A technician from the School of Biosciences has been shortlisted in a prestigious awards scheme which celebrates technical excellence and innovation in higher education and research.
Bronte Elliott is in the running for a Papin Prize newcomer award, which recognises an individual who has embarked on a technical career within the past four years and shown exceptional promise.
She is one of only 61 technicians across the UK to be shortlisted across ten categories in this year’s awards.
“I am delighted that Bronte’s hard work has been recognised. It’s a huge achievement to be shortlisted for a Papin Prize.
“Bronte's efforts have been central in adapting our research-grade methods to produce ear cells from stem cells, into industry-compatible standards. She successfully demonstrated we can generate the correct cells with a simpler, more controlled system than the one we used before. This is a critical step in our ambitions to translate the technology into the clinic and to achieve a first-in-human trial, in the path to develop a stem cell therapy for hearing loss.
“Undoubtedly, Bronte’s dedication and strong work ethics makes her a worthy recipient of this distinction.”
Professor Marcelo Rivolta
Professor of Sensory Stem Cell Biology in the School of Biosciences
The Papin Prizes are named after Denis Papin, a 17th century technician who worked with Robert Boyle. Papin invented the steam digester and was one of the first technicians to publish in his own name. Nominations for the 2021 Papin Prizes are made by any member of the higher education community including students, staff, collaborators and alumni.
Winners will be announced at the biannual Higher Education Technician Summit (HETS) 2021 on 10 November 2021 at the East Midlands Conference Centre, University of Nottingham.