Rita Colwell,
distinguished professor from the University
of Maryland and Johns Hopkins
University’s Bloomberg
School of Public Health, has been named the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize
Laureate. Colwell’s pioneering research on the prevention of waterborne
infectious diseases has helped protect the health and lives of millions.
Colwell, 76, is widely recognized as one of this century’s
most influential voices in science, technology and policy associated with water
and health. She has made exceptional contributions to control the spread of
cholera, a waterborne pathogen that infects 3 million to 5 million people, and
leads to an estimated 120,000 deaths each year. Through her groundbreaking
research, innovations and decades of scientific leadership, she has defined our
current understanding of the ecology of infectious diseases and developed the
use of advanced technologies to halt their spread. Her work has established the
basis for environmental and infectious disease risk assessment used around the
world.
“Dr. Rita Colwell’s numerous seminal contributions toward
solving the world’s water and water-related public health problems,
particularly her work to prevent the spread of cholera, is of utmost global
importance,” notes the Stockholm Water Prize Nominating Committee in its
citation. “Through her research on its physiology, ecology and metabolism, Dr.
Colwell advanced the fields of mathematics, genetics and remote sensing
technology – not only as they relate to these bacteria, but to the prevention
other diseases in many developing countries.”
The
Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1990, and is presented
annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute to an individual,
organization or institution for outstanding water-related activities.