The Parasitolgy Early Career Award (ECA) is to further recognise the outstanding research efforts of those who have published a paper in Parasitology. Only researchers who are no more than 7 years post award of their PhD are eligible. With 36 submissions received, from a total of 12 countries, each paper clearly highlighted the growing international expertise in parasitology across the world. This ranged from Argentina to the USA, covering a range of topics from antiparasitic drug discovery to ecosystem-level thinking. The final decision was made by Stephen Phillips and Russell Stothard, with the support of the Parasitology  editorial team.

This year a key factor considered was the impact that the reported research had on increasing a wider knowledge-based within society, for example, in better management of parasitic diseases or in environmental stewardship. Two papers, from a final shortlist of five, were eventually favoured more than others. However, we wish to thank the other 31 authors for their submissions and encourage them to submit in the 2021 ECA competition. As with all competitions, there had to be a winner, but we decided that this prize should be shared.

The first ECA paper highlighted a broader perspective on parasites through time that only analysis of ancient DNA can provide; Petrigh et al. confirmed the presence of Toxascaris leonina in palaebiological remains within coprolites from pumas with examined remains dating back to 11,000 BC. The second ECA paper was set in present day and featured a holistic analysis of ecto-, haemo- and helminth parasites in penguins; Espinaze et al. found that penguin chicks had higher numbers of parasites than adult penguins with mainland versus island colonies more burdened.

Warm congratulations to our winners!

Romina Petrigh’s who is a research biologist conducting ancient DNA research at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina, which forms part of a broader analysis of comparisons of parasite assemblages in wildlife from the Final Pleistocene.

“Ancient parasitic DNA reveals Toxascaris leonina presence in Final Pleistocene of South America“

Marcela Espinaze’s is a veterinarian working at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her current projects include her studies on penguin parasites, as well as, habitat analysis for endangered huemul deer.

“Parasite diversity associated with African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) and the effect of host and environmental factors“

Manuscripts worthy of special mention

Three other manuscripts were worthy of special mention. We recommend readers to peruse their details which add extra value to the impact of Parasitology and identify other talented individuals.

Catanach et al., “Two lineages of kingfisher feather lice exhibit differing degrees of co-speciation with their hosts”

Cooke et al., “The latest FAD – Faecal antibody detection in cattle. Protocol and results from three UK beef farms naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes”

Hernandez-Martinez et al., “Drivers potentially influencing host-bat fly interactions in anthropogenic neotropical landscapes at different spatial scales”.

Parasitology is an important specialist journal covering the latest advances in the subject. It publishes original research and review papers on all aspects of parasitology and host-parasite relationships, including the latest discoveries in parasite biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics, ecology and epidemiology in the context of the biological, medical and veterinary sciences.