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HZI and TU Braunschweig honor natural product researcher from the University of California, Berkeley
The Friends of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Braunschweig are awarding Prof. Richmond Sarpong from the University of California, Berkeley, with the Inhoffen Medal 2025. Sarpong is an eminent organic chemist who has distinguished himself through particular successes in synthetic chemistry and method development. The award ceremony took place on July 10, 2025 at the HZI in Braunschweig.
Around half of all medicines originate from natural substances produced by plants, fungi or bacteria. The research group of the 2025 Inhoffen Medal winner Prof. Richmond Sarpong uses this diversity as inspiration for new medicines. His research group focuses on the synthesis of bioactive, complex organic molecules of natural origin. “Richmond Sarpong has brought a certain lightness and enthusiasm back to synthetic natural product chemistry,” said Prof. Andreas Kirschning from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at Leibniz University Hannover in his laudatory speech about the award winner.
Prof. Richmond Sarpong studied chemistry at Macalester College and Princeton University (both USA). He then completed his doctorate at Princeton and conducted research at the California Institute of Technology before being appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004. Sarpong also received the Humboldt Research Award awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021. He is currently researching and teaching at Leibniz University Hannover as a fellow of the foundation. In May 2025, he was elected into the US National Academy of Sciences. In addition to research, Sarpong attaches great importance to teaching, for which he has obtained several awards, and to the training of young scientists.
The Inhoffen Prize, awarded by the Friends of HZI and endowed with 8000 euros, is considered the most prestigious German award in the field of natural products chemistry. It is awarded as part of the Inhoffen Lecture, a joint ceremony of the HZI, the Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Friends of the HZI.
HZI PhD Awards for Wenchao Li and Gianluca Prezza
The Friends of the HZI also honored two young scientists with the HZI PhD Award for their doctoral theses completed in 2024. Dr Wenchao Li from the department “Computational Biology for Individualised Medicine” headed by Prof. Yang Li at the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) wrote her doctoral thesis on immune responses to vaccines and infections. For his doctoral thesis, Dr. Gianluca Prezza conducted research on small RNAs (sRNAs) in the intestinal bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in the research group “Host-Pathogen-Microbiota Interactions” headed by Prof. Alexander Westermann at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI).
About the Inhoffen Medal:
To commemorate the chemist Prof Hans Herloff Inhoffen (deceased in 1992), the Technische Universität Braunschweig, the HZI (formerly: German Research Centre for Biotechnology - Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung or GBF) and the Friends of the HZI annually organize the Inhoffen Lecture (since 1994), at which the award bearing his name is presented. Inhoffen taught at the Technische Universität Braunschweig from 1946 to 1974 and served as its Rector from 1948 to 1950. Moreover, in 1965, he founded the “Institute for Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics” (IMB), the predecessor institution of the GBF and, by extension, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.
This press release and an image are also available on our website: https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/media-center/newsroom/news-detail/richmond-sarpo...
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research:
Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and its other sites in Germany are engaged in the study of bacterial and viral infections and the body’s defense mechanisms. They have a profound expertise in natural compound research and its exploitation as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) the HZI performs translational research laying the ground for the development of new treatments and vaccines against infectious diseases. https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en
Contact:
Susanne Thiele, Spokesperson
susanne.thiele@helmholtz-hzi.de
Dr Charlotte Schwenner, Editor
charlotte.schwenner@helmholtz-hzi.de
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Press and Communications
Inhoffenstr. 7
D-38124 Braunschweig
Germany
Phone: +49 531 6181-1400; -1406
Prof. Richmond Sarpong, winner of the Inhoffen Medal 2025, with Prof. Klemens Rottner, President of ...
Source: Verena Meier
Copyright: HZI/Verena Meier
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Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Biology, Chemistry
transregional, national
Contests / awards
English
Prof. Richmond Sarpong, winner of the Inhoffen Medal 2025, with Prof. Klemens Rottner, President of ...
Source: Verena Meier
Copyright: HZI/Verena Meier
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