bioMérieux Presents 2011 Sonnenwirth Award for Leadership in Clinical Microbiology to Melvin Weinstein

The award was given during the 2011 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) General Meeting awards dinner on May 22. Given in memory of Alexander Sonnenwirth, Ph.D., the award honors a top microbiologist for his or her innovation in clinical laboratory science, dedication to ASM and leadership in the microbiology field.

Presented by ASM and sponsored by bioMérieux since 1986, the award recognizes the advancement of clinical microbiology as a profession. On May 22, as part of a scientific session, Weinstein delivered the Sonnenwirth Award Lecture titled, “Blood Cultures and Bacteremia: From Sonnenwirth to the New Millennium.”

Weinstein is Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease, Allergy & Immunology, and Director of the Microbiology Laboratory at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Weinstein is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology. His research has focused on the clinical and prognostic importance of bloodstream infections, the scientific basis for blood culture methods and systems, improved methods for detection of antibiotic resistance in the clinical laboratory, and cost-effective use of diagnostic testing.

Dr. Weinstein is a Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America and the American Academy of Microbiology. He is a member of many boards and committees, including the CLSI Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and CLSI’s Area Committee on Microbiology, for which he also served as Vice Chair. He has also served as a member of the FDA Microbiology Devices Panel and currently is a member of the FDA Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Committee.

“It is our great pleasure to honor Dr. Weinstein with this year’s bioMérieux Sonnenwirth Award for Leadership in Clinical Microbiology,” said Manual Mendez, executive vice president and general manager, bioMérieux North America. “His leadership and commitment to clinical laboratory science and its application to clinical medicine has helped countless numbers of patients, and helped shape the role of the clinical microbiology laboratory into a consultative service.”

Weinstein has also made significant contributions through his service on the editorials boards of several scientific journals and has authored more than 100 original research articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as numerous invited articles, chapters and published abstracts.

About bioMérieux

Advancing Diagnostics to Improve Public Health

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 45 years, bioMérieux is present in more than150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2010, revenues reached €1.357 billion with 87% of sales outside of France.

bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high medical value results for cancer screening and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

bioMérieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM – ISIN: FR0010096479).

Other information can be found at www.biomerieux.com.

Contacts

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Allan Mohess
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allan.mohess@biomerieux.com

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