ABSTRACT
The ASM Awards and Prize Program recognizes outstanding achievements in basic and applied research, clinical microbiology, education, leadership, and service. This editorial briefly describes how the program works and highlights several awards of interest to the clinical microbiology community.
KEYWORDS: American Academy of Microbiology, clinical microbiology, awards program
EDITORIAL
Each year, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) honors our colleagues in the microbiological sciences with its most prestigious awards for their contributions to basic and applied research, clinical microbiology, education, leadership, and service. The Award recipients for 2024 can be found at the following link: https://asm.org/Press-Releases/2023/September/ASM-Selects-Honorees-for-2024-Awards-and-Prize-Pro
The program is administered through the American Academy of Microbiology (the Academy), an honorific leadership group and think tank within ASM. The Subcommittee on Awards (SoA) is appointed by the Academy leadership and charged with overseeing and managing the Awards Program. Composed of Academy fellows from diverse areas of expertise, the SoA oversees the implementation of the awards program, reviews the performance of the awards, provides guidance to the selection committees, and takes part in promoting the awards to the larger microbial communities.
STRUCTURE OF THE SOA AND SELECTION OF AWARD RECIPIENTS
The SoA is one of two subcommittees that report to the Academy Governors (1). The SoA consists of eight Academy fellows, representing different disciplines within ASM, each of whom may serve up to two 3-year terms. Members of the SoA are appointed by the chair of the Academy Governors. While the SoA oversees the overall Awards program, the SoA relies upon independent Awards Selection Committees (ASC) to review nominations and identify the most suitable candidate to receive the award. The ASCs make their selection decision based on the submitted nomination materials, including the nominating letter and the nominee’s CV. All nominees are considered carefully and weighted on different factors against the criteria of the awards.
The only exception is the Elizabeth O. King Lecturer Award which is managed by the SoA. The Elizabeth O. King Award recognizes a researcher who has made significant contributions to the field of public health and the discovery of new pathogens, and the awardee is invited to give a lecture at the annual ASM Microbe Meeting. This award is not made by nomination but rather selected from a list of authors of top papers published in the field as required by the award. The list of potential recipients and the associated publications are reviewed directly by the SoA.
There are currently six Selection Committees (Fig. 1). Each selection committee is composed of a chair and four members. The SoA Chair submits the recommendation for membership of the selection committee in consultation with the selection committee chair, and the official appointment is approved by the Chair of the Academy Governors. Each selection committee reviews nomination packets and comes to a consensus recommendation for an Award recipient. Nominations for the 2025 Awards Program will open in early May 2024 and will be open until mid-June. Nomination packets are compiled by ASM staff and sent to the appropriate committees where they are reviewed over several months. Award recipients are announced in early September.
Fig 1.
Selection Committee Structure in the SoA.
ONGOING EVALUATION AND REVIEW PROCESS
The SoA is responsible for reviewing existing awards and new proposed awards. Each year, the SoA reviews the number of nominations for each award for that nomination cycle and pays additional attention to awards that receive few nominations. Table 1 shows the different categories of awards. For example, in the 2023 nomination cycle, the SoA formed three subcommittees to assess awards that received few nominations in the past 2–3 years to recommend revision of the description of the award and reassess the suitability of the award(s) toward the needs of the ASM community. Since there could be many reasons for the paucity of nominations, the SoA carefully examines the potential overlap (real or perceived) with other current awards, the eligibility requirements, the award recognition of a demonstrated impact on the field, and if the award aligns ASM’s strategic plan or goals. The promotional materials for the annual call for nominations were also reviewed, and additional ways to encourage nominations were suggested by the SoA.
TABLE 1.
Focus of ASM awardsa
| Focus of awards | Name of award |
|---|---|
| Clinical | Early Career Clinical Microbiology Research |
| Research or Leadership in Clinical Microbiology | |
| Scherago-Rubin Award for Clinical Microbiology | |
| Research | Early Career Applied and Biotechnological Research |
| Early Career Basic Research | |
| Early Career Environmental Research | |
| Basic Research | |
| Applied and Biotechnological Research | |
| Environmental Research | |
| D.C. White Award for Interdisciplinary Research | |
| Elizabeth O. King Lecturer Awardb | |
| Microbiome Data Prize | |
| Education | Graduate Education |
| Carski Award for Undergraduate Education | |
| Leadership and Service | Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Award for Service | |
| Moselio Schaechter Award In Recognition of a Developing Country Microbiologist | |
| Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | William A. Hinton Award for Advance of a Diverse Community of Microbiologists |
| Alice C. Evans Award for Advancement of Women |
For a detailed description of each award, see https://asm.org/Browse-By-Content-Type/Awards?Year=2023.
Currently not open to nominations, the awardee is recommended directly by the SoA to the Chair of the Academy Governors.
In 2022, the SoA established a new process to evaluate proposals for new awards. When new awards are proposed, the subcommittee examines several factors including whether the award supports ASM’s strategic plan or goals, if the award eligibility overlaps with other current awards, and if the award helps propel the microbial sciences for the future. Additional discussions for new awards include whether the awards program has the resources to implement the award.
AWARDS IN THE FIELD OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
There are three awards of particular interest to the clinical microbiology community (Table 1). A separate editorial highlighting the 2024 Award winners will appear in a future issue of this journal. Newly approved in the last awards cycle is the ASM Award for Early Career Clinical Microbiology Research (2). This Award was established to recognize a clinical microbiologist for their overall contributions to promoting research in the field of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases, within 10 years after completion of postgraduate training.
The ASM Award for Research or Leadership in Clinical Microbiology (3) recognizes outstanding accomplishments in research or leadership in clinical microbiology and is based on exemplary achievements. In contrast to the Early Career Award, this Award is best suited for well-established clinical microbiologists.
The ASM Scherago-Rubin Award (4) recognizes non-doctoral-level (bachelor’s or master’s degree preferred) medical microbiologists involved in diagnostic work, rather than research. Awardees distinguished themselves with excellent performance in the clinical laboratory and demonstrated a record of engagement in the microbiology community outside of their institution. The award was established by the late Sally Jo Rubin, an active member of ASM’s Clinical Microbiology Division, in honor of her grandfather, Professor Morris Scherago.
Nominating a colleague for an ASM Award is one of the most important acknowledgments one can bestow to recognize a colleague’s achievements and contributions to the field of microbiology. Not only does nominating a colleague inspire colleagues to continue their valuable work, it opens doors to collaborations and funding opportunities, encourages individuals to contribute to microbiology education, service, and leadership, and strengthens their reputation within the ASM community. Recognizing contributions in all of the areas covered by the ASM Awards & Prize Program encourages innovation, educates the public about the importance of the microbiological sciences, and pushes the field forward. By acknowledging deserving colleagues, you play an important role in shaping the future of microbiology and ensuring its continued success. It is therefore crucial that for each nomination cycle, there be a robust number of nominations for each Award. This will ensure that the ASM Awards & Prize Program, especially those awards recognizing excellence in our clinical microbiology community, remains strong and continues to be supported by the leadership in ASM.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Gladys Alexandre, Chair of the SoA, and Nguyen K. Nguyen, Director of the AAM for reviewing the manuscript and helpful comments.
Contributor Information
Irving Nachamkin, Email: nachamki@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Alexander J. McAdam, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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