Chi-Huey Wong selected for 2022 Chemical Pioneer Award

LA JOLLA, CA—Chi-Huey Wong, PhD, professor and Scripps Family Chair, has been named the recipient of the 2022 Chemical Pioneer Award from The American Institute of Chemists.

The award recognizes chemists, chemical engineers or their associates who have made outstanding contributions, resulting in major advances in chemical science and industry, as well as on the chemical profession.

Wong is credited with pioneering a wide a range of tools for synthesizing and studying glycans (complex sugars) and molecules with glycans attached to them, laying the groundwork for the burgeoning field of “glycobiology.”

“This award is a recognition of the work done by the group over the years and I thank them for their contribution,” says Wong.

By removing the barriers to studying how sugars operate in the body, Wong paved the way to discoveries on everything from how sugars control how proteins are manufactured in cells to the development of vaccines and drugs for diseases, such as influenza, cancer, COVID-19 and HIV.

Wong joins several other extraordinary Scripps Research chemists who have previously won the award, including Benjamin Cravatt, PhD (2021); Jeffery Kelly, PhD (2017); Donna Blackmond, PhD (2016); Julius Rebek, Jr., PhD (2002); and K. Barry Sharpless, PhD (1988). 

In addition to the Chemical Pioneer Award, Wong has been the recipient of several prestigious honors spanning 40 years of work. Notable examples include The Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry (2021), The Royal Society of Chemistry Robert Robinson Award (2015), The American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Award (2012), and The Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2014). Wong is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.