Press release: New approaches to synthesize compounds for pharmaceutical research

No. 159 - 28.10.2024

Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation awards Exploration Grant to Göttingen University researcher

Junior Professor Johannes Walker, University of Göttingen, has been awarded an Exploration Grant from the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation. Walker teaches and carries out research at the Institute for Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. The award of 180,000 euros will enable Walker and his team to develop new approaches to synthesizing new compounds.

“The aim of our project is to develop new strategies for the synthesis of a particular group of new chemical compounds,’ Walker explains. These compounds are called saturated polycyclic molecules. They are structurally complex compounds that could play an important role as building blocks for the development of new drugs. However, little research has been done on their chemistry and ways to synthesize them. “Our results will provide new ways to prepare these unusual compounds and will hopefully contribute to the development of new medicines in the future,” Walker says.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation whose Exploration Grants were set up to provide outstanding scientists doing basic research with the opportunity to explore new lines of research at an early stage of their careers. This means they enable junior research group leaders to pursue new ideas or surprising findings that show potential. Walker studied chemistry at the University of Oxford, where he also did his PhD. He then conducted research at the Technische Universität Berlin and has held a junior professorship in organic chemistry at the University of Göttingen since 2020. His work has been recognised with the 2023 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award.

Contact

Professor Johannes Walker

University of Göttingen

Institute of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry

Tammannstraße 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0)551 39-23768

Email: johannes.walker@chemie.uni-goettingen.de