Every year we celebrate the great pharmacological work of Old Bedfordian Professor Paul Talalay (34-40) through our annual science presentation award, The Talalay Science Prize. This year’s competition was made all the more poignant by the fact that Paul passed away on 10 March aged 95.
Paul was an internationally renowned pharmacologist who won international fame in the medical world for his study and research on the cancer-preventing properties of a chemical abundant in broccoli. It was Paul and his brother Old Bedfordian Leon Talalay (34-36) who donated The Talalay Science prize in 1992 in recognition of the high standard of teaching that they received, particularly in the sciences, while at Bedford School. Paul, who was an acclaimed medical professor at John Hopkins University and a worldwide authority in his field, associates his time at Bedford School as being crucial to his development in the sciences. You can read more about Paul’s incredible life in an obituary published in The Independent.
The prize invites Lower Sixth Formers studying science to submit a written report, give a presentation and answer questions from a panel to demonstrate the depth of their understanding of their chosen subject. This year has been our biggest ever entry, however only six boys reached the final and were invited to join the Head Master and Head of Science Mr Mike Beale for tea and cake where the overall winner, Matthew Lewis, was announced.
The finalists and their topics are:
Matthew Lewis – ‘T4 Bacteriophage’ (Winner)
Sean Davis – ‘The Neurology of Anxiety’
Flik Feng – ‘The Ultimate Fate of our Universe: different theories of the ending of our universe and their relevant concepts’
Benedict Giles – ‘Anatomical Barriers and their Initial Chemical Defences’
Ishaan Mukherji – ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’
Novo Ukiri – ‘Evolution of Tyrannosaurs and how Tyrannosaurus Became the King of the Dinosaurs’