- 2014 Wolf Prize in Chemistry
Intro
American biochemist, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at The Scripps Research Institute. He was awarded the 2014 Wolf Prize in Chemistry "for his numerous and original contributions to the development of innovative methods for the programmable and applied synthesis of complex oligosaccharides and glycol-proteins"
Education and Work Experience
1977, M.S., National Taiwan University
1982, Ph.D. in Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1983-1989, Faculty member and full Professor at Texas A&M University
1989-Present, Professor in the Department of Chemistry of the Scripps Research Institute
Honors and Awards
2006, Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists 2012, ACS Arthur C. Cope Medal
2014, Wolf Prize in Chemistry
2015, Robert Robinson Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Major Academic Achievements
As a pioneer in glycoscience research, Wong has developed the first enzymatic method for the large-scale synthesis of oligosaccharides and the first programmable automated synthesis of oligosaccharides. These methods have been used to solve major problems and create new opportunities in carbohydrate-mediated biological recognition and disease control. Of significance is his development of carbohydrate-based vaccines for the treatment of breast cancer and infectious diseases and glycan microarrays for the high-throughput analysis of protein-carbohydrate interaction. Overall, research in the Wong lab encompasses a broad spectrum of bioorganic and synthetic chemistry.