Prof. Matthias Gehringer receives Portoghese Lectureship Award 2024

Great joy for Matthias Gehringer! Our member was honored with the Portoghese Lectureship Award 2024 of the American Chemical Society (Division of Medicinal Chemistry)! The award, endowed with 1,500 US dollars, is presented annually to young researchers who have made and/or promise to make an important contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry.

He was recently appointed W3 Professor of Medicinal Chemistry with a focus on protein kinase inhibitors at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen. Matthias received the award during the annual fall meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver from Prof. Gunda Georg, Chair of the Executive Committee of the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry. The award was combined with a presentation on his latest research findings.

His research focuses on inhibitors of protein kinases, a class of enzymes whose deregulation can lead to various diseases, especially cancer. The enormous therapeutic relevance of these target proteins is impressively demonstrated by the market approval of over 80 protein kinase inhibitors in the last 23 years, the vast majority of which are used in oncological indications. His research group works primarily on so-called covalent inhibitors, which achieve increased efficacy, a longer duration of action and often also increased selectivity by forming a chemical bond to the target protein.

About the award
The annual award is named in honor of Professor Philip Portoghese, who served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry from 1972 to 2011. The awards are given to young researchers who have made and/or are expected to make a name for themselves in the field of medicinal chemistry and are presented each year at the ACS Fall Meeting.