- Outstanding Graduate Students and Professors Honored for Their Research -
NUTLEY, N.J., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche honored 12 outstanding Ph.D. students and two professors today with the company's Excellence in Chemistry Award for research accomplishments in the field of organic chemistry. The winners are participating in Roche's annual two-day Roche Symposium: Excellence in Chemistry to gain first hand knowledge on the important role organic chemistry plays in pharmaceutical discovery.
"The Chemistry Symposium is a unique opportunity to bring together researchers in academia and at Roche to explore advances in chemistry and how they might be translated into new, beneficial medicines," said Nader Fotouhi, Ph.D., vice president Discovery Chemistry, Center Manager-Nutley Research and head, Discovery Technologies at Roche. "Each year we look forward to sharing information with these bright chemists and hope that they leave Roche with a deeper understanding of the vital role organic chemistry plays in pharmaceutical drug development."
During the symposium, students will have opportunities to discuss their research projects, hear overviews of the drug discovery process by Roche scientists as well as case histories in medicinal and process chemistry and tour the Nutley site. There will also be plenary lectures by the 2009 faculty award winners: Professor Mohammad Movassaghi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor M. Christina White of the University of Illinois.
2009 Student Recipients
Representing a range of prestigious institutions, the 12 winners this year are: Michael Bultman (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), Mingji Dai (Columbia University), Brett Fors (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Eric Gillis (University of Illinois), Won-Suk Kim (University of Pennsylvania), Daniel Knueppel (University of Texas), Connor Martin (University of California, at Irvine), Holly Reichard (The Scripps Research Institute-Florida), Ian Seiple (The Scripps Research Institute), Erik Stang (University of Illinois), Meilana Tjandra (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Chenbo Wang (University of Pittsburgh).
Selection Process
The students were chosen by Roche chemists in Palo Alto and Nutley through a rigorous selection process. More than 45 faculty members at prominent U.S. universities were invited to nominate students to participate in the symposium. Professors were asked to consider students who might be interested in the pharmaceutical industry and who are one to two years from completing their Ph.D. The submissions required a supporting letter from the nominee, the student's resume and a short research summary. Besides the opportunity to attend and present their research projects at the Chemistry Symposium, the students each received a crystal award and an honorarium. Professors Movassaghi and White each received an unrestricted grant to support their ongoing research in addition to the honorarium.
About Roche
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), based in Nutley, N.J., is the U.S. pharmaceuticals headquarters of the Roche Group, one of the world's leading research-oriented healthcare groups with core businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. For more than 100 years in the U.S., Roche has been committed to developing innovative products and services that address prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, thus enhancing people's health and quality of life. An employer of choice, in 2008, Roche was named one of the Top 20 Employers (Science) and ranked the No. 1 Company to Sell For (Selling Power). In previous years, Roche has been named as Top Company of the Year by Med Ad News, a Top Company for Older Workers (AARP) and one of the Best Companies to Work For in America (Fortune). For additional information about the U.S. pharmaceuticals business, visit our website http://www.rocheusa.com. Product and treatment information for U.S. healthcare professionals is available at www.RocheExchange.com.
CONTACT: Darien E. Wilson, +1-973-562-2232, Darien_e.wilson@roche.com
Web site: http://www.rocheusa.com/
