It is with great pleasure that we announce Dr Jason Micklefield, from the University of Manchester, UK, as the winner of the NPR Lecture Award 2008. 

Dr Micklefield's work combines synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology to tackle challenges at the chemical-biology interface. He has been recognised by the judges for his significant contribution to natural products research, in particular to the biosynthetic engineering of nonribosomal peptides.

'I am delighted to receive the NPR lecture award,' said Micklefield. 'It has been very exciting to contribute to the progress of natural product research, particularly biosynthetic engineering, over the last few years.'

Dr Micklefield will deliver his talk, entitled "Biosynthetic Engineering of Nonribosomal Lipopeptides", at the IUPAC International Conference on Biodiversity and Natural Products (ICOB-6 and ISCNP-26) to be held on Prince Edward Island, Canada from the 13th - 17th July 2008. 

NPR sponsors a lecture each year at an international meeting. The recipient will have made a significant research contribution to natural products chemistry in its broadest sense, and will have published in or have had some affiliation to the journal. The award is open to anyone fitting these criteria.