Stephen Martin, a professor of chemistry at The Univeristy of Texas at Austin, has garnered the American Chemical Society's Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products for a career of outstanding work in that area.
The annual award, which comes with a $6,000 grant, is given for outstanding achievement in producing or understanding the chemistry behind various compounds found in nature. Martin, who holds the June and J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in Chemistry, has worked in this area for nearly 40 years, and has developed many organic compounds which have potential applications in pharmacology and medicine. The award gives special consideration to creativity and originality in the body of work of the awardees.
Martin's work has led to many applications, including the creation of some potential antibiotics and anticancer agents, as well as some work with compounds which are promising as potential medicine for neurodegenerative disorders.
"Some of the synthetic methods we have developed are in use in the pharmaceutical industry as part of drug discovery programs," he said.
Martin, who is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, received his PhD from Princeton University and joined the faculty of UT Austin in 1974.
Given by the American Chemical Society (ACS) since 1948, the Ernest Guenther Award has been supported by flavor and fragrance producer Giavudan since 1992. Martin will receive a medallion and certificate along with the monetary award at the ACS National Meeting on April 4 in San Francisco.
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