TSRI’s Peter Schultz Wins Prestigious Heinrich Wieland Prize

LA JOLLA, CA—September 29, 2016—Peter Schultz, president of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has been awarded the international Heinrich Wieland Prize, one of Germany’s most prestigious scientific prizes.

The award, presented by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation, honors “distinguished scientists for their outstanding research on biologically active molecules and systems in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry and physiology as well as their clinical importance.” Previous Heinrich Wieland Prize winners have included subsequent Nobel Laureates Michael Stuart Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein, Bengt Samuelsson and James Rothman.

Schultz, who also holds the Scripps Family Chair Professor of Chemistry at TSRI, was selected for “his fundamental contributions to the biologically inspired synthesis of new molecules including his groundbreaking work on expanding the genetic code. Using his toolbox to extend the genetic code, over 100 amino acids with novel functions have been introduced site-specifically into proteins allowing to probe cellular processes in vivo in unprecedented detail. Schultz has applied this method to generate new medicines and also to create organisms with enhanced properties. In addition, he has pioneered the development of large combinatorial chemical libraries together with cell-based screens leading to drugs for degenerative diseases, cancer, autoimmune and neglected diseases.”

“Peter Schultz has given us a wide array of invaluable tools which enable us to rationally design molecules and organisms to understand the processes of life and to treat medical conditions,” said Professor Wolfgang Baumeister, who chairs the Selection Committee of the Heinrich Wieland Prize.

Awarded annually since 1964, the prize, which is named after 1927 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Heinrich Wieland, is endowed with 100,000 euros. Schultz will receive the prize and present the laureate’s lecture at an award symposium on October 13 in Munich, Germany. 

For further information on Schultz’s research, visit his faculty webpage and lab website. For more information on the Heinrich Wieland Prize, see the award’s website.