Professor Carlos F. Barbas III, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), La Jolla, CA, USA, passed away last Tuesday.
Barbas will be remembered for his work on therapeutic antibodies, vaccines, and zinc-finger technology. He was also advancing the science of asymmetric catalysis with organic molecules through studies at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, and medicine and was one of the key players in organocatalysis. Additionally, he was involved in the development of new classes of drugs and vaccines for cancer and HIV-1.
Carlos F. Barbas was born November 5, 1964. After he gained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, in 1989, he went for a postdoctoral fellowship with Richard Lerner and Steven Benkovic to The Scripps Research Institute and the Pennsylvania State University from 1989–1991. From 1991–1995 he was Assistant Professor, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, and from 1995–2000 Associate Professor there.
Since 1992, Barbas was Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Annual Fall Course on “Phage Display Of Proteins & Peptides”, NY, USA, since 1997 Janet and W. Keith Kellogg II Endowed Chair in Molecular Biology and since 2000 Kellogg Professor, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Chemistry.
Barbas has been honored with numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award and the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry in 2009. Since 2003, Barbas is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher, and from 1992–1995 Scholar of The American Foundation for AIDS Research.
- Preparation and Activities of Macromolecule Conjugates of the CCR5 Antagonist Maraviroc,
S. Asano, J. Gavrilyuk, D. R. Burton, C. F. Barbas III,
ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5(2), 133–137.
DOI: 10.1021/ml400370w - Organocatalytic Asymmetric Assembly Reactions: Synthesis of Spirooxindoles via Organocascade Strategies,
D. Cheng, Y. Ishihara, B. Tan, C. F. Barbas III,
ACS Catalysis 2014, 4, 743–762.
DOI: 10.1021/cs401172r - Enhancing the specificity of recombinase-mediated genome engineering through dimer interface redesign,
T. Gaj, S. J. Sirk, R. Tingle, A. C. Mercer, M. Wallen, C. F. Barbas III,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136(13), 5047–5056.
DOI: 10.1021/ja4130059 - Core-Structure-Motivated Design of Iminium–Enolate Organocascade Reactions: Enantioselective Syntheses of 5,6-Dihydroindolizines,
X. Jiang, B. Tan, C. F. Barbas III,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52(35), 9261–9265.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201303300 - Engineering Polydactyl Zinc Finger Transcription Factors,
R. R. Beerli, C. F. Barbas III,
Nature Biotechnol. 2002, 20(2),135–141.
DOI: 10.1038/nbt0202-135
Also of interest:
- Autor Profile: Carlos F. Barbas III,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 2468.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201000716
