Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the department of molecular biology at Princeton University in New Jersey, has been selected to receive the 2022 Prize Medal from the Microbiology Society. The honor is awarded annually “to an outstanding microbiologist who is a global leader in their field and whose work has had a far-reaching impact beyond the discipline of microbiology.” Dr. Bassler will be honored at the society’s annual conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April.
Dr. Bassler’s research focuses on how bacteria talk to each other and orchestrate collective behaviors. This process, called quorum sensing, relies on the production, detection, and response to extracellular signal molecules. Quorum sensing allows bacteria to coordinate their activities, and as groups, accomplish tasks that would be unproductive if a single bacterium undertook them alone. Her work has increased the understanding of microbes and illuminated innovative approaches to promoting health and preventing disease.
“I am surprised, delighted, and honored to receive the Microbiology Society Prize Medal,” Professor Bassler said. “I am grateful to and proud of the many scientists who have come through my lab to go on this scientific adventure with me! It has been a privilege and thrilling to work with the team as they try to change the perception of bacteria from being thought of as asocial loners to being considered sophisticated interacting organisms that, by acting as collectives, can have a profound influence on nature, health, and disease. The Microbiology Society Prize Medal is a spectacular recognition of my lab team’s creativity, tenacity, and belief that bacteria still house many important mysteries and so they are worthy of us devoting our professional lives to exploring them.”
Dr. Bassler is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine. She is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, where she majored in biochemistry and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.