We are delighted to announce that Lister Fellow Professor Barry V.L. Potter has been awarded the 2018 Tu Youyou Award. This prestigious award was given by MDPI, along with the Award Selection Committee and Editorial Board of the journal Molecules, and was formally announced in July this year.
The award recognises Professor Potter’s exceptional research work, leadership and entrepreneurial achievements in several areas of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The award was given in honour of the Co-Recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Her Discoveries Concerning a Novel Therapy against Malaria.
Professor Potter is a Professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at the University of Oxford and Fellow of University College, Oxford.
His research has involved a number of notable achievements in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and natural products chemistry, including the development of several drug candidates that have progressed to ‘first in class’ Phase I and II clinical trials in cancer research and women’s health.
Aside from the development of new anticancer drugs Professor Potter’s work also involves the chemistry of cell signalling. This particular research area started with the award of his Lister Institute Fellowship in 1987. His work has sought to design novel molecular probes using synthetic chemistry to better understand cellular signal transduction processes and to uncover novel drug targets.
Professor Potter is also a former Lister Fellow and current member of the Lister Institute’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), playing an important role in selecting new Research Prize recipients. As Professor Potter says:
“I owe the Lister Institute an enormous vote of thanks for its very early support of my cell signalling work, without which it would not have subsequently developed and flourished, over almost three decades, to have contributed so substantially to this award.”
