Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry: Kim D. Janda

Sponsor: Alfred R. Bader Fund

Citation: For his ability to integrate the principles of chemistry, molecular biology, immunology, and neuropharmacology to create molecules engendered with both biological and chemical function.

Current position: professor of chemistry and immunology; Ely R. Callaway, Jr. Chair in Chemistry; and director, Worm Institute of Research & Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute

Education: B.S., clinical chemistry, University of South Florida; M.S., chemistry, University of Arizona; Ph.D., chemistry, University of Arizona

Janda on what he hopes to accomplish in the next decade: “There are two things I hope to accomplish: To have one of my vaccines for treating drugs of abuse receive FDA approval. I anticipate that one of my vaccines for opioid addiction, which has reached epic proportions in recent years, will gain approval in this timeframe. And to develop a field-ready diagnostic for river blindness, a neglected tropical disease.”

What his colleagues say: “He has been working at the chemistry-biology interface longer than most, displaying a remarkable ability to combine the principles of chemistry and immunology to tackle unmet medical needs and chart bold new directions.”—Dale L. Boger, the Scripps Research Institute