Professor Mark Blaskovich Honoured with 2027 American Society for Microbiology Award

The Australian Society for Microbiology is proud to congratulate long-time member Professor Mark Blaskovich on being named the recipient of the 2027 Award for Applied and Biotechnological Research by the American Society for Microbiology.

The prestigious award recognizes dedicated researchers whose work is having a major impact on the field.

Professor Blaskovich is a renowned "antibiotic hunter," serving as the Director of Translation at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at The University of Queensland (UQ). Combining industrial drug development expertise with academic leadership, his translational research focuses on creating next-generation therapeutics to combat superbugs. Among his many achievements, Professor Blaskovich co-founded the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD) - a global crowdsourcing initiative that screens for novel antimicrobial compounds from hundreds of research groups worldwide.

“I’m delighted that our group’s research, which is the cumulative effort of over 50 researchers ranging from Honours students to senior scientists, has been recognised as contributing to the fight against antimicrobial resistance” said Professor Blaskovich.

The American Society for Microbiology Awards and Prize Program is among the highest honours in the discipline. Running for almost 40 years, the awards celebrate excellence across all aspects of the microbial sciences selected through a highly competitive process. Professor Blaskovich will receive the award at the 2027 ASM Microbe meeting being held in Chicago, Illinois.

The Australian Society for Microbiology delighted to see Professor Blaskovich’s pioneering work recognised on the international stage and congratulates him on this honour.

For more information:

Professor Blaskovich’s research: https://imb.uq.edu.au/research-groups/blaskovich

The American Society for Microbiology Awards and Prize Program: https://asm.org/academy/asm-awards-prize-program

Awards announcement from the American Society for Microbiology: https://asm.org/press-releases/2026/asm-names-2027-awards-and-prize-program-honorees