Timothy Wencewicz, an associate professor of chemistry and director of graduate studies in chemistry in Arts & Sciences at WashU, is the winner of the American Chemical Society (ACS)’s Saint Louis Award.
The honor is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the profession of chemistry and demonstrated potential to further the advancement of the profession.
Wencewicz is a chemist who is focused on addressing the antibiotic resistance crisis by studying the biosynthesis of natural products and elucidating new antibiotic strategies.
Wencewicz has worked at WashU since 2013. His research group discovered the first beta-lactone synthase using a genome mining and enzyme reconstitution approach, which led to the production of new analogs as potential drugs. His group also found that certain beta-lactam antibiotics function as inhibitors that can be adapted as warheads for the design of new drugs against disease.
Wencewicz and his team discovered how certain bacteria destroy the antibiotic tetracycline, and they developed inhibitors to block this process and restore its effectiveness against resistant strains. The lab also elucidated mechanisms of iron acquisition in bacteria, leading to the development of new antibiotics, infection imaging agents and treatments for iron overload diseases.
The ACS Saint Louis award will be presented at a banquet Nov. 1. Read more on the society’s award webpage.
