It is our great pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2025 Exceptional Contribution to Biocuration Award:
Ruth Lovering, University College London, UK
Ruth has been an active member of the Biocuration community for over 25 years, significantly raising the profile of Biocuration and Bioinformatics as a Professor at University College London (UCL).
Ruth has contributed extensively to the curation of key resources such as HGNC, Gene Ontology (GO), and IMEx, and has been instrumental in developing curation standards, notably for pioneering the functional annotation of microRNAs and contributing to curation guidelines for transcription factors with the GREEKC Consortium.
Ruth established the Functional Gene Annotation Initiative in 2008, securing funding for cardiovascular, neurological, and microRNA annotation projects, and collaborating widely beyond her home department. Her work has led to numerous publications and real-world applications, and has included outreach to Parkinson’s patients and funders to highlight the value of curation.
Ruth was a prominent member of the GO Consortium, pushing forward standards and providing a significant proportion of human GO annotations. Ruth has organised and led multiple GO-annotation workshops for researchers alongside a popular UCL Bioinformatics MSc course. She is deeply committed to education and mentorship, supporting MSc students in gaining authorships, and actively encouraging curators to pursue career advancement, teaching qualifications, and publications.
Having served four years on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Biocuration, even after her recent retirement, Ruth continues to maintain UCL’s GO annotations, demonstrating her dedication to the Biocuration Community. Given her prolific contributions, leadership, mentorship, and ongoing commitment, Ruth Lovering is a highly deserving candidate for this award recognizing her lifetime achievements in Biocuration.
Congratulations Ruth!
Many thanks to the ISB members for voting!
ISB Award subcommittee:
- Susan Bello
- M. Victoria Nugnes
- Sonia Balyan