BIOT Awards | Alan S. Michaels Award in the Recovery of Biological Products

Alan S. Michaels Award in the Recovery of Biological Products

Background

Alan S. Michaels (1922-2000) was a professor at MIT (1948-1966) and Stanford University (1976-1981) and a pioneer in membrane separations technology. He was the founder and president of Amicon Corporation, Pharmetrics, Inc., and Alza Research Corporation from 1962-1975. He helped start The Recovery of Biological Products Conference Series in 1981. This award was introduced in 2006 to recognize outstanding research and contributions toward the advancement of the isolation and purification of biological products.

This biannual award is sponsored by the Recovery Conference Series. It consists of $4,000 to cover an honorarium and travel expenses, to attend an annual meeting of the Biological Technology Division of the American Chemical Society, and a plaque. An address by the recipient on their research at the annual meeting is part of the Award Ceremony. 

Nomination

The nominee will have accomplished independent and original research that has an exceptionally significant impact on the field of microbial and biochemical technology. They wil be a divisional or national member or affiliate of the American Chemical Society. In assessing the technological impact of the body of work that is the basis for a nomination, the selection committee will include in its consideration:

  1. Extent to which the body of work has changed the state-of-the-art, thinking or practice of relevant aspects of recovery technology via the field’s adoption of the new theories, protocols, devices, algorithms, organisms, molecular entities or biological entities associated with the body of work
  2. Technological quality and impact of any relevant publications, monographs and/or books
  3. Extent of any relevant commercial activity via licensed patents, new commercial entities established or expansion of existing commercial activities
  4. Extent of any immediate or future societal impact via the human needs met by the application of the body of work

For further details and anonymous submissions, please go to acsbiot.submit.com.

Previous Awardees

  • 2023: Giorgio Carta
  • 2021: Richard Willson
  • 2019: Andrew Zydney
  • 2017: Brian Kelley
  • 2015: Milton Hearn
  • 2013: Mike Hoare
  • 2011: Georges Belfort
  • 2009: Abraham Lenhoff
  • 2007: Maria-Regina Kula
  • 2006: Steven Cramer