Professor Gregory Challis has been awarded The 2009 Gabor Medal by the Royal Society, the UK’s independent academy for science.

Greg Challis, Professor of Chemical Biology in the Department of Chemistry, received the medal and £1000 prize for his highly interdisciplinary work exploiting the genomics of Streptomyces coelicolor to identify new natural products and biosynthetic enzymes.

The silver gilt medal is named after Nobel Prize-winner Professor Dennis Gabor FRS and is awarded biennially for acknowledged distinction in interdisciplinary work between the life sciences and other disciplines.

Professor Challis said: “I am delighted that I have been selected to receive the 2009 Gabor Medal. Natural products continue to play important roles in society, for example as life-saving medicines, environmentally benign pesticides and drugs that enhance the quality of our daily lives. It is wonderful that the importance of ongoing research into natural products has been recognised by the Royal Society.

"As is often the case in modern science, many people contributed to the research recognised by this award. It has been my privilege to work with a talented team of postdoctoral researchers, PhD students and collaborators over the past eight years at Warwick and I am fortunate to have benefited from the support of my family, as well as many colleagues across the University. Warwick Chemistry has established a reputation for research excellence at the interface of Chemistry and Biology which involves numerous vibrant and dynamic research groups working in several different fields. It is gratifying that this has been recognised by the UK’s premier scientific society.”

Notes to editors

For more information, please contact Kelly Parkes-Harrison, Communications Officer, University of Warwick, 02476 150483, 07824 540863, k.e.parkes@warwick.ac.uk