The British Society of Parasitology (BSP) has awarded the 2024 President’s Medal to Dr Juan Quintana from the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation at The University of Manchester. 

The President’s Medal recognises BSP early career members who have produced international-quality research outputs and demonstrate ambitions consistent with the potential to achieve a world-leading status within the research community.

Dr Quintana said: “I’m delighted to be awarded the BSP President’s medal. This medal is awarded to independent early career investigators who are considered rising stars in parasitology and who have made impactful contributions to the field. The BSP council received several nominations but ultimately decided to award this medal in recognition of the work I have done to describe novel aspects of the immune response in the skin (Sinton MC, et al. Nat comms, 2023; Quintana JF, et al. Nat comms, 2023) and brain (Quintana JF, et al. PLoS Biology, 2023; Quintana JF, et al. Nat comms, 2022) in the context of chronic sleeping sickness, a devastating disease that still affects over 60 million people in several Sub-Saharan African countries.

In addition to this, the council commended my involvement in several initiatives towards creating a more inclusive and open research environment for the next generation of scientists. These initiatives included the Scottish Parasitology Partnership in Research, Innovation and Training (SPPIRIT) and the STEM village which I currently coordinate with Matthew Sinton (University of Manchester) and Alex Cocker (Imperial College London).

I look forward to continuing these contributions to the fields of neuroimmunology, parasitology, and skin immunology, as well as to contributing to the positive and supportive research environment at the Lydia Becker Institute”

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