitic diseases.

Martin K. Ackermann, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA Population biology / Senescence in a bacterium.

Patrick Viollier, Stanford University, School of Medicine, CA, USA Spatial regulation of polar morphogenesis in the asymmetric bacterium Caulobacter crescentus

Annette Oxenius, Nuffield Dept. of Clinical Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, UK Modulation of HIV-specific immunity with novel therapeutic strategies

Urs Ochsner, University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center, USA, Denver, Colorado, USA Regulation of Iron Acquisition and Storage in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Guido Funke, Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universität Zürich, Switzerland Contributions in the field of systematic bacteriology, in particular on the classification of Gram-positive rods.

Linda Thöny-Meyer, Institut für Mikrobiologie, ETHZ, Zürich, Switzerland C-Type cytochromes in Bradyrhizobium japonicum