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Satoshi Ômura Wins 2000 Nakanishi Prize
M illions of people in Africa and Latin America are free from the scourge of river blindness,
thanks in great part to the work of Satoshi Ômura, a chemist who isolated ivermectin, a natural substance that
proved to be effective against river blindness and many other parasitic diseases. For this and other reasons, Ômura, president of Kitasato Institute, Tokyo, will receive the 2000 Nakanishi Prize
from the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ). The American Chemical Society and CSJ alternate years in administering this prize.
The prize, which consists of $3,000, a bronze medal, and a certificate, is given to recognize and stimulate significant work that extends chemical and spectroscopic methods to the study of important biological phenomena. It was established in 1995 by the students and colleagues of Koji Nakanishi in the U.S. and Japan and by other members of the scientific community of both countries who have benefited from his nurturing of collaborative and interdisciplinary science. Nakanishi is Centennial Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University.
By devising new methods of isolation and cultivation of microorganisms as sources of bioactive substances, Ômura and coworkers have developed many original methods for screening natural substances and thus have discovered more than 120 types of novel bioactive compounds.
Perhaps the most important compound isolated by Ômura is ivermectin, which has had a tremendously positive effect on the health of humans and animals. Ivermectin is the best remedy for river blindness, which is caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvurus. Some 20 million people have been infected by the parasite, and more than 2 million people have become blind. Since 1980, the World Health Organization has been involved in initiatives aiming to control onchocersiasis with iver
mectin. As a result, 33 million people have been treated and spared this crippling disease.
More than 30 bioactive substances of microbial origin discovered by Ômura have attracted the attention of organic chemists, who have totally synthesized them, including avermectin, fraquino-cin, herbimycin, leucomycin A, prumy-cin, pryibpropenes, staurosporine, and vineomycin.
Among his many honors, Ômura has received the Hoechst-Roussel Award from the American Society for Microbiology, the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Award, the Japan Academy Prize, the Charles Thorn Award of the Society of Industrial Microbiology, the Fujihara Award of the Fujihara Foundation of Science, and the Robert Koch Medal in Gold from the Robert Koch Foundation, Germany. He is a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences.^
Genentech founders to receive Biotechnology Heritage Award
Herbert W. Boyer and the late Robert A. Swanson, cofounders of Genentech, have been selected to receive the second annual Biotechnology Heritage Award. The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) established the award to recognize the extraordinary achievements of truly outstanding individuals whose careers help shape our scientific heritage. The award will be presented on March 28 at the BIO 2000 meeting in Boston.
'Together, Swanson and Boyer were a formidable team—their vision, astute business acumen, and technical abilities remain unparalleled. With the public launch of Genentech in 1976, Boyer and Swanson created the biotechnology revolution of the late 1970s. Their contributions to the biotechnology community are immeasurable," says Arnold Thack-ray, president of CHF.
Boyer received a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania and master's and Ph.D. degrees from the Uni
versity of Pittsburgh. Since 1976, Boyer has served as director of Genentech. He is also professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as chairman of the board for Allergan, a technology-driven global health care company.
Among his many achievements, Boyer is well known for his work in developing recombinant DNA technology and has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Swiss Helmut Horten Research Award in 1993, the Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award in 1982, the Golden Plate Award in 1981, and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1980.
In 1976, at the age of 29, Swanson co-founded Genentech, serving as chief executive officer and chairman of the board until 1996. Swanson, a venture capitalist, recognized the importance of the commercialization of genetic engineering in the early 1970s. In 1996, Swanson joined Tularik Inc. as chairman of the board, were he remained until his untimely death last December (C&EN, Jan. 3, page 37). Tularik's president, David Goeddel, says, "Bob's vision and focus were legendary, but his true genius was his ability to motivate people to reach their potential."^
David Bauer to receive Tess Award in Coatings David R. Bauer, senior staff technical specialist in the materials science department of Ford Motor Co.'s research laboratory, will receive the Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings for 2000. The award is sponsored by the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering. It will be presented Aug. 21 during the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C.
Bauer is widely known for his research in the areas of mechanisms and kinetics of cure, network structure in high-solids coatings, flow-control and coating rheology, polymer photodegra-dation and stabilization, plastics charac-
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terization, and coating service life prediction. He has made extensive use of infrared spectroscopy to study the cross-linking kinetics of melamine formaldehyde resins and isocyanates. He was the first to apply network models to calculate cross-link densities from chemical measurements. These calculations compared well with physical measures of cure and provided unique insights into cure windows for different technologies.
Bauer has made fundamental measurements of coating rheology and developed quantitative relationships between rheological parameters, coating formulation parameters, and sag control agents. He has investigated the fundamental mechanism of different sag control agents using a combination of rheology and light scattering. This work has led to a comprehensive model of coating flow from application to cure.
He has made seminal contributions in the area of coating degradation and stabilization. Bauer was the first to measure the rate of cross-link hydrolysis in acrylic melamine coatings, a process critical to acid etch resistance. He also made extensive studies of the interaction of light and water on the degradation chemistries of these coatings.
Bauer received a B.S. degree in chemistry from California Institute of Technology in 1971 and a Ph.D. degree in chemical physics from Stanford University in 1975. After a postdoctoral appointment in the chemistry department of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, he joined the research lab ofFordinl977.^
Henkelman, Randa win IBM Grad Student Awards
Graeme A. Henkelman and Holly S. Randa, graduate students at the University of Washington and the University of Utah, respectively, have been chosen as this year's recipients of the IBM Graduate Student Awards in Computational Chemistry. The awards are sponsored by IBM and given by the ACS Division of Physical Chemistry. The awards consist of a cash prize and a grant of 1,000 node-hours of time on the IBM SP2 supercomputer at the Minnesota Super-computing Institute.
Henkelman has been a graduate stu-
Henkelman Randa
dent with Hannes Jonsson at the University of Washington, Seattle, since 1997. His research involves the development of methods to understand chemical reactions that occur on the surface of solid materials. Randa has been a graduate student with Gregory A. Voth at the University of Utah since 1997. Her research involves the use of computer simulations to understand ion transport through cell membranes.^
Nominations for 56th ACS Midwest Regional Award
The ACS St. Louis Section is seeking nominations for the 56th ACS Midwest Regional Award. The award was established by the section in 1944 to publicly recognize outstanding achievements in chemistry in the Midwest region. The award is given annually to a scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the advancement of pure or applied chemistry, chemical education, and the profession of chemistry. To be eligible, a nominee's cited work must have been performed while he or she was residing within the Midwest region of ACS, which includes Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, southern Illinois, and South Dakota; however, the nominee does not have to be a current or previous ACS member. Neither the nominee nor the nominator has to currently reside in any of these locations. Nominees can be from industry, academia, government, or private practice.
Nominations should include a nominating letter, two or more seconding letters, a curriculum vitae, a brief biography, documented and objective information regarding the achievements of the nominee, and if the nominee is an academician, a list of students who have received advanced degrees under his or her direction. Submit nine copies of all
nomination material to Leah O'Brien, Chair, Midwest Award Committee, Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1652. All nominations must be received on or before March 31 to be considered. Questions concerning the award may be addressed to O'Brien at (618) 650-3562 or [email protected].
The award will be presented at the 35th Midwest Regional Meeting in St. Louis, Oct. 25-28. The ceremonies will feature the Midwest Award Lecture, a dinner honoring the medalist, and the presentation of the award, which consists of a medallion and money. M
Call for nominations for Southern Chemist Award
The ACS Memphis Section is soliciting nominations for the Southern Chemist Award. Nominees should be U.S. citizens, have worked in the South at least 10 years, and have at least a 10-year record of accomplishment. In addition, nominees must have actively participated in ACS events and brought recognition to the South through their work. For the purposes of the award, the South consists of the following local sections: Alabama, Auburn, Baton Rouge, Carolina-Piedmont, Central Arkansas, Central North Carolina, Chattanooga, Coastal Empire, East Tennessee, Eastern North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Hampton Roads, Louisiana, Louisville, Memphis, Mississippi, Mobile, Nashville, North Alabama, North Carolina, Northeast Georgia, Northeast Tennessee, Northwest Louisiana, Ole Miss, Orlando, Ouachita Valley, Pensacola, Savannah River, South Carolina, South Florida, Southwest Georgia, Southwest Louisiana, Tampa Bay, University of Arkansas, Virginia, Virginia Blue Ridge, Western Carolina, and Wilson Dam.
Nominations should consist of a letter containing biographical details and a brief account of technical accomplishments, a curriculum vitae, a publication/ patent list, a list of ACS activities, and two seconding letters from persons not at the nominee's place of employment.
Send six copies of all materials to Peter Bridson, Department of Chemistry, Smith Hall, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152. Nominations must be postmarked by May l.<4
FEBRUARY 21, 2000 C&EN 4 3