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The "EFMC-WuXi AppTec Award for Excellence in Chemical Biology" will recognise outstanding research in the field of chemical biology as defined by EFMC in The Chemical Biology-Medicinal Chemistry Continuum: EFMC’s Vision, ChemBioChem 2021, 22, 2823– 2825. The Award is given biennially and consists of a diploma, € 7.500 and an invitation to present a lecture at an EFMC-ISCB symposium.
The award shall be open to any scientist whose career does not exceed 20 years after PhD on January 1st of the year during which the award is to be presented, and whose accomplishment has not yet been honoured by other EFMC awards.
The award will be conferred biennially on the occasion of the European Federation for Medicinal chemistry and Chemical Biology International Symposium on Chemical Biology (EFMC-ISCB). The EFMC-ISCB 2023 will be held in Basel, Switzerland on November 16-18, 2023.
This Award has been established with the support of WuXi AppTec.
The EFMC is proud to announce the winner of the first EFMC-WuXi AppTec Award for Excellence in Chemical Biology:
For his ground-breaking contributions to the field of chemical biology and cancer biology with meCLICK-Seq, a substrate-hijacking and RNA degradation strategy for the study of RNA methylation, and small molecules that are efficacious in vivo using platinum activators. His innovative research pursues key questions in chemistry and molecular medicine by using innovative strategies that bridge disciplines and inspire the programmes of other researchers.
The 2023 Award will be presented at the EFMC-ISCB 2023, which will be held in Basel, Switzerland on November 16-18, 2023.
Prof. Herbert Waldmann (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Germany)
For his pioneering contribution to medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, and for the broad range of breakthrough concepts that laid the foundation of chemical biology as a discipline. Herbert Waldmann’s research is deeply interdisciplinary and further includes influential articles covering cell-based screening, activity-based protein profiling and chemical proteomics, genetics, and biophysics methodologies. Noteworthy, he fostered Europe’s scientific community through many partnerships across academia and industry and through his numerous scientific offspring.
Prof. Mike Waring (Newcastle University, United Kingdom)
For his conceptual work on the role of lipophilicity and for the contribution to advance the field of covalent inhibitors in medicinal chemistry. Mike Waring has been involved in drug discovery and development projects that resulted in several drug candidates reaching clinical trials, including the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Overall, he has made impactful contributions to small molecule drug discovery using novel hit generation approaches such as DNA encoded libraries and fragment-based lead generation.
For his pioneering work in the field of proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology for drug-induced targeted protein degradation. He has made substantial contributions to the development of new ligands of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) E3 ligase, specifically bivalent small-molecule dimerisers of the VHL E3 ubiquitin ligase (VHL-based PROTACs) and elucidated their mechanism of action. Notably, Alessio Ciulli’s research provided a rational basis for the design and optimisation of the next generation of targeted protein degradation systems.
All 3 awards consist of a diploma, € 7.500 and an invitation to give a headline presentation at the EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry.
The 2022 Awards will be presented at the XXVII EFMC "International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry" (EFMC-ISMC), scheduled to take place in Nice, France on September 4-8, 2022.
