Today, Profe
ssor Lora Fleming, Director of the European Centre for Environment & Human Health at the University of Exeter, UK is being awarded the prestigious Dr. Edouard Delcroix Prize for her innovative research on harmful algal blooms (HABs). This prize has been established in honour of Dr. Edouard Delcroix (1891-1973), Belgian orthopaedic surgeon and pioneer in thalassotherapy. The Dr. Edouard Delcroix Prize is an international award presented every three years by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and HYDRO VZW, with the 2013 award being presented for excellence in research on the links between Oceans and Human Health. Prof. Fleming is a co-author of the EMB Position Paper ‘Linking Oceans and Human Health: A Strategic Research Priority for Europe’, based on the activities of the European Marine Board Oceans and Human Health Working Group. She was also convener of an international workshop on Oceans and Human Health in Cornwall, UK, in March of this year. The workshop, which was co-organized by EMB, delivered the recently published EMB policy statement ‘Message from Bedruthan’, calling for a coordinated, transnational and interdisciplinary Oceans and Human Health research programme in Europe. Prof. Fleming will receive her award to the value of 25,000 EUR at a ceremony in Ostende, during which she will also present her research on Oceans and Human Health.