PhD Award

PhD Award award from the GDCh Division of Medicinal Chemistry

Since 2013, the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) has been awarding up to three prizes each year for outstanding doctorates in the fields of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry. The award includes an award certificate, a prize money of 500 euros each, donated by the Division , and a short lecture on the award-winning work as part of the Divisions's annual conference "Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry".

The price is currently not advertised.

PhD Award Prize Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2022

The PhD Award award was presented to Dr. Verena Kunig, Dr. Johannes Morstein and Dr. Patrick Zanon on March 14, 2022 at the Online Conference "Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2022". awarded.

to dr Kunig in appreciation of her dissertation on the subject: "DNA-encoded substance libraries: chemical stabilization of DNA, development of new synthesis methods and identification of TEAD-YAP inhibitors". Miss Dr. In her work, Kunig succeeds in significantly expanding the methodological arsenal for DNA-encoded molecule libraries. The possibilities of library design are significantly expanded by the developed synthesis methods based on multi-component reactions. In addition, the contributions to the development of chemically stabilized coding strategies enable application for a wide variety of synthesis methods. With the discovery of new TEAD-YAP inhibitors, the work also underscores the potential of DNA-encoded molecule libraries in drug discovery. The dissertation was written in the working group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Brunschweiger at the Technical University of Dortmund.

to dr Morstein in appreciation of his dissertation on the subject: "Optical Control of Lipid Signaling".
Dr. Morstein successfully introduces light-switchable functional groups into lipids that are involved in various signaling processes, thus opening up completely new possibilities for the control of certain signaling pathways by light. The potential of these new tools was directly used in the outstanding work to study signaling processes. The work thus contributes significantly to expanding the possibilities for the targeted control of biological functions using chemical tools. The dissertation was written in the working group of Prof. Dr. Dirk Trauner graduated from New York University.

to dr Zanon in appreciation of his dissertation entitled: "Development of methods and covalent ligands for the chemoproteomic exploration of the ligandability of bacterial proteomes". In the outstanding work, selective chemical probes are developed to probe the addressability of nine different amino acids and used to characterize their reactivity towards electrophiles in the bacterial proteome. This work thus illustrates the potential of new chemical methods in drug research and opens up new possibilities for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases. The dissertation was written in the working group of Prof. Dr. Stephan Hacker at the Technical University of Munich.

PhD Award Prize Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2021

The Online PhD Award Conference was presented to Dr. Edith Bartole, Dr. Benedict Heinrich and Dr. Dasha Nelidova awarded.

to dr Bartole in appreciation of her dissertation entitled: "Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Molecular Tools for the Histamine H3 and H4 Receptors - In Particular Radio- and Fluorescent Ligands". Miss Dr. Bartole managed to develop and apply two complementary tools for the study of histamine H4 receptors. Their fluorescent ligand and their high-affinity radioligand enable localization of the hH4 receptor in living cells and, for the first time, comparative binding studies to h/m/rH4 receptors and to NanoLuc-tagged receptors (h/mH4R and hH3R). With her results and her tools, Dr. Bartole significantly enriched the research field of H4 receptors. The dissertation was written in the working group of Prof. Dr. Armin Buschauer at the University of Regensburg and after his death by Prof. Dr. Günther Bernhardt continues to be looked after.

to dr Heinrich in appreciation of his dissertation on "Chemical Biology Applications of Photoresponsive DNA-Binding Agents". The outstanding work describes chemical alternatives to the well-known Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) which, with the new 6 TramTO 3 molecule, make it possible to observe living, multi-resistant bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, among other things. This work illustrates the innovative power of new chemical methods and tools in the border area of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology and their direct applicability for a better understanding of infectious diseases. The dissertation was written in the working group of Jun.-Prof. dr Olalla Vázquez at the Philipps University in Marburg.

to dr Nelidova in appreciation of her dissertation on the subject: "Restoring light sensitivity using tunable near-infrared sensors". The work combines nanotechnology and genetic engineering in an innovative approach. Through the conjugation of gold nanoparticles to antibodies binding the TRP channel, light from the NIR range can be converted into signals of the TRP channel. These signals enable mice to perceive corresponding light signals. The work thus opens up a possible path to new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of macular degeneration. The dissertation was written in the working group of Prof. Dr. Botond Roska at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research and at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology in Basel.

PhD Award Prize Medicinal / Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2020

Dr. Charlotte Steiniger
Dr. Bent Alexander Praefke

The PhD Award award 2020 of the GDCh Division of Medicinal Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Charlotte Steiniger   and Dr. Bent Alexander Praefke for your outstanding dissertations.

Dr. Charlotte Steiniger in recognition of her dissertation on the topic: "Studies on the Mechanism and the Reprogramming of Fungal Iterative Cyclodepsipeptide Synthetases". Dr. Steiniger modified fungal, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases in her work. This enabled her to make novel bioactive cyclodepsipeptide derivatives accessible, for which, among other things, a high anti-parasitic effect was shown. This enabled her to enter bio-engineering and the design of new peptides with pharmacological potential for the research area of fungal systems. Their results provided concrete indications for an active and application-oriented reprogramming of iterative as well as linear synthetases for future manipulation approaches. The dissertation was carried out in the working group of Prof. Dr. Roderich D. Süssmuth at the Technical University of Berlin.

Dr. Bent Alexander Praefke in recognition of his dissertation on the topic: " Design and synthesis of novel inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4)". Taking vemurafenib as the starting point, Dr. Praefke, obtained highly potent inhibitors of MKK4 in a multi-parameter optimization. In addition to their potency, the innovative compounds are characterized by their outstanding selectivity towards crucial anti-targets. Another focus of his work is the optimization of the synthetic access to the target structures, which allowed him to make target compounds for in vivo experiments in high purity and in sufficient quantities available in a timely manner. The dissertation was carried out in the working group of Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.

PhD Award Prize Medicinal / Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2019

Dr. Franz von Nussbaum, Dr. Natascha
Stergiou und Dr. Elena De Vita
(v.l.n.r.; Foto: Dr. Ludwig Höllein,
Universität Würzburg)

The PhD Award award 2019 of the GDCh Division of Medicinal Chemistry Conference Chemistry was given to Dr. Elena De Vita, Dr. Natascha Stergiou and Dr. Robert Heinze for your outstanding dissertations.

Dr. Elena De Vita synthesized and characterized in her dissertation " Small molecule KLK6 inhibitors " selective and highly effective KLK6 inhibitors and KLK6 activity probes. Their ?tool compounds? enable the physiological and pathophysiological validation of KLK6 as a potential target for drugs.

Dr. In her dissertation " Use of tumor-associated mucin 1 (MUC1) to generate anti-tumor vaccines and monoclonal antibody derivatives as a basis for therapy and diagnosis of breast cancer ", Natascha Stergiou succeeded in selecting suitable synthetic glycopeptide MUC1-TTox vaccines , which showed a strongly delayed tumor growth in the preclinical breast tumor model and led to a marked extension of the lifespan in vaccinated animals. In this way, decisive prerequisites for the clinical and immunotherapeutic testing of this vaccine were achieved.

Dr. Robert Heinze describes in his dissertation " Scaffold Manipulations for the Synthesis of Seco- and Abeo-Steroids " new ways of synthesizing abeo-steroids and was able to synthesize a promising lead structure in Alzheimer's therapy with Stophasterol A. With a new approach to 9,11-secosteroids, efficient syntheses of the three natural substances ganoderin A, leptosterol A and pinnisterol D.

PhD Award award for medicinal/pharmaceutical chemistry 2013ff

2022 dr Verena Kunig, Dortmund
dr Johannes Morstein, New York
dr Patrick Zanon, Munich
2021 dr Edith Bartole, Regensburg
dr Benedict Heinrich, Marburg
dr Dasha Nelidova, Basel
2020 dr Bent Alexander Praefke, Tuebingen
dr Charlotte Steiniger, Berlin
2019 dr Elena DeVita, Heidelberg
dr Natascha Stergiou, Mainz
dr Robert Heinze, Berlin
2018

dr Stefan Krimmer, New Haven, USA
dr Lucas Robke, Dortmund
dr Robert Wodtke, Dresden

2017

dr Norbert Furtmann, Bonn
dr Patrick Maeder, Marburg
dr Roman Sommer, Saarbrucken

2016

dr Matthias Gehringer, Zurich
dr Christine Katharina Maurer, Saarbrucken
dr re. of course Alexander Metz, Marburg

2015 dr Christoph Nitsche, Heidelberg
dr Johannes Schiebel, Marburg
dr Dominik Tobias Thimm, Bonn
2014 dr Florian Rechenmacher, Munich
dr Miriam Sindelar, Munich
dr Matthew Wirth, Lausanne
2013 dr Tobias Klein, Saarbrucken
dr Hannes Schleifer, Graz

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last modified: 11.01.2023 18:29 H from Translator