CSWA book awards shortlist features AllerGen authors

Update: Timothy Caulfield was selected as the 2015 winner of the Science in Society General Book Award.

Among the six shortlisted titles for the 2015 Science in Society General Book Award, two were penned by active members of the AllerGen network.

AllerGen investigator Professor Timothy Caulfield’s Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash and AllerGen Board Director Dr. Pieter Cullis’s The Personalized Medicine Revolution: How Diagnosing and Treating Disease are About to Change Forever are both contenders for this year’s award.

Professor Caulfield’s book has received extensive media attention, as well as many favourable reviews for its debunking of celebrity-driven health and beauty trends and associated pseudo-science. Dr. Cullis’ book has garnered praise for its examination of the move toward medical treatment based on genomics. In the words of one of his reviewers, “Pieter Cullis is one of those rare individuals who can conduct cutting-edge science, see how it fits in the big picture, and explain it all with clear, graceful storytelling.”

The award, sponsored by The Canadian Science Writers’ Association (CSWA), honours outstanding contributions in science writing. The books selected must be understandable to the layperson, and are judged on various criteria including literary excellence, scientific content and accuracy, and value in promoting greater understanding of science by the general reader. The winner will be announced on Canada Book Day, 23 April 2016.