Elias Dahlsten’s PhD thesis “Genetic mechanisms of stress response and sporulation in Clostridium botulinum” has been awarded the University of Helsinki Excellent Dissertation Award on 22.4.2015. The thesis work was performed at the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, under supervision of Professor Hannu Korkeala and Professor Miia Lindström.

The thesis is the first study worldwide considering the genetic responses to cold stress in the notorious foodborne pathogen Clostridium botulinum. In their statement, the award committee noted that work with this organism is exceptionally challenging due to it’s physiological characteristics, e.g., the need for strict anaerobiosis during culturing, and the production of the extremely potent botulinum neurotoxin. Additionally, as no previous research on the cold tolerance mechanisms of the organism existed, the innovativeness of the work was highlighted by the committee. The work consisted of five publications that were published in high quality international journals.

In addition to Dahlsten’s, four other PhD theses were awarded. The Helsinki University News item on the awarded five theses is available in Finnish.