News

The EFMC is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 call for nominations for the title of Honorary Fellows.

EFMC Honorary Fellow is a life-long title aiming to recognize the individuals who have provided outstanding support to the EFMC and contributed in strengthening the position of medicinal chemistry, chemical biology or related fields in Europe.

Congratulations and thanks to:

• Dr Dave Alker for his active role within the various leading boards of the EFMC, and his extraordinary commitment to the support of the EFMC Young Medicinal Chemists’ Symposium (EFMC-YMCS). Dr Alker has been an active member of the Executive Committee, Council, and Industry Liaison committee - increasing the visibility of EFMC activities within companies which employ medicinal chemists as well as those related industries for whom medicinal chemistry is an enabling science or for whom medicinal chemists represent a significant customer base. Dr Dave Alker has significantly contributed to the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector (BMCS) of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and helped disseminating the news and activities of the EFMC to the United Kingdom communities of Medicinal Chemists and Chemical Biologists and can be regarded as a strong link between his national adhering organisation and the EFMC.

• Prof. Gabriele Costantino has been a member of the Executive Committee of the EFMC from 2011 until 2014, before joining the Council of the EFMC from 2017 until 2019, and from 2021 until the present days. He strongly collaborated in the creation of the EFMC newsletter “MedChem(Bio)Watch” and acted as editor-in-chief for almost a decade. With its high-quality content composed of editorials, perspective articles and reports of EFMC events and activities, the newsletter greatly helped disseminating the EFMC brand to the scientific community – and contributed to strengthening the position of medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and related fields in Europe. In addition, Prof. Costantino has significantly contributed to the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society and worked as powerful ambassador between the Italian community and the EFMC.

• Dr Kristina Goncharenko for her active participation in the creation of the EFMC Young Scientists Network. She was one of the driving forces behind the creation of its embryo form in 2019 and helped continuously growing it in her quality of chair. Her vision and sense of leadership contributed to the success of the network. Dr Goncharenko also supported the EFMC within the communication team, helping to resent our Federation to the new generation via an improved presence on social media and various branding activities such as the interviews and photo competitions. In addition, Kristina Goncharenko has contributed to the Division for Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology of the Swiss Chemical Society and worked at spreading the visibility of our Federation within the Swiss community.

• Dr Peter Mohr has made substantial contributions in a wide range of medicinal chemistry areas, building on an outstanding level of scientific achievement in his career, in particular in the design of chemical probes for the unravelling of biological processes as well as in the development of several first-in-class candidates. Dr Mohr has expanded the knowledge and expertise in several important disease areas such as oncology, dermatology, psoriasis, and Type II diabetes. Besides his scientific achievements, Dr Peter Mohr has contributed significantly to the Swiss Chemical Society and contributed to the EFMC in quality of Council Member for more than 8 years as well as active members of various EFMC initiatives and working groups until today.

The award ceremony will take place during the opening of the XXVII EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC 2022), scheduled to take place in Nice, France on September 4-8, 2022. Appointed Honorary Fellows will be invited to attend the meeting and receive their recognition on stage.

The EFMC Recognition Programme will continue awarding outstanding contributors to EFMC and sciences in the future. More information will be available here: www.efmc.info/honorary-fellows.