Dr Elizabeth Ballou

Exeter researcher wins Lister Prize

A University of Exeter researcher has won the prestigious Lister Prize to support her research into fungal pathogens.

Dr Elizabeth Ballou received the prize from the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine to study the biology of the fungi that cause mucormycosis, an understudied but serious infection with a mortality rate of 80%.

"I’m deeply honoured to have received a Lister Prize for research into fungal pathogens," said Dr Ballou, a Wellcome Trust Henry Dale Fellow and Principal Investigator at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology.

“The flexible funds provided by the Lister Institute will help my group address an urgent gap in knowledge by investigating the basic biology of understudied, emerging fungal pathogens that cause mucormycosis. 

"This prize also reflects the support and mentorship I have received from the medical mycology research community, for which I am extremely grateful."

Professor Neil Gow, Exeter's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Impact), said: "I am delighted to see Dr Ballou’s talent as a researcher in medical mycology being recognised through the award of a Lister fellowship.

"Dr Ballou is exploiting crucial novel insights that she has made to explore new ways of addressing devastating type of aggressive fungal infection that has been understudied in the past.

"Lister fellowships are highly competitive and prestigious and we are delighted that this is the second Lister fellowship to be awarded to Exeter microbiologists in the last two years."

The Lister Institute’s research prizes give researchers in the early years of running their own groups the opportunity to develop their potential through flexible funding over a five-year period.

Date: 23 June 2022