Tanmay Bharat, Group Leader in the Structural Studies Division at the LMB, has been honoured by the 2024 Blavatnik Awards in the UK as Finalist in the Life Sciences category.
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK celebrate the most promising researchers working in the fields of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Chemistry. Each year, one nominee from each category is named a Laureate of the Blavatnik Awards in the UK and two finalists in each category are also recognised. The Blavatnik Awards are supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences.
Tanmay’s group studies prokaryotic (microbial) cell surfaces at the atomic level using electron tomography. Surface molecules mediate cellular interactions with the environment, playing important roles in allowing microorganisms to transition from a classical unicellular lifestyle to a multicellular community. This research has clear biomedical implications, because pathogenic bacteria, such as P. aeruginosa, evade antibiotic treatment through formation of multicellular biofilm communities.
After studying Chemistry at the University of Delhi, Tanmay read Biological Sciences at University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Tanmay completed his PhD at EMBL Heidelberg, before moving to the LMB as an EMBO/FEBS long-term fellow in Jan Löwe’s group from 2013-2017. Tanmay was then a Sir Henry Dale Fellow and Group Leader at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford before returning to the LMB in 2022 as a Group Leader.
“This award is a testament to the hard work of my laboratory members, past and present. I would like to thank Sjors Scheres, David Barford and Jan Löwe for their support. Since we moved to the LMB after the pandemic, I feel that there is special atmosphere developing in our group, and this recognition will inspire us to tackle the most difficult problems in our field.” – Tanmay Bharat
Tanmay will be honoured at the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom Ceremony on 27th February 2024 and will also give a scientific talk at a free public symposium on 28th February 2024. He is the fourth LMB scientist to be recognised by the Blavatnik Awards in the UK, after M. Madan Babu and John Briggs where both named in the inaugural UK awards in 2018 and Madeline Lancaster was named in 2022.
Further references
Tanmay’s group page
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK