Professor Sarah Butcher receives Alfred Kordelin Prize

Professor from the has received the . The €30,000 prize is awarded to a person who has made significant efforts to promote Finnish education and edification.

Since 2016, Professor Butcher has served as the University of Helsinki’s professor of general microbiology, specialising in virus research. The , cryo-EM, has revolutionised the study of viral structures. was granted to the inventors of the cryo-EM method.

Professor Butcher is currently researching whether the picornaviruses, which cause the common cold and hepatitis A, might harbour structures that could be used as markers for antiviral substances. If successful, the research could lead to new drugs which could combat our most common diseases.