The 2009 Linus Pauling Medal has been awarded to Professor Stephen J. Lippard, the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The award was presented at the annual Linus Pauling Medal Award Symposium, held at Portland State University on November 7, 2009. PSU Chemistry Professor Carl Wamser made preliminary remarks and moderated the afternoon symposium's presentations:
"Personalized Energy for One (times 6 Billion)," Daniel G. Nocera, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
"Group 15 Element Tetrahedra: Synthesis and Chemistry," Christopher C. Cummins, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
"Structure and Function of the HIV Capsid," Wesley I. Sundquist, Professor
University of Utah;
"Understanding and Improving Platinum Anticancer Drugs," Stephen J. Lippard, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Professor Lippard also delivered the Pauling Medal Award Address, "Visualizing Mobile Zinc and Nitric Oxide Signals in Biology," at an awards dinner that evening.
About the Linus Pauling Medal
The Linus Pauling Medal is given annually by the Oregon, Portland and Puget Sound sections of the American Chemical Society in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in chemistry in the spirit of and in honor of Linus Pauling, a native of the Pacific Northwest. For more information, visit http://pauling2009.org.
About Stephen J. Lippard
Professor Stephen Lippard studies biological interactions involving metal ions, focusing on reactions and physical and structural properties of metal complexes. Such complexes can be useful as cancer drugs and as models for the active sites of metalloproteins. Metal ions also promote key biological reactions in enzymes and metal complexes can be employed to sense biological signaling agents.
Lippard is affiliated with MIT’s Center for Cancer Research and is well known for his work on the mechanism of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin, which contains platinum and is primarily used to treat testicular cancer and ovarian cancer. His lab is currently working on designing more effective platinum anti-tumor agents.
http://web.mit.edu/lippardlab/
