QUEEN Camilla has presented a prestigious award to Aberystwyth University for its pioneering parasitology work at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

The royal honour recognises the work of scientists at the University’s Department of Life Sciences who specialise in a particular group of parasitic flatworms which cause devastating diseases such as Schistosomiasis in people and Fasciolosis in livestock.

Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease usually spread through contact with contaminated fresh water, killing an estimated 12,000 people and infecting more than 200 million individuals every year.

Fasciolosis affects more than 300 million cattle and 250 million sheep world-wide, at a cost of over £2.5 billion a year to the agriculture industry.

Awarded every two years as part of the British Honours system, the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes celebrate “excellence and innovation and recognise outstanding work that delivers benefit to the wider world.”

Speaking after receiving the award from The Queen at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, 22 February, Aberystwyth University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jon Timmis, said: “It was a great honour to receive the prize from Her Majesty The Queen on behalf of the University.

“I am so proud that the pioneering work by our scientists is being recognised in this way.

“It underlines once again the importance of the world-leading research that’s undertaken here in Aberystwyth.

“Our academics have been studying these parasites for more than a century, analysing their complex lifecycles and host interactions to an unprecedented level of detail and identifying vulnerabilities which can be targeted by new vaccines or drugs.

“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to all those involved in this research, both past and present.”

Also attending the ceremony in Buckingham Palace was Professor Karl Hoffmann, Director of the Barrett Centre for Helminth Control at Aberystwyth University along with several of his fellow researchers.

Professor Hoffmann added: “It is a tremendously rewarding for the team here in Aberystwyth to have received such a prestigious award.

“Parasitic worms cause some of the most disfiguring, debilitating and chronic infectious diseases of human and animal populations across the globe.

“They kill thousands of people and animals annually, and lead to the suffering of millions more.”