Dr. Manu De Rycker named as winner of WH Pierce Prize

The WH Pierce Prize is part of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2025, which celebrate the brightest minds in the field and promote the research, group, projects, products and individuals who continue to help shape the future of applied microbiology.

In this guest editorial, uncover the important contributions of Dr. Manu De Rycker and his team, whose research is advancing the field of microbiology. Their efforts are particularly focused on developing clinical candidates for visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. By highlighting these often‑neglected diseases, their work brings much‑needed attention to critical areas of microbiology.

Drug discovery

Dr. Manu De Rycker is a Principal Investigator at the University of Dundee, UK and Head of Biology at the University’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU). At the DDU he leads the kinetoplastid and antifungals drug discovery programmes.

Dr. De Rycker obtained his degree in Bioscience Engineering from the University of Ghent, Belgium, in 1998. For his PhD, he studied tankyrase proteins in Carolyn Price’s group at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and discovered their ability to polymerise.

After obtaining his PhD in 2005, Dr. De Rycker moved to Peter Parker’s laboratory at Cancer Research UK, where he developed high-content imaging screening approaches for cancer drug discovery and in 2009 he joined the DDU to help set up a drug discovery programme for visceral leishmaniasis.

Tropical diseases

Dr. De Rycker and his team have enabled drug discovery for African sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease by developing a range of cell-based assays and screening cascades that allow high-throughput screening while also conferring the required physiological relevance.

This work contributed to the development of two clinical candidates for visceral leishmaniasis and multiple advanced compounds for Chagas disease, all in collaboration with GSK. More recently Dr. De Rycker has set up a consortium to develop much-needed new antifungal drugs.

“It is a great honour to win the 2025 WH Pierce prize in recognition of our applied microbiology work for neglected tropical diseases,” Dr De Rycker said.

Science is about teamwork

“Science is all about teamwork, and this prize really is a fantastic endorsement of the amazing work that my team, present and past, has been carrying out over the last 15 years. They are a brilliant group of dedicated scientists pushing hard to develop new treatments for some of the most neglected infectious diseases.

“I would like to thank them, the people that nominated me, and of course Applied Microbiology International. This award will further energise our efforts to tackle global challenges.”

Like many of the Applied Microbiology International Awards, the WH Pierce Prize is named after a distinguished individual who has been recognised by AMI for his outstanding contribution to the field of applied microbiology.

Important legacy

William (Bill) Henry Pierce was a long-standing member of Applied Microbiology International and former Chief Bacteriologist of Oxo Ltd, now part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific Group.

Throughout his lifetime, he made significant contributions to the improvement of bacterial culture media that are still used in a vast range of applications worldwide today. His work developing dehydrated extracts for making bacterial media culture had a significant impact on industry and made bacterial culture faster, more efficient and more reliable.