Blumberg Institute presents 2022 Lam Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry Award
Doylestown, Pa., Dec. 22, 2022 – Simon D. P. Baugh, PhD, a research fellow at the Fox Chase Chemical Diversity Center Inc., has been chosen to receive the 2022 Lam Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry Award from the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute in Doylestown.
A resident of Ringoes, N.J., Dr. Baugh received a doctorate in organic chemistry from Imperial College London in 1998. He was a post-doctoral researcher at the college the next year and at Columbia University between 2000 and 2002. After more than 13 years with pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Baugh joined Fox Chase Therapeutics Discovery Inc. (FCTDI) in 2015. An antifungal project at FCTDI for which he was the lead chemist, and for which he designed, synthesized and scaled-up the lead-molecule, was in-licensed by Basilea Pharmaceutica earlier this year.
(L-R) Dr. Yanming Du, Dr. Patrick Y. S. Lam, Dr. Simon D. P. Baugh and Louis P. Kassa III, MPA, CEO of the Blumberg Institute, Hepatitis B Foundation and Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) and president of the PABC.
The Blumberg Institute presents the Lam Award annually in recognition of Patrick Y. S. Lam, PhD, distinguished professor at the Blumberg Institute. Dr. Lam is known worldwide as co-inventor of Eliquis, a novel anticoagulant that has become a block-buster drug with more than $17 billion in annual sales. Dr. Lam also co-discovered the powerful Chan-Lam Coupling Reaction.
Fox Chase Therapeutics Discovery Inc. (FCTDI) works closely with the Blumberg Institute on various initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and product development.
“Congratulations to Dr. Baugh for this award and his outstanding work, which exemplifies the quality of the research being done by the scientists at his organization and the Blumberg Institute,” said Randall N. Hyer, MD, PhD, MPH, president of the Blumberg Institute. “We’re extremely pleased that this award honors Dr. Lam, who has done so much for medicinal chemistry and for people’s health.”
Randall N. Hyer, MD, PhD, MPH, Blumberg Institute president
The Lam Award was created in 2021 by Yanming Du, PhD, professor and director of medicinal chemistry at the Blumberg Institute. The first recipient was Nicky Hwang, a former research associate at the institute now working in research at Genentech.
About the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute – An independent, nonprofit organization, the institute was launched in 2003 by the Hepatitis B Foundation to advance its research mission. Today, it is one of the nation’s leading centers for translational research in hepatitis B and liver cancer. The institute supports drug discovery, biomarker discovery and translational biotechnology around common research themes such as chronic hepatitis, liver disease and liver cancer in an environment conducive to interaction, collaboration and focus. The institute is located in, and manages, the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) in Doylestown, Pa. Visit www.blumberginstitute.org and follow us on www.linkedin.com/baruch-s-blumberg-institute and Twitter @BlumbergInstit1.