Gierasch Wins American Chemical Society Award

Image

Lila M. Gierasch, Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry and molecular biology, has been named the 2018 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry.

She was honored for “her seminal contributions to peptide structure and function, peptide models for protein folding and function, and roles of peptide and protein aggregation in disease,” according to her award citation.

“We are working with colleagues and collaborators to understand the underlying mechanisms of protein homeostasis from the level of the molecular chaperone machines that act on protein clients to the coordinated action of the network in all of its complexity,” Gierasch said in the award announcement. “We would love to witness and contribute to new discoveries related to these questions, both because of the fascinating basic science involved and because failures in these systems are implicated in a wide array of diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases.”

Gierasch will receive her award at the American Chemical Society meeting in March in New Orleans.