Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the “Pathogens 2024 Best Paper Award” for research and review articles published in Pathogens from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. One review and three research articles will each receive an award. The papers will be selected after a thorough evaluation by the journal Award Committee led by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young.

Eligibility for the Award:
– Papers published in Pathogens from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022;
– Open to all career levels;
– Both regular and Special Issue submissions will be considered.

Selection Criteria:
The papers will be selected by the journal Award Committee according to the following criteria:
– Scientific merit and broad impact;
– Originality of the research objectives and/or the ideas presented;
– Creativity of the study design or uniqueness of the approaches and concepts;
– Clarity of presentation;
– Citations and downloads.

The Prize:
– One review award: CHF 500, and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2024 after peer review.
– Three research article awards:

1. The first prize: CHF 500, and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2024 after peer review;
2. The second prize: CHF 300, and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2024 after peer review;
3. The third prize: CHF 200, and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2024 after peer review;

– Each winner will also receive a certificate.

The winners will be announced on the journal website in March 2024.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young, we wish to acknowledge our reviewers who so generously offer their time to review the papers submitted to Pathogens by presenting an award to the reviewers who have demonstrated their dedication, professionalism, and timeliness in reviewing manuscripts for Pathogens.

What are the pre-requisites to be eligible for this award?
All of the reviewers for Pathogens in 2023 will be automatically included.

Selection Criteria:
– Number of review reports;
– The quality and timeliness of review reports.

What will the winners receive?
There will be three winners this year, and each will receive the following:
– CHF 500;
– An opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens after peer review in 2024;
– A certificate.

When will the winners be announced?
The winners will be announced in February 2024 on the journal website.

How can I make myself eligible?
If you have not yet reviewed papers for Pathogens, but would like to do so, you can register as a reviewer at the following link: https://susy.mdpi.com/volunteer/profile/edit.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Pathogens is now inviting nominations for the Pathogens 2023 Young Investigator Award. This prize will be given to two young investigators in recognition of their excellence in the field of pathogens and pathogen–host interactions. All nominations will be assessed by an Award Evaluation Committee led by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young.

The prize:
– CHF 1000;
– Option to publish one paper free of charge in Pathogens after peer review before the end of 2023;
– An electronic certificate.

Eligibility and Requirements:
– Must have received their PhD no more than 10 years prior to 31 December 2023;
– Must have produced ground-breaking research and made a significant contribution to the advancement of pathogens and pathogen–host interactions;
– Candidates must be nominated by senior scientists.

List of Documents for Nomination
– Detailed Curriculum Vitae, including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
– Scanned copy of doctorate certificate;
– Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists.

Schedule
Open for nominations: 9 August 2022.
Nomination deadline: 30 April 2023.
Winners announcement: 30 June 2023.

How can I submit a nomination?
Nominations must be submitted online.

Ms. Faustine Wang
Marketing Assistant
Email: [email protected]

Kind regards,
Pathogens 2023 Young Investigator Award Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

The editorial team would like to congratulate the winners of the Pathogens 2023 Best Paper Award, who were chosen by a selection committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young. Following a review process by the Award Evaluation Committee, four winners were selected.

Article:
The First Prize: CHF 500 plus the chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2023 after peer review.
Investigation of Long COVID Prevalence and Its Relationship to Epstein–Barr Virus Reactivation
By Jeffrey E. Gold, Ramazan A. Okyay, Warren E. Licht and David J. Hurley
Pathogens 2021, 10(6), 763; doi:10.3390/pathogens10060763

The Second Prize: CHF 300 plus the chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2023 after peer review.
Development of a Blocking Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detection of Antibodies against African Swine Fever Virus
By Fangfeng Yuan, Vlad Petrovan, Luis Gabriel Gimenez-Lirola, Jeffrey J. Zimmerman, Raymond R. R. Rowland and Ying Fang
Pathogens 2021, 10(6), 760; doi:10.3390/pathogens10060760

The Third Prize: CHF 200 plus the chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2023 after peer review.
Atopobium vaginae and Prevotella bivia Are Able to Incorporate and Influence Gene Expression in a Pre-Formed Gardnerella vaginalis Biofilm
By Joana Castro, Aliona S. Rosca, Christina A. Muzny and Nuno Cerca
Pathogens 2021, 10(2), 247; doi:10.3390/pathogens10020247

Review:
The Prize: CHF 500 plus the chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2023 after peer review.
Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC): An Overview of Virulence and Pathogenesis Factors, Zoonotic Potential, and Control Strategies
By Dipak Kathayat, Dhanashree Lokesh, Sochina Ranjit and Gireesh Rajashekara
Pathogens 2021, 10(4), 467; doi:10.3390/pathogens10040467

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the Pathogens 2023 Best Paper Award. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our authors for your continued support of Pathogens.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens 2022 Outstanding Reviewer Award. The Pathogens Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Pathogens. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround are maintained.

Prof. Dr. Tomasz M. Karpiński
Department of Medical Microbiology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland
Research Interests: microbiology; molecular biology; microbial pathogenesis; bacterial proteins and toxins; antimicrobials

Dr. Guillaume Fiches
Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Research Interests: Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV); Epstein–Barr virus (EBV); virology; innate immunity; epigenetics; SARS-CoV-2

Dr. Jianxuan Wu
Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA, USA
Research Interests: bacteria expulsion behavior of bladder epithelial cells; urinary tract infections

The Prize for Each Winner:

• CHF 500;
• An opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2023 after peer review;
• A certificate.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the winners of the Pathogens 2022 Young Investigator Award are Dr. Marta Giovanetti and Dr. Carrie M. Long.

Dr. Marta Giovanetti is a Visitant Researcher at the National Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil. Her research focuses on investigating the patterns of gene flow in pathogen populations, particularly the use of phylogenetics and phylogeography as tools to recreate and understand the determinants of viral outbreaks and how this information can be translated into public policy recommendations. She is currently the researcher with the largest number and most cited papers on COVID-19 in Brazil, and she was also awarded the “Researcher Productivity Fellowship” in consideration of her many publications and her dedication to Science by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. She has authored 141 articles published in international peer-review journals and 2 book chapters, and she also has been involved in the development of 3 pieces of open-source software for virus genotyping. Recently (October 2021), due to her commitment in the arbovirus surveillance research, she was awarded with the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science prize.

Dr. Carrie M. Long is an NIH Independent Research Scholar (IRS) in the Laboratory of Bacteriology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a component of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Dr. Long obtained her Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis from West Virginia University School of Medicine in 2016. Her research focuses on
C. burnetii pathogenesis, immunology, vaccinology, Q fever, animal modeling, guinea pigs, and bacterial vaccine development. Her scientific achievements are documented in 21 peer reviewed publications, including six first-author manuscripts in well respected journals. Dr. Long also contributed to the ongoing NIH COVID-19 research at RML, and she received an NIH Merit Award (2020) and an NIH Director’s Award (2021).

Each awardee will receive an honorarium of CHF 1000, an engraved plaque, and the opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens following peer review before the end of 2022.

We would like to thank all the nominators from various fields of study for their participation and the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominations.

Kind Regards,
Pathogens 2022 Award Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens 2022 Best Paper Award. All papers published in 2020 in Pathogens were considered for the award. After a thorough evaluation of the originality and significance of the papers, citations, and downloads, the four winning papers, which were nominated by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young and the Award Committee, have been selected.

First Prize: CHF 500

Effectiveness of Chemical Compounds Used against African Swine Fever Virus in Commercial Available Disinfectants
By Małgorzata Juszkiewicz, Marek Walczak, Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk and Grzegorz Woźniakowski
Pathogens 2020, 9(11), 878; doi:10.3390/pathogens9110878 

Betanodavirus and VER Disease: A 30-year Research Review
By Isabel Bandín and Sandra Souto
Pathogens 2020, 9(2), 106; doi:10.3390/pathogens9020106 

Second Prize: CHF 300

The Bradyzoite: A Key Developmental Stage for the Persistence and Pathogenesis of Toxoplasmosis
By Aude Cerutti, Nicolas Blanchard and Sébastien Besteiro
Pathogens 2020, 9(3), 234; doi:10.3390/pathogens9030234 

Understanding Flavivirus Capsid Protein Functions: The Tip of the Iceberg
By Stephanea Sotcheff and Andrew Routh
Pathogens 2020, 9(1), 42; doi:10.3390/pathogens9010042 

Each winner (corresponding author) will also receive a certificate and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2022. 

On behalf of the assessment committee, I would like to congratulate the winners on their accomplishments. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the nominated research groups of the above exceptional papers for their contributions to Pathogens and the Award Committee for voting and helping with this award. 

Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young, Pathogens

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens 2021 Outstanding Reviewer Award. The Pathogens Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Pathogens. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround are maintained.

The following referees have been selected to receive the Pathogens 2021 Outstanding Reviewer Award for the quantity, timeliness, and quality of their reviews in 2021:

Dr. Leonardo Basco
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.

Dr. Anastasia Diakou
Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dr. Erika I. Lutter
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.

Each winner will receive a certificate, CHF 500, and an offer to publish a paper in Pathogens for free after the normal peer review process in 2022.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

The editorial team would like to congratulate the winners of the Pathogens 2021 Best Paper Awards, who were chosen by a committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Lawrence S. Young. Following a review process by the Evaluation Committee, four winners were selected. The recipients of the “Pathogens 2021 Best Paper Awards” are as follows:

Rank 1 Award: (500 CHF + one free publication)

Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Cause or Consequence? IBD Treatment Targeting the Gut Microbiome
(doi: 10.3390/pathogens8030126)

Candida albicans Interactions with Mucosal Surfaces during Health and Disease
(doi: 10.3390/pathogens8020053)

Rank 2 Award: (300 CHF + one free publication)

Bacteriophages in Natural and Artificial Environments
(doi: 10.3390/pathogens8030100)

Chloroplasts and Plant Immunity: Where Are the Fungal Effectors?
(doi: 10.3390/pathogens9010019)

Please join us in congratulating the winners of Pathogens 2021 Best Paper Awards. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our authors for your continued support of Pathogens.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens Travel Awards for 2021.

The awards have been granted to:

Vanessa Silva, a Ph.D. student, from University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro;

Hejun Liu, a post-doctoral fellow, from the Scripps Research Institute;

Tomokazu Tamura, a post-doctoral fellow, from Princeton University.

With so many high-quality applications, the evaluation process and final decision were challenging. We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting their diverse and fascinating range of research topics. We congratulate the winners on their accomplishments.

Pathogens 2021 Travel Awards Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the winners of the Pathogens 2021 Young Investigator Awards are Professor Si Ming Man and Dr. Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan.

Professor Man is a Professor of the innate immunity and inflammasome lab at the Australian National University. Professor Man’s research interest is investigating the role of innate immunity in infectious diseases and cancer. Professor Man received his PhD in 2014 and has an outstanding publication record in peer-reviewed international journals. Professor Man’s Scopus Scientific Citations number is 4964 and his Hirsch index is 36.

Dr. Chan is a Clinical Assistant Professor of the Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Chan’s research interest is using state-of-the-art technologies in molecular medicine to investigate virus–host interactions and improve the diagnosis, treatment, and control of emerging pathogens. Dr. Chan received his PhD in 2017 and has an outstanding publishing record, comprising over 230 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. Dr. Chan’s Scopus Scientific Citations number is 18,182 and his Hirsch index is 61.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Man and Dr. Chan for their outstanding achievements.

As the awardees, Professor Man and Dr. Chan each will receive an honorarium of 1000 CHF, an offer to publish a paper free of charge before 1^st April 2022 in Pathogens after peer review, and an engraved plaque.

We would like to thank all the nominators from various fields of study for their participation and all the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominations.

Pathogens 2021 Young Investigator Awards Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens 2020 Outstanding Reviewer Award. The Pathogens Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Pathogens. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround are maintained.

The following referees have been selected to receive the Pathogens 2020 Outstanding Reviewer Award for the quantity, timeliness, and quality of their reviews in 2020:

Jan Votypka, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

María Auxiliadora Dea-Ayuela, Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, Spain.

Thomas Bock, Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.

Each winner will receive a certificate, CHF 500, and an offer to publish a paper in Pathogens for free after the normal peer review process.

Kind regards,
Pathogens Editorial Office

Rank 1 Award: (CHF 500 + one free publication)
– An Update on Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus (doi: 10.3390/pathogens7030066)
– The Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus Eye Infections (doi: 10.3390/pathogens7010009)

Rank 2 Award: (CHF 300 + one free publication)
– The Structure of PrP^Sc Prions (doi: 10.3390/pathogens7010020)
– Manipulation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity by Staphylococcal Superantigens (doi: 10.3390/pathogens7020053)

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the Pathogens 2020 Best Paper Awards. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our authors for your continued support of Pathogens.

Dear Colleagues,

As Editor-in-Chief of Pathogens, I am pleased to announce the winners of the Pathogens Travel Awards for 2020.

The awards have been granted to Dr. Norman van Rhijn, from the University of Manchester, whose research interests are in the field of mycology, and how the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is able to withstand stressful conditions and the immune system in the mammalian lung; Dr. Allison K. Scherer, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose research interest is the interactions between the human host and opportunistic fungal pathogens; and Dr. Magali Roques, from the Institute of Cell Biology (ICB) at the University of Bern, who is researching the malaria disease.

With so many high-quality applicants, the process of evaluation and final decision was challenging. We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting details of their diverse and fascinating range of research topics. On behalf of the assessment committee, I congratulate the winners on their accomplishments.

Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Lawrence S. Young

Dear Colleagues,

The Pathogens Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy given by reviewers in checking manuscripts submitted to Pathogens. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround are maintained.

The following referees have been selected to receive Pathogens 2019 Outstanding Reviewer Awards for the quantity, timeliness, and quality of their reviews in 2019.

Maria A. Pereira
Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL)

Kuldeep Gupta
School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of North Dakota

Aliyar Fouladkhah
Public Health Microbiology Laboratory, Tennessee State University

Each winner will receive a certificate and 500 CHF.

Pathogens Editorial Office

The editorial team would like to congratulate the winners of the 2019 Pathogens Best Paper Awards, who were chosen by a selection committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Lawrence S. Young.

The following two papers, in no particular order, have won the first prize of 2019 Pathogens Best Paper Awards:

Modeling HSV-1 Latency in Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neurons
Pathogens 2017, 6(2), 24; doi: 10.3390/pathogens6020024
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/2/24

Is Toxoplasma gondii a Trigger of Bipolar Disorder?
Pathogens 2017, 6(1), 3; doi: 10.3390/pathogens6010003
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/1/3

The following two papers, in no particular order, have won the second prize of 2019 Pathogens Best Paper Awards:

Evolution and Divergence of H3N8 Equine Influenza Viruses Circulating in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2015
Pathogens 2017, 6(1), 6; doi: 10.3390/pathogens6010006
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/1/6

Interactions between Neutrophils and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Cystic Fibrosis
Pathogens 2017, 6(1), 10; doi: 0.3390/pathogens6010010
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/6/1/10

The four winners will receive a certificate and an offer to publish a paper free of charge in Pathogens in 2020, after peer-review and processing. Each winner will additionally receive a bonus based on the award class:

First Award: 500 CHF each
Second Award: 300 CHF each

Please join us in congratulating the authors who have won the Best Paper Awards. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our authors for your continued support of Pathogens.

Kind regards,

Pathogens Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

As Editor-in-Chief of Pathogens, I am pleased to announce the two winners of the 2019 Travel Awards sponsored by Pathogens. These were granted to Dr. Krystyna Cwiklinski, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Professor Dalton’s laboratory at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and to Dr. Rebecca Sumner, a Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher in the laboratory of Professor Greg Towers in the Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London. The awards consist of 800 Swiss Francs each,to support attendance at an academic conference of their choice in 2019.

Dr. Krystyna Cwiklinski is interested in the pathogenesis of parasitic infections and she uses a range of parasitology, molecular biology and bioinformatics tools and techniques to further our understanding of host-parasite interactions.

Dr. Rebecca Sumner’s research focuses on understanding how HIV-1 is detected by the innate immune system, particularly by cytoplasmic DNA sensors, and how the virus has evolved to evade this detection.

We had a significant number of high quality applications for the awards and would like to thank all applicants for submitting their diverse and fascinating range of research topics. We congratulate the winners for their accomplishments and wish them an enjoyable experience at their conferences.

Prof. Lawrence S. Young
Editor-in-Chief
Chair of Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

As Editor-in-Chief of Pathogens, I am pleased to announce the two winners of the 2018 Travel Awards sponsored by Pathogens. These were granted to Dr. Ana Raquel Pinho Freitas, Post-Doc Researcher at [email protected], The Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal (in the laboratory of Prof. Luísa Peixe) and to Dr. Anna Conrad, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA (in the laboratory of Prof. Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello). The awards consist of 800 Swiss Francs each, to support attendance at an academic conference of their choice in 2018.

Dr. Ana Raquel Pinho Freitas‘s main interests and expertise include molecular epidemiology and evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on the genetic basis for transmission of antibiotic resistance and the adaptation of Enterococcus spp. and, to a lesser extent, Staphylococcus spp. to different hosts ( human, animal, food and the environment ).

Dr. Anna Conrad’s research focuses on mechanisms of oak resistance to Phytophthora ramorum infection and on the development of methods to predict resistance within natural populations.

We had a significant number of high quality applications for the awards and would like to thank all applicants for submitting their diverse and fascinating range of research topics. We congratulate the winners for their accomplishments and wish them an enjoyable experience at their conferences.
 

Prof. Lawrence S. Young
Editor-in-Chief