Professor Ojima's Awards/Honors - Highlights

ACS Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry (2013)

Dr. Ojima will receive the ACS award for "his outstanding contributions to fluorine chemistry through his pioneering and creative research in synthetic methodology and biomedical applications."

Dr. Ojima's research, a combination of both transition metal catalysis and medicinal chemistry, has had a profound impact on the fluorine chemistry at the biomedical interface. This is his third ACS National Award in addition to the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (organic chemistry) in 1994 and the E. B. Hershberg Award (medicinal chemistry) in 2001, illuminating the exceptional breadth and excellence in his research.

 The element fluorine plays an important role in our everyday lives as a component of common substances such as toothpaste, Teflon, coolants, air conditioners, air sprays, extinguishers, as well as pharmaceutical drugs. Today, enormous numbers of synthetic fluorine-containing compounds have been widely used in a variety of fields because the incorporation of fluorine atoms or fluorinated groups often furnishes quite unique properties to molecules, which cannot be attained by any other elements.

 Dr. Ojima first introduced catalytic processes into organofluorine chemistry in the early 1980s, and developed highly-efficient methods for the practical synthesis of optically active fluoro-amino acids by means of catalysis and enzymatic resolution. His invention of a highly efficient process for the synthesis of 5-trifluoromethyluracil was commercialized for the production of trifluridine (antiviral drug). He developed successful fluorine-containing molecules for the treatment of high blood pressure and as pain killers. Most recently, he synthesized taxol derivatives containing fluorine as anticancer agents, probes of chemical and structural biology, and to enhance drug potency. "These fluoro-taxoids have been incorporated as "warheads" into tumor-targeting drug delivery systems for efficacious cancer chemotherapy," according to Dr. Benjamin Hsiao, Vice President for Research, and former Chair of Chemistry, at Stony Brook.

 Professor Ojima's Perspective article in Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2013. 

 

 

ACS Fellow (2010)

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"Eric Kaler, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Iwao Ojima, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, were elected as Fellows of the American Chemical Society (ACS)." Read more   "The ACS Fellows Program was created by the ACS Board of Directors in December 2008 'to recognize members of ACS for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society.'” Read more

Outstanding Inventor Award (2010)

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Dr. Ojima, Dr. Stanley, and Dr. Wong

Professor Iwao Ojima was recognized for his discoveries and innovations at the First Annual Inventor's Reception hosted by Mark Lesko, the Town of Brookhaven Supervisor. Various patent holders from Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory were honored at this event. Professor Ojima was recognized for his patent entitled "Anti-Tuberculosis Taxane Compounds" (U.S. Patent 7,615,653).

NIH/NCI STTR/SBIR Grant (2010)

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and

"Congratulations to Iwao Ojima, Director, Institute of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery (ICB&DD) and Project Leader, and Ramesh Gupta, Vice President, ChemMaster International Inc. and Principal Investigator) on receiving a Phase II STTR/SBIR award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the project, “Preclinical Studies on Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Taxoid Conjugate for IND Filing.” The NCI scored this Phase II STTR/SBIR proposal as outstanding and awarded $2.7 million for two years." Read more

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