Candidates for the Louis Dienes and Harry Morton poster awards are reminded to follow carefully the instructions in the upcoming Sydney Congress Program Announcement and Call for Abstracts. Abstracts eligible for these awards will be forwarded by the Secretary General to the Awards Committee to facilitate the assessment process. Nominations for the Emmy Klieneberger- Nobel Award and Medal in Mycoplasmology and the Derrick Edward Award in Mycoplasmology can be submitted by any IOM member and should be sent to the Secretary General by January 15, 1998 for consideration.

Rules governing each of the named awards are listed below and reflec the most recent changes made by the IOM Board of Directors.

All correspondence and nominations should be sent to the Secretary General at the following address: Ken B. Waites, M. D., WP-230. Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, U.S.A. (205)-934-6421, Fax: (205)-975-4468, email: Waites@wp.path.uab.edu.

Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel Award and Medal in Mycoplasmology

1. The Klieneberger-Nobel Award and Medal is made in honor of Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel and is given in recognition of outstanding career contributions in research in the field of mycoplasmology.

2. The Award consists of a medal, certificate and $1,000 (US). At the Orlando Congress, the IOM Board of Directors had adopted an official Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel Medal which will be publicaly awarded for the first time at the Sydney IOM Congress and will be given to all past and future awardees.

3. There shall be no age limit for the Award, but the nominee must be actively engaged in the field for which the Award is to be made. If the nominee has retired from full duty, the maximum elapsed time between the date of retirement and the date on which the Award is to be presented can be no more than five (5) years.

4. Membership in the IOM is not a requirement for eligibility.

5. The recipient of the Award will be selected by the Awards Committee.

6. The Award will be made every second year at the official IOM Congress, at which the recipient of the Award will present a Klieneberger-Nobel Lecture during the Congress at a time to be determined by the Program Committee.

7. Nominations for the Award will be invited by the Awards Committee through announcement in the IOM Newsletter. Nominations must be accompanied by: (1) a biographical sketch of the nominee; (2) a list of the nominee's publications, desirably including reprints of his or her most significant work; (3) a description of the research that has stimulate the nomination; and (4) supporting letters, desirably including evaluations from individuals who are in the field and not closely associated with the nominee. Nominations, in eleven (11) copies must be received by the Secretary General of the IOM by January 15th prior to the IOM Congress. He or she will determine their validity and forward them promptly to the Awards Committee.

8. The Awards Committee will select a single nominee to receive the Award, but if in the opinion of the Committee, there is no qualified eligible nominee, the Award may be deferred to the following Congress. The Awards Committee will reach a decision by March 1st of the year that the Award is to be made and promptly transmit its report to the Secretary General of the IOM so that a formal invitation may be made on behalf of the Chair of the IOM.

9. The Awards Committee report should include a condensed biographical sketch and a summation of the scientific work on which the Award is based. The first public announcement of the winner of the Klieneberger-Nobel Award and Medal will be made in the IOM Newsletter, and possibly in suitable journals of wider general circulation, at a reasonable time before presentation of the award, so that proper publicity can be obtained.

10. These rules may be revised, if desirable, by formal action of the Board of Directors of the IOM.

Derrick Edward Award in Mycoplasmology

1. The Derrick Edward Award is made in honor of Derrick Edward and is given in recognition of outstanding contributions in research in the field of mycoplasmology by young investigators entering the field of mycoplasmology.

2. The Award consists of a certificate and $1,000 (US).

3. Although there are no age limits for a nominee to be eligible for the Award, the nominee should not have more than fifteen (15) years previous work experience in the field of mycoplasmology at the time of the Award. The time spent in pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research programs in mycoplasmology will count toward the total work experience. The nominee must also be actively engaged, at the time of nomination, in research in the field for which the Award is to be made.

4. The recipient of the Award will be selected by the Awards Committee of the IOM.

5. Membership in the IOM is not a requirement for eligibility.

6. The Award will be made every second year at the official IOM Congress, at which the recipient of the Award will be expected to present a Derrick Edward Award Lecture at some time during the Congress. The time of the lecture will be determined by the Program Committee.

7. Nominations for the Award will be invited by the Awards Committee through announcement in the IOM Newsletter. Nominations must be accompanied by: (1) a biographical sketch of the nominee; (2) a list of the nominee's publications, desirably including reprints of his or her most significant work; (3) a description of the research that has stimulate the nomination; and (4) supporting letters, desirably including evaluations from individuals who are in the field and not closely associated with the nominee. Nominations, in eleven (11) copies must be received by the Secretary General of the IOM by January 15th prior to the IOM Congress. He or she will determine their validity and forward them promptly to the Awards Committee.

8. The Awards Committee will select a single nominee to receive the Award, but if in the opinion of the Committee, there is no qualified eligible nominee, the Award may be deferred to the following Congress. The Awards Committee will reach a decision by March 1st of the year that the Award is to be made and promptly transmit its report to the Secretary General of the IOM so that a formal invitation may be made on behalf of the Chair of the IOM.

9. The Awards Committee report should include a condensed biographical sketch and a summation of the scientific work on

Louis Dienes Award

1. The Louis Dienes Award is made in memory of Dr. Louis Dienes. It is given in recognition of an outstanding poster in mycoplasmology by a single author who is a post-doctoral student no more than five years after obtaining the Ph.D. degree.

2. The award consists of a certificate and $250 (US).

3. Persons who wish to be considered for the Award must indicate their desire to be a candidate for the Award at the time of submission of their abstract. Details for submitting abstracts for the Award will be announced in the preliminary announcements for the Congress. The initial judging for the Award will be based on the submitted abstract, with the final judging for the Award based on the actual poster presentation at the IOM Congress.

4. The poster presentation should introduce novel concepts or techniques, possess unique or highly significant new findings or, in the judgement of the Awards Committee, possess the potential for significant influence on future directions of research in mycoplasmology.

5. Candidates may submit only one abstract for consideration for the Award.

6. The recipient of the award will be selected by the IOM Awards Committee.

7. Membership in the IOM is not a requirement.

8. No member of the current IOM Award Committee may be a candidate for the Louis Dienes Award.

9. The Award will be given every second year at the official IOM Congress.

10. Announcement of the winner(s) of the Louis Dienes Award will be made prior to the closing ceremony of the IOM Congress by the Chairperson of the IOM. Public announcement should also be made in a subsequent issue of the IOM Newsletter.

11. The Awards Committee will decide upon a single individual or a group of individuals to receive the Award, but if, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, there are no qualified candidates for the Award, it may be deferred to the following congress.

12. The rules may be revised, if desirable, by formal action of the Board of Directors of the IOM.

Harry Morton Student Award

1. The Harry Morton Student Award is made to honor Dr. Harry Morton and is given in recognition of an outstanding poster presentation in mycoplasmology by a pre-doctoral student at a regular Congress of the IOM.

2. The Award consists of a certificate and $250 (US).

3. To be eligible for the Award, the candidate must be enrolled as a graduate student on April 30th of the year of the Award and must be actively engaged in research in the field for which the award is to be made.

4. In addition, the poster presentation to be recognized for the Award should represent work done primarily by the candidate, with the candidate as the senior author of the presentation and in subsequent publication of the work. In addition to a high standard of presentation, the poster should introduce novel concepts or techniques, important new findings in the field, or potential for significantly influencing future directions of research within the field of mycoplasmology.

5. Candidates may submit only one abstract for consideration of the award.

6. The recipient(s) of the Award will be selected by the IOM Awards Committee.

7. Membership in the IOM is not a requirement for eligibility.

8. The Award will be made every second year at the official IOM Congress.

9. A student who wishes to be a candidate for the Award must indicate his or her desire at the time of submission of the abstract. Details for submitting abstracts will be provided in the preliminary announcements for the Congress. The initial judging will be based on the submitted abstract, with the final judging for the Award based on the actual poster presentation at the IOM Congress. Candidates for the Award will be identified in the Congress Program.

10. Announcement of the winner of the Harry Morton Student Award will be made prior to the closing ceremony of the IOM Congress by the Chairperson of the IOM. Public announcement should also be made in a subsequent issue of the IOM Newsletter.

11. The Awards Committee will decide on a single individual or a group of individuals to receive the Award, but if, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, there is no qualified poster, it may be deferred to the following congress.

12. The rules may be revised, if desirable, by formal action of the Board of Directors of the IOM.

Availability of Publications from Previous Mycoplasma Conferences

Dr. Gail Cassell has several copies of the following three journals which she will give to anyone who would like to have them. Contact Amy Perkins, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham 845 19th St. S., BBRB 278/11, Birmingham, AL U.S.A. 35294-2170, telephone: U.S.A. (205) 934-9339, Fax (205) 934-9256, email: Amy_Perkins@micro. microbio.uab.edu. All that is requested in order to receive these volumes is a federal express account number for shipping charges.

(1) Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal Volume 5, Number 6 (Supplement) Nov/Dec, 1986 "Ureaplasmas of Humans: with Emphasis on Maternal and Neonatal Infections," Seattle, WA, October 10-12, 1985

(2) Israel Journal of Medical Sciences Volume 23, Number 5, 1987 "Proceedings of the Sixth Congress of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology" Birmingham, AL, August 26-31, 1986.