Indian-American microbiologist Lalita Ramakrishnan has been honored with the 2024 Robert Koch Prize for her groundbreaking research on the molecular mechanisms of tuberculosis (TB). She will be awarded approximately $132,000 at a ceremony in Berlin on November 8.
This prestigious prize is awarded annually to recognize researchers with internationally renowned scientific achievements and is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health. Lalita Ramakrishnan, a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Cambridge, has conducted research with significant global implications, as TB remains a leading cause of death in many countries.
Ramakrishnan employs zebrafish as a model organism to study the disease mechanisms of mycobacteria. Zebrafish are natural hosts to Mycobacterium marinum, closely related to the human TB bacterium. Her research journey began with medical training in India, followed by a Ph.D. in Immunology and medical residency at Tufts Medical School in Boston. In 2001, she joined the University of Washington, where she pioneered the use of zebrafish to study TB pathogenesis.
