Eppendorf Young Investigator Award presented to Cambridge researcher

Eppendorf has announced that its 2012 Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators is to be presented to Dr Elizabeth Murchison, a researcher based in Cambridge.

Ms Murchison will receive the prize at a ceremony taking place for the 17th time in Germany this May, in recognition of her pioneering work in the field of clonal cancers.

Based at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the scientist conducted studies of a deadly cancer type endemic among Tasmanian devils, finding that all tumour cells were derived from the same clone.

This led to the conclusion that cancer cells are being physically transferred between animal specimens, a discovery that is informing efforts to save the species from extinction.

Eppendorf has been presenting this award annually since 1995, in order to honour outstanding work in biomedical research and conducted by scientists up to the age of 35.

Last month, the company agreed a deal with Agilent Technologies that will see Eppendorf providing Agilent with patents covering gradient technology for thermal cyclers.