Professor Juan Granja, CIQUS researcher and professor at USC, has just been awarded the Ignacio Ribas Medal 2014, awarded by the Organic Chemistry Group of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), composed of 700 members belonging universities and other research centers in Spain. The award ceremony will be during the coming biennial meeting held in Alicante RSEQ.
This distinction, which annually honors the ascending career of a Spanish organic chemist, recognizes the contributions made by Prof. Granja and his team in the field of molecular self-assembly processes, specifically in the design of peptide nanotubes with novel properties.
Specifically, they are working with cyclic peptides that contain cyclic gamma-amino acids because they allow them to control internal and external properties and the diameter. Among others, specially designed peptides subunits can effectively interact with the lipid bilayers forming transmembrane channels that efficiently transport ions or lying parallel to the membrane modifying the membrane properties.
Ignacio Ribas Medals were created in 2010 to annually reward excellence of a Spanish organic chemist by its scientific mission of the last five years. The award is named after the Professor Ribas had been at USC since 1942 and for over thirty years, leaving a legacy of Organic Chemistry school with an international reputation.
In previous years, the following researchers have received the award: Fernando P. Cossio (UPV, 2011), Carlos Saa (USC-CIQUS, 2012) and Miguel Angel Sierra (UCM, 2013).