Chemistry Professor Wins National Award

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Seth Cohen

Seth Cohen, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Calfiornia, San Diego, has been chosen to receive a 2016 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award.

The award of $5,000, given by the American Chemical Society to recognize and encourage excellence in organic chemistry, comes with an additional $40,000 unrestricted research grant.

Cohen, one of four chemists chosen to receive a mid-career scholars award this year for researchers with 10 to 25 years of experience since their terminal degree, was recognized for his work on hybrid inorganic-organic materials and metalloproteins.

Metalloproteins — proteins that require metal ions for their function — are associated with human maladies such as heart disease, cancer and bacterial infection. Cohen develops ways of inhibiting metalloproteins, and his success with the endeavor has contributed to the launch of the biotechnology companies Cleave Biosciences and Forge Therapeutics.