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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Courtesy Department of Chemistry Photography

Dr Gonçalo Bernardes has been selected to receive the 2020 International Chemical Biology Society Young Chemical Biologist award.

“I am deeply humbled by this award,” said Bernardes. “This means a lot to me, as it is a recognition of my research group’s innovativeness and resilience.”

The award cites Bernardes’ ground-breaking research in the “design of new chemistry for site-selective bioconjugation of therapeutic antibodies and disease-associated proteins in cells”, which has been highly impactful.

It notes that his innovative work is considered to be “at the forefront of the interface of chemistry and biology” and “has led to many breakthroughs in protein chemistry and new chemical methodologies to address difficult questions in life sciences.”

One example of this innovative work is the recent publication of the Bernardes research group’s development of a new tool for degrading RNA sequences in living cells using click-chemistry reactions.

Head of Department James Keeler said: “This is wonderful – Gonçalo is certainly riding high at the moment and it is such a pleasure to see one of our young academics have so much success. We all congratulate Gonçalo on this honour.”

Bernardes is one of four young scientists recognised by the ICBS, which is an independent, nonprofit organisation dedicated to promoting research and educational opportunities at the interface of chemistry and biology. The award will be presented at the “Rising Stars” session of the ICBS2020 virtual conference on 13 November.  

List of previous ICBS Young Chemical Biologist award winners.