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The American Peptide Society has granted the 2011 Du Vigneaud Award to Fernando Albericio, principal investigator of the Combinatorial Chemistry Lab for the Discovery of New Compounds at IRB Barcelona, director of the Barcelona Science Park, and full professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Barcelona. Founded in 1984, this award recognizes scientific excellence in peptide chemistry.
During the award ceremony –which was held as part of the 22nd American Peptide Symposium on 30 June in San Diego (California)– Greg Fields, president of the American Peptide Society emphasized “Fernando Albericio’s leadership in the development and optimization of peptide synthesis methodologies” and Alex Fässler, president of the company Bachem, sponsor of the award, remarked that “the creativity and imagination of the chemistry developed by Fernando Albericio is benefiting the entire scientific community as it is allowing the synthesis of peptides that have been unachievable until now.”
Albericio’s research field covers virtually all aspects concerning the synthesis of natural products, mainly peptides and heterocyclic molecules of marine origin with therapeutic activity. He has published more than 600 scientific articles, 42 patents and three 3 books and is actively involved in one of the main missions defined by IRB Barcelona, namely knowledge and technology transfer to society. He has participated in the set up of several biotech enterprises and serves on the executive boards of a number of foundations. He also provides consultancy services to various companies operating in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. He was recently named doctor honoris causa by the University of Buenos Aires.
Founded in 1990, the American Peptide Society (APS) is a non-profit making scientific organization armed with the mission to further knowledge about the chemistry and biology of peptides. This organization is currently a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and has more than 1,000 adhering member bodies from over 30 countries. The “Du Vigneaud Award” was established by the APS in 1984 in memory of the scientist who won the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the binding of sulphur, a key element in the synthesis of the first polypeptide hormone.
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About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
