Prof. Carlos Barbas Scripps Research Institute, USA

Carlos Barbas was the Kellogg Professor and Chair of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and the Departments of Molecular Biology and Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute. In 1989 he obtained his PhD in the lab of Professor Chi-Heu Wong, then at Texas A&M University. After postdoctoral studies at... read morePennsylvania State University and at Scripps he became a member of the Scripps faculty in 1991. His laboratory was concerned with problems in molecular biology, chemistry and medicine. Among his achievements are the development of the first human antibody phage libraries, the creation of the first synthetic antibodies, development of the first artificial transcription factors capable of regulating endogenous genes, and the pioneering chemically programmed antibodies. He founded 3 companies with the aim of translating his research to therapies in the clinic. He received many awards for his research including the Investigator Award from the Cancer Research Institute, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award and the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. Carlos Barbas died June 24, 2014, after a battle with a rare form of medullary thyroid cancer. He is survived by his wife and children.