Lou Guillette Jr, Ph.D. (1954-2015) was the Director of the Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Sciences Center and Professor of Ob/Gyn at the Medical University of South Carolina. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor, a Heinz Award Winner, and a former “Professor of the Year” at the University of Florida. He had a profound influence on the field of endocrine disruption research, and on all those who knew him, not only because of his knowledge of vertebrate reproductive biology and comparative endocrinology, and his groundbreaking work with alligators in Lake Apopka, but also because of his ability to communicate to broad audiences. Lou was a charismatic communicator who could explain complex scientific issues to congressional panels, news media, and scientific audiences with equal skill.  He was doubly appreciated for his warmth and sense of humor-and no one, late at night in the lab, played air guitar better than he.

Lou’s greatest commitment was to his students and their development; he mentored dozens of students and postdocs and succeeded in developing a one–to–one relationship with all his students that lasted far beyond the students’ tenure.

 In his own words, “My legacy to science is not just the work I did-that’s just brick and walls. Your true legacy is the people you leave behind.”

This award is given yearly in honor of Lou Guillette Jr.  to a young investigator who embodies Lou’s love of science, communication and commitment to mentoring.  It provides a measure of immortality to Lou and his vision of science. Applicants are judged based on mentoring, creativity, research productivity, and contribution to the field.

Applicant Criteria

• Applicant must be working and publishing on some aspect of the endocrine disruptor field.
• Applicant must be an independent investigator with a minimum of 3 years as an independent scientist and no more than two years after tenure (or promoted to a similar title) at the time of submission.
• Applicant must have mentored multiple trainees in the endocrine disruption field. 

Application Process

Persons wishing to nominate a candidate must submit a nomination letter (1-2 pages) detailing the attributes of the candidate, focusing on the impact of the nominee’s research and their mentoring acuity. Include a copy of the candidate’s CV, and a supporting letter of recommendation from a mentee.  The complete package should be sent to heedsmail165@gmail.com

Review Process/Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of experts in the endocrine disruptor field. Focus of the review will be on the contributions of the applicant to the endocrine disruption field via scientific advances and publications and, equally important, the applicant’s role in mentoring trainees. Note that a significant percentage of the score is for mentoring students.

Application Deadline 

The application deadline was Sept 30, 2024. For questions or to request an extension, email info@heeds.org.

Award Notification   

The award will be published on the HEEDS website, newsletter, and on social media.