Kelly Chibale (centre) with Choonzo Chiyumba and Jeremy Sanders in the department.
Alumnus Kelly Chibale has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship at his alma mater, Queens’ College.
The Honorary Fellowship is the latest in a string of honours and awards that have recognised Kelly’s outstanding research, leadership and innovation. However, it feels particularly special to Kelly.
Honorary Fellows are appointed in recognition of significant achievement in their chosen field. The letter Kelly received from the college states: “This is the highest honour that we, as a College, can bestow and reflects our admiration for you as a person and your wonderful achievements to date.”
Kelly completed his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry in the early 90s under the supervision of Stuart Warren. He is now Professor of Organic Chemistry and holds the Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery and Development at the University of Cape Town. He is also the founder and Director of its ground-breaking Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre, one of only a handful of integrated drug discovery centres worldwide embedded within an academic institution.
Goosebumps
Kelly (Queens’ 1989) visited Cambridge in December for the ceremony which conferred his Honorary Fellowship. While here, he took the opportunity to visit the department to see how things have changed in the last 30 years. Jeremy Sanders gave Kelly a tour of the building, which gave them time to compare notes on their worldwide network of mutual friends and colleagues.
Afterwards Kelly said: “While I always get goosebumps each time I return to the department, this visit was particularly impactful. The exterior of the department remains largely unchanged but the interior was unrecognisable to me. The refurbishment of the various spaces that has taken place is breathtakingly impressive."
Meeting Stuart Warren scholar
While he was here, Kelly also had the chance to meet Choonzo Chiyumba, who is the first holder of the Stuart Warren studentship, which provides a place at Churchill College for a PhD student from Southern Africa to study chemistry. Choonzo, who is now in her third year, is designing artificial metalloenzymes that can act as catalysts, and is supervised by Professors Paul Barker and Sally Boss.
Kelly was instrumental in setting up the Warren studentship fund, which marks the life and achievements of Stuart Warren, who died in 2020. “I remain eternally grateful to Stuart for the guidance he gave me when I arrived for my PhD,” he explains. “I had nothing to do with Choonzo being selected, but it’s remarkable that she is also from Zambia, where I came from.”
Choonzo said: "I’ve always wanted to meet Kelly Chibale, even before arriving in Cambridge, but our paths never crossed. Meeting him and hearing about his career in person was a dream. I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity." Kelly agreed, saying: "Meeting in person with Choonzo Chiyumba for the first time was special."
More awards
In October this year Kelly came to London to receive the Royal Society’s prestigious Africa Medal and deliver a lecture about his work. He has also been elected as one of ten International Members to the United States National Academy of Medicine in 2024. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and recognises individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
He will also receive an honorary doctorate in science from Leiden University in the Netherlands next February in recognition of his pioneering work on the development of novel medicines to fight African endemic diseases.
You can read more about Kelly on pages 16-17 of the Winter 2023 Chem@Cam magazine.