Professor Spencer Williams wins 2021 HG Smith Medal

Professor Spencer Williams has been awarded the annual 2021 HG Smith Memorial Award by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in recognition of his substantial contribution to chemical biology.

As a synthetic organic chemist, Professor Williams has established collaborations with leading biologists worldwide to put bioactive molecules into action to solve important problems in biology and medicine.

The award recognises his pioneering contributions to the development of the branch of chemical biology, with a focus on carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry, glycoimmunology, and medicinal chemistry.

He is co-author of a textbook, Carbohydrates: The essential molecules of life (RV Stick and SJ Williams, 2009, Elsevier), and was a co-founder of the company Fibrotech Therapeutics.

Professor Williams has been with the School of Chemistry and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute at the University of Melbourne since 2002.

The HG Smith Medal is the premier research award of the RACI, and the medal commemorates the research of Henry G. Smith, who was President of the Australian Chemical Institute from 1922 to 1923, himself a pioneering natural products chemist who focused extensively on eucalypts and Australian pines.