Ilaria Capua will receive the 2014 Excellence Award for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, conferred by the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).
This prestigious European institution decided to bestow such an Excellence Award to the Italian scientist for her intense scientific activity but, most of all, for the key role she played within international committees by launching global initiative and challenging consolidated mechanisms in favour of new paradigms, to the benefit of public health.
This is the first time ever that a woman receives the ESCMID's Excellence Award, which will be given to Ilaria Capua on May 12th in Barcelona and will be forerun by a Lectio Magistralis entitled "Close Encounters of the Third Kind - viruses and globalisation".
"This award represents a great satisfaction for me. ESCMID is the largest society for microbiologists and experts in infectious diseases in Europe and they decided to confer me such a prize for my scientific contribute to the discipline and my struggle to bring innovative policies in public health," explained the virologist and researcher, currently member of the Italian parliament and vicepresident of the board for culture of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. "I would like to dedicate it to all Italian women working in research, for the International Women's Day, in order to witness that an Italian woman may also be the first European woman to win such an eminent award."