ESCV

Tobias Allander was born on February 25, 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden. After his MD (1991) and PhD (1997) at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm he completed his medical training receiving Board Certification to practice medicine in 2002.

After working as a Postdoctoral fellow/Research Associate at National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 1999-2001, he returned to Sweden where he held various posts, culminating in his appointment as Attending physician in the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital and Associate Professor of Virology, Karolinska Institute in 2007.

In his PhD entitled “Hepatitis C virus infection: Molecular analysis of transmission and immunity”, he was among the first to apply nucleotide sequencing in detailed transmission studies. Of the resultant publications, one published in the Lancet documenting a nosocomial outbreak is highly cited. In subsequent work, he has been at the forefront of development of sequence-based methods for identification of unknown viruses, leading to a wave of new virus discoveries. During his time at NIH, he developed a new and simple protocol for the molecular identification of unknown viruses, published in 2001. The paper also included the discovery and characterization of two bovine parvovirus species. Subsequent application of this method by other researchers led to the identification of human parvovirus 4.

In 2007, he published the identification of a new human polyomavirus, the KI polyomavirus. This was the first description of a new human polyomavirus since the identification of JC and BK viruses in 1971. Other research groups, also applying large scale sequencing and bioinformatics, have now described two additional human polyomaviruses, in what has become a rapidly developing field.

Katherine Elizabeth Templeton was born on October 25, 1968 in London, United Kingdom. She attended West Heath School, Sevenoaks, Kent from 1981 to 1986. In 1987 she started her undergraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in Biological Sciences and 1990-1991 she completed a final honours year in Microbiology and graduated in 1991. In the same year she started employment as a Clinical Scientist at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London in the Virology Department. In 1992 she started postgraduate study in a Master of Science in Virology at NESCOT (University of Surrey) as a 2-year part-time course. She graduated from University of Surrey in 1994. In 1995-1996 she took time off work to be a member of the Great Britain Olympic Rowing Squad. Following this, she began training to become a Member of the Royal College of Pathologists, under the supervision of Professor Don Jeffries and Dr. Celia Aitken. She obtained membership by examination in October 2004. In March 2001 she started employment as a research assistant in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands, working on a European Union project for development and validation of real-time PCR for the diagnosis of respiratory infections. She gradually broadened her tasks in the field of molecular diagnostics in the laboratory in Leiden, became involved in several other clinical studies and supported the implementation of these tools into clinical practice. She received the Leiden University Doctor's degree for her thesis "Improved diagnosis of respiratory pathogens by real-time PCR" on 25 October 2005. Just before that occasion, in September 2005 she started new employment as a Consultant Clinical Scientist at the Royal Infirmary Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. She is married to Richard Philipps and mother of two daughters, Rachel and Alexandra.

2008	Tobias Allander	Sweden
2007	Daniele Lillieri	Italy
2006	Kate Templeton	United Kingdom
2005	Christoph Steininger	Austria
2004	Christian Drosten	Germany
2003	Manfred William Weidmann	Germany
2002	Rob Schuurman	The Netherlands
2001	Florence Morfin	France
2000	Giorgio Gallinella	Italy
1999	Christian W. Mandl	Austria
1998	Julie D. Fox	United Kingdom
1997	Paola Cinque Leen-Jan van Doorn	Italy The Netherlands
1996	Åke Lundkvist	Sweden
1995	Matti Sällberg	Sweden
1994	Lennart Svensson	Sweden
1993	Peter Muir	United Kingdom
1992	Klaus Hedman	Finland
1991	Elizabeth Puchhammer-Stockl	Austria
1990	Wim van der Bij	The Netherlands
1989	Grazia Revello Hillar Kangro	Italy United Kingdom
1988	Paul Griffith	United Kingdom

Winner of the Abbott Diagnostics Award 2008: *Tobias Allander* Tobias Allander was born on February 25, 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden. After his MD (1991) and PhD (1997) at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm he completed his medical training receiving Board Certification to practice medicine in 2002. After working as a Postdoctoral fellow/Research Associate at National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 1999-2001, he returned to Sweden where he held various posts, culminating in his appointment as Attending physician in the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital and Associate Professor of Virology, Karolinska Institute in 2007. In his PhD entitled “Hepatitis C virus infection: Molecular analysis of transmission and immunity”, he was among the first to apply nucleotide sequencing in detailed transmission studies. Of the resultant publications, one published in the Lancet documenting a nosocomial outbreak is highly cited. In subsequent work, he has been at the forefront of development of sequence-based methods for identification of unknown viruses, leading to a wave of new virus discoveries. During his time at NIH, he developed a new and simple protocol for the molecular identification of unknown viruses, published in 2001. The paper also included the discovery and characterization of two bovine parvovirus species. Subsequent application of this method by other researchers led to the identification of human parvovirus 4. Back at the Karolinska University Hospital, he organised a virus discovery programme and was the first to successfully apply large scale sequencing and bioinformatics analysis for discovery of unknown viruses. He identified human bocavirus in 2005, and is working on the clinical relevance of bocavirus infection in collaboration with researchers in Finland. In 2007, he published the identification of a new human polyomavirus, the KI polyomavirus. This was the first description of a new human polyomavirus since the identification of JC and BK viruses in 1971. Other research groups, also applying large scale sequencing and bioinformatics, have now described two additional human polyomaviruses, in what has become a rapidly developing field.
Previous winners of the Diagnostic Award: