SQI director Samuel Stupp to receive Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry

Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology (SQI) director Samuel Stupp will receive the 2022 American Chemical Society Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry. Stupp was selected “for his fundamental and groundbreaking work on the supramolecular chemistry of peptide amphiphiles and on their remarkable functionality in biological regeneration.”

The Hirschmann Award, established in 1988 and sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories, recognizes and encourages outstanding achievements in the chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics of peptides. It is named after the chemist who pioneered techniques for the chemical synthesis of peptides, work that has broadly impacted the areas of medicinal chemistry and drug development. Hirschmann also led a team that performed the first organic synthesis of an enzyme (ribonuclease) and received the National Medal of Science in 2000 from President Bill Clinton, among many other honors.

Stupp’s work integrates chemistry with materials science, biology and medicine. One of his landmark achievements has been the development of bioactive materials known as peptide amphiphiles that can signal cells and be used in novel therapies for regenerative medicine. His work has led to the development of supramolecular biomaterials that mimic the architecture of structures surrounding cells and activate the necessary signals to initiate the regeneration of tissues such as bone, cartilage, muscle, blood vessels and the spinal cord, among others.

Stupp is Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern, where he directs SQI and its affiliated research center, the Center for Regenerative Nanomedicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Spanish Royal Academy and the National Academy of Inventors, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Materials Research Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Stupp will receive the Hirschmann Award on March 22 at the ACS Spring Meeting in San Diego.