Dr Gower was presented with her GBP 10K prize by the Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Ian Pearson MP, on 16 January 2008.

This is the second time in three years that the 3Rs prize has been awarded to an Imperial College researcher. Dr Siouxsie Wiles, from the Division of Investigative Science, won the first ever 3Rs prize in 2006 for improving the welfare of mice, and reducing the number of mice needed, in work looking how potentially lethal strains of E. coli bacteria infect the body.

Dr Gower's winning 2007 study looked at schistosomes, the worm-like parasites that cause the tropical schistosomiasis, which is also known as bilharzia. Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease carried by an estimated 207 million people worldwide, which can cause long term liver and intestinal damage and which can sometimes prove fatal.

Previous research looking at schistosomes has relied on collecting worm eggs from human urine or faeces and using them to infect snails and rodents, with large numbers of these being infected to obtain parasite material. Up to ten animals were needed to maintain a supply of material for every human sampled for the parasite.

Dr Gower's work used recent advances in storing DNA at room temperature to collect parasite DNA samples directly from infected people in areas where the disease is endemic. She showed that using the non-animal techniques improved the results because the new techniques reflect the genetic variation in the natural population of parasites. The team demonstrated that the traditional method of growing parasites could bias results by skewing this genetic variation.

Schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic infection. The natural lifecycle of the parasite involves both snail and mammalian hosts, with transmission between the two hosts occurring via a larval form in infested freshwater. Little is known about how the genetic and strain variations of the schistosome parasites in different endemic areas might affect disease patterns. A better understanding will help in combating the disease more effectively and monitoring disease control programmes which are currently ongoing in Africa.

Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the NC3Rs, said: "It is hugely encouraging to see these examples of science in the UK that combine the use of the latest techniques with a reduction in the use of animals. We had a really strong field of applicants this year, and Dr Gower's elegant work can hopefully be expanded to the study of other parasites with help of her prize money."

Dr Gower's winning paper is entitled "Development and application of an ethically and epidemiologically advantageous assay for the multi-locus microsatellite analysis of Schistosoma mansoni", Parasitology,134 523Ð536, 2007.

Source: By Imperial College London