Alan Hauser, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of Microbiology-Immunology, has been named the winner of the 2024 Tripartite Legacy Faculty Prize in Translational Science and Education.
“I’m incredibly grateful for this recognition, especially here at the Feinberg School of Medicine where there are so many outstanding researchers and educators. It means a lot to me to be recognized by my peers,” Hauser said.
The director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Hauser focuses his research on infectious disease and microbiology, with a specific emphasis on bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections. He has authored more than 125 journal articles, including publications in Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Journal of Clinical Investigation and the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. He has been on the editorial board of the journal Infection and Immunity since 2005 and was a section editor for PLOS Pathogens from 2015 to 2021. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
“I’ve been at Northwestern for 25 years, and I’ve been doing research for even longer than that,” Hauser said. “I continue to thoroughly enjoy research, but as I’ve gotten older, I enjoy even more working with the students and the postdocs and watching them get excited about a discovery.”
One of several who nominated Hauser for the award, Laimonis Laimins, PhD, chair of Microbiology-Immunology, said he recommended Hauser because of his front-line work in the study of antibiotic resistance in patients and because he is an outstanding scientist, mentor and educator.
“Al has certainly established himself both as a scientific leader as well as a mentor to his students,” Laimins said. “It’s a real pleasure as a chair to watch people grow as an individual.”
Kelly Bachta, PhD, assistant professor of Microbiology-Immunology and former post-doctoral fellow in Hauser’s lab, also nominated Hauser for the award.
“One of the things that I love about Al is that he’s constantly trying to figure out how to be a better mentor and a better leader,” Bachta said. “Al leads with sort of a quiet, graceful confidence. He’s very thoughtful in what he says and how he says it.”
Bachta describes the relationships in the scientific community as the “scientific tree of life.” worked closely with Hauser in his lab and to have him as part of her tree of life.
“He’s been incredibly impactful for my career, certainly here at Northwestern but also beyond,” Bachta said.
In addition to being the recipient of the Tripartite Award, this year Hauser is also a recipient of the Feinberg Medical Faculty Council’s Mentor of the Year award, which is also presented annually at Research Day. Hauser is the first person to be honored with both awards.
About the Tripartite Prize
The Tripartite Legacy Faculty Prize is given annually to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in research that emphasizes translational approaches, teaching and mentoring, and leadership. Sponsored and supported by the Office of the Dean, this award is made possible through the generous support of family members and friends of Geoffrey Kent, MD, PhD.
The prize was established to commemorate the medical teaching legacies of Abraham Albert Hijmans van den Bergh, MD; Isadore Snapper, MD; Hans Popper, MD; Fenton Schaffner, MD; and Kent. European-born and educated, their lives were forever changed by the Holocaust and World War II, and all but Hijmans van den Bergh reached the U.S. to continue their careers and briefly worked together at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Through their prolific collaborations and publications, Snapper, Popper, Schaffner and Kent emerged as international leaders in the study of liver disease.
