Chi-Huey Wong, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, and Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA, celebrates his 75th birthday on August 3, 2023. His research covers a broad spectrum of bioorganic and synthetic chemistry.
Research
Chi-Huey Wong has developed some of the earliest automated syntheses of oligosaccharides. His research interests include the development of tools for understanding the role of biological glycosylation in disease processes and immune responses, programmable one-pot syntheses and chemo-enzymatic syntheses of oligosaccharides and homogeneous glycoproteins, and the design of glycan microarrays and glycosylation probes for the study of cell-surface glycoconjugates. He aims to use the understanding of biological glycosylation for the development of therapeutics.
Career and Honors
Chi-Huey Wong studied biochemical sciences at National Taiwan University, Taipei, and received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1982 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, under the supervision of George M. Whitesides. After postdoctoral research at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, Wong became Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, College Station, USA, in 1983. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1986 and to Full Professor in 1987. Wong joined Scripps Research as a Faculty Member in 1989. In 2006, he was appointed President at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. From 2006 to 2019, he served as Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research, from 2016 on as Distinguished Research Fellow at the Genomics Research Center of Academia Sinica, and since 2019 as Scripps Family Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research.
Among many other honors, Chi-Huey Wong has received the IUPAC International Carbohydrate Award in 1994, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Harrison Howe Award in Chemistry in 1998, the International Enzyme Engineering Award in 1999, the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2000, the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 2006, the ACS Arthur C. Cope Award in 2012, the Wolf Prize in 2014, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Robert Robinson Award in 2015, and the American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneer Award in 2022. Wong is an Elected Member of Academia Sinica, Taipei, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Selected Publications
- Isolation of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Natural Products Extracted from Mentha canadensis and the Semi-synthesis of Antiviral Derivatives,
Osbert Chou, Yu-Pu Juang, Tai-Ling Chao, Sheng-Fa Tsai, Pei-Fang Chiu, Chun-Tang Chiou, Keng-Chang Tsai, Sui-Yuan Chang, Pi-Hui Liang, Chi-Huey Wong,
J. Nat. Prod. 2023, 86, 1428–1436.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00104 - Effective Organotin-Mediated Regioselective Functionalization of Unprotected Carbohydrates,
Yixuan Zhou, Kuo-Shiang Liao, Tzu-Yin Chen, Yves S. Y. Hsieh, Chi-Huey Wong,
J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 7141–7151.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.3c00397 - Chemical Synthesis of a Keto Sugar Nucleotide,
Zhong-Rui Li, Ruofan Li, Laura Pasternack, Pengxi Chen, Chi-Huey Wong,
J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 7580–7585.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.3c00553 - Design and Synthesis of 6‐O‐Phosphorylated Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides to Inhibit Amyloid β Aggregation,
Kenji Uchimura, Kazuchika Nishitsuji, Li‐Ting Chiu, Takashi Ohgita, Hiroyuki Saito, Fabrice Allain, Veeranjaneyulu Gannedi, Chi‐Huey Wong, Shang‐Cheng Hung,
ChemBioChem 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202200191 - Broad neutralization coverage of HIV by multiple highly potent antibodies,
Laura M. Walker, Michael Huber, Katie J. Doores, Emilia Falkowska, Robert Pejchal, Jean-Philippe Julien, Sheng-Kai Wang, Alejandra Ramos, Po-Ying Chan-Hui, Matthew Moyle, Jennifer L. Mitcham, Phillip W. Hammond, Ole A. Olsen, Pham Phung, Steven Fling, Chi-Huey Wong, Sanjay Phogat, Terri Wrin, Melissa D. Simek, Protocol G. Principal Investigators, Wayne C. Koff, Ian A. Wilson, Dennis R. Burton, Pascal Poignard,
Nature 2011, 477, 466–470.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10373 - A Potent and Broad Neutralizing Antibody Recognizes and Penetrates the HIV Glycan Shield,
Robert Pejchal, Katie J. Doores, Laura M. Walker, Reza Khayat, Po-Ssu Huang, Sheng-Kai Wang, Robyn L. Stanfield, Jean-Philippe Julien, Alejandra Ramos, Max Crispin, Rafael Depetris, Umesh Katpally, Andre Marozsan, Albert Cupo, Sebastien Maloveste, Yan Liu, Ryan McBride, Yukishige Ito, Rogier W. Sanders, Cassandra Ogohara, James C. Paulson, Ten Feizi, Christopher N. Scanlan, Chi-Huey Wong, John P. Moore, William C. Olson, Andrew B. Ward, Pascal Poignard, William R. Schief, Dennis R. Burton, Ian A. Wilson,
Science 2011, 334, 1097–1103.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213256 - Toward Automated Oligosaccharide Synthesis,
Che-Hsiung Hsu, Shang-Cheng Hung, Chung-Yi Wu, Chi-Huey Wong,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2011, 50, 11872–11923.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201100125 - Natural killer T cells recognize diacylglycerol antigens from pathogenic bacteria,
Yuki Kinjo, Emmanuel Tupin, Douglass Wu, Masakazu Fujio, Raquel Garcia-Navarro, Mohammed Rafii-El-Idrissi Benhnia, Dirk M Zajonc, Gil Ben-Menachem, Gary D Ainge, Gavin F Painter, Archana Khurana, Kasper Hoebe, Samuel M Behar, Bruce Beutler, Ian A Wilson, Moriya Tsuji, Timothy J Sellati, Chi-Huey Wong, Mitchell Kronenberg,
Nat. Immunol. 2006, 7, 978–986.
https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1380
