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KIST Meets the Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (May 9, 2022)
- Date : 2022-06-03
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KIST Meets the Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry
A special meeting with the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry took place at the headquarters of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST; President: Dr. Seok-Jin Yoon) in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. On May 9, Nobel Prize winner and Princeton University Professor Dr. David MacMillan visited KIST and gave a special lecture.
Prof. MacMillan received the 2021 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, together with Benjamin List, Director of the Max Planck Institute in
Germany, for his work on developing asymmetric organic catalyst reactions. Asymmetric
reactions enable the selective synthesis of mirror-like isomers, and the two
researchers independently succeeded in developing an asymmetric catalyst
consisting of only organic materials that made it possible to synthesize these mirror-like
isomers in an eco-friendly manner. Given the importance of mirror isomerism to
the development of drugs targeting biomaterials such as genes (DNA) and
proteins, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of the
great influence his work will have on drug development research.
During his visit to KIST, Prof. MacMillan gave a special
lecture on his experiences and growth as a researcher, titled “From Bellshill,
Scotland to the Nobel Prize.” Following his lecture, Prof. MacMillan attended a
seminar hosted by Jean Kim, Senior Vice President of new medicine development at
US company Kadmon. Researchers from KIST in related fields and employees from
nearby universities and government-funded research institutes were in
attendance for the special lecture, and approximately 20 KIST researchers
participated in the seminar.
At the special lecture, Dr. Yoon, the President of KIST,
mentioned, "I hope that this meeting with the Nobel Prize winner, who is
recognized as the best scholar in the field, will serve as inspiration for
researchers to boldly challenge their research goals without fear of
failure."
Prof. MacMillan was born in Bellshill, Scotland in 1968 and received his Ph.D. from the University of California Irvine in 1996. He later went to the California Institute of Technology, and has been working at Princeton University since 2006.