Bioanalysis today announced that Stephen Holman (Michael Barber Centre for Mass Spectrometry Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB), The University of Manchester) has been awarded the Young Investigator of the Year title by the international editorial board of the monthly journal Bioanalysis.

Over the course of 2009/2010, the profiles of 8 international bioanalysts were featured in the journal, nominated by their supervisors. Each Young Investigators was given the opportunity to highlight their bioanalytical work to date, discuss their future career aspirations and give their thoughts on the future revolution of the field of bioanalysis.

The Young Investigator of the Year award has been awarded by the international editorial advisory board of Bioanalysis in recognition of the achievements of a young bioanalysts at an early stage of their career. At the end of the year, votes were cast by the international editorial advisory panel to select the winner.

Brian Booth, US FDA, Senior Editor said: "When we launched Bioanalysis, we thought of beginning a regular Young Investigator segment to highlight the development and talents of the youngest generation in this field. They represent the future of this science, and there are very few venues to demonstrate their skills and potential. The purpose of this award is to stimulate these young people and provide some small reward for their efforts. Stephen Holman was selected this year (among some very stiff competition) because of his involvement in some innovative research, and we anticipate much more from him in the future. Congratulations Stephen!"*

*The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect official policy of the FDA.No official endorsement by the FDA is intended or should be inferred.

Stephen Holman commented; "I was very surprised, but also very honoured and humbled, to be bestowed the award of Young Investigator of the Year 2010." He went on to say, "The award will provide a significant boost to my CV given that it is a truly international prize; the list of nominees spanned several continents, as did the selection committee who decided upon the eventual awardee. The journal is quickly becoming established in the field of Bioanalysis, and to be associated with it as the first recipient of the Young Investigator award is a great privilege."

In addition, Stephen's original profile/nomination can be found here: http://www.future-science.com/doi/abs/10.4155/bio.09.45

Stephen was nominated for the award by Dr Pat Wright (Pfizer UK) whilst studying for his PhD at the University of Southampton.

Pat said: "Stephen has shown himself to be an exceptional advocate for bioanalysis and an outstanding researcher. He quickly adapted his skills to the requirements of his PhD project, acquiring an understanding of mass spectrometry to which even more experienced practitioners would aspire. Within 18 months, he published his first paper, with a second being recently accepted for publication, and he has presented his work at a number of meetings. In September 2008, he received the Michael Barber award for the best student oral presentation at the British Mass Spectrometry Society conference in York, which attests to his enthusiastic delivery as well as the high standard of his science. His outstanding work and position in his peer group was further recognized when he won the poster prize competition, held at the end of the second year of PhD study at the School of Chemistry, University of Southampton. Stephen has expanded his project to a self-initiated and exciting area that is not only of extreme relevance to metabolite identification, but also increases fundamental knowledge of gas-phase ion chemistry within the collision cell of a mass spectrometer."

Stephen receives a complementary 1-year print and online subscription to Bioanalysis and the next paper he submits to Bioanalysis will be highlighted as "Young Investigator of the Year 2010" and made free-to-view permanently, which we hope will further boost his research career.

Bioanalysis is now accepting nominations for Young Investigator 2011. They should be under the age of 30, including Masters and Doctorate students, Post doctorate researchers and those working in industry. If you wish to nominate a Young Investigator, please contact the Commissioning Editor at: r.devooght-johnson@future-science.com.