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To acknowledge and recognise outstanding young medicinal chemists and chemical biologists (≤ 12 years after PhD) working in European industry and academia, EFMC established the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry" and the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia".
The two prizes are given annually and consist of:
For the 2024 edition, the prize-winners are invited to give an oral communications at the XXVIII EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC 2024), scheduled to take place in Rome, Italy on September 1-5, 2024. Two additional nominees are also identified and acknowledged as most meritorious runners-up.
The selection committee designated Prof. Rebecca Buller (Zhaw School of Life Science and Facility Management,Switzerland) as the winner of the 2024 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia
Rebecca Buller is a biological chemist and Professor for Biotechnological Methods, Systems and Processes at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Rebecca Buller studied chemistry at the Westfälische-Wilhelms Universität Münster (D) and the University of California Santa Barbara (US). After completing her PhD with a focus on enzyme engineering at the ETH in Zurich (CH), Rebecca Buller accepted a position as laboratory head at the flavour and fragrance company Firmenich (CH). In 2015 she relocated to the Zurich University of Applied Sciences where she founded the Competence Center for Biocatalysis (CCBIO).
Dr Martin Empting (Helmholtz-Institute f. Pharmaceutical Research Saarland, Germany) and Prof. Elisabeth Rexen Ulven (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) have been recognised as the most meritorious runners-up.
The selection committee designated Dr Samuele Cazzamalli (Philochem AG, Switzerland) as the winner of the 2024 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry
Samuele Cazzamalli (PhD) is the Head of Chemistry at Philochem AG, the Swiss subsidiary of the Philogen group, acting as a discovery center with a focus on chemical pharmaceutical products and technologies. At Philochem, Samuele’s group focuses on the discovery of novel tumor-targeting small molecule ligands through the use of DNA-Encoded Chemical Libraries. Samuele earned his PhD at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Prof. Dario Neri, with a thesis on non-internalizing antibody- and small molecule-drug conjugates for the treatment of cancer. Samuele has authored more than 40 scientific articles and has brought three compounds in Phase I clinical trials. His group is currently using high-affinity small organic ligands to develop small molecule diagnostic and therapeutic compounds against solid tumors.
Dr Ranganath Gopalakrishnan (AstraZeneca, Sweden) and Dr Zoe Henley (GSK, United Kingdom) have been recognised as the most meritorious runners-up.
EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry
EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia
