Student Annemarie Doze wins Unilever Research Prize 2021

On November 25, Master student in Chemistry Annemarie Doze has been awarded the prestigious 2021 Unilever Research Prize for her Master project ‘Metabolic labelling of Mycobacteria with proteins and photo cleavable antibiotics’. Annemarie achieved labelling of a certain type of protein with a sugar unit which the mycobacteria incorporates into the cell surface. This novel tool is currently used to study Mycobacterium tuberculosis’ illusive escape mechanism.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has evolved to escape the immune system’s defense of bacterial digestion using surface proteins. Pinpointing this protein provides fundamental understanding of survival mechanisms and potentially new drug targets.

Other activities

As extracurricular activity during her studies, Annemarie was an author in a publication (Chem. Commun., 2021, 57, 7529–7532) with Prof. Ben Feringa. Her performance in her bachelor and masters earned her an internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete her masters, and she is well on her way to graduate Cum Laude. Annemarie served on the student board of the graduate school, assistant secretary at the Netherlands’ catalysis and chemistry congress, and board member at study association ‘De Chemische Binding’.

Unilever Research Prize

The Unilever Research Prize consists of EUR 2,500 and a special artwork: A bowl symbolizing the collaboration that is needed between industry and science to successfully tackle the worlds’ mounting challenges together. The prize is awarded annually to young academics conducting promising research in chemistry, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, biology, agricultural science or social sciences.