Carolyn Bertozzi, recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will speak at the 27th annual Henry A. Lardy Distinguished Lecture Series in Chemistry at South Dakota State University on Feb. 6.
Her lectures will focus on developments in the areas of bioorthogonal chemistry and glycoscience and their relationship to cancer.
Bertozzi will first give a scientific lecture at 9 a.m. in Woster Celebration Hall, located in the SDSU Alumni Center. Later that day, she will give a public lecture, “Sweet Revenge on Cancer,” at 5:30 p.m. in the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.
Both lectures, organized by SDSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, are free and open to the public.
At Stanford University, Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and professor of chemical and systems biology. She also serves as the Baker Family Director of Stanford CHEM-H, an interdisciplinary research institute launched in 2013 to bridge chemistry, engineering and medicine to improve human health.
Bertozzi develops and uses chemical tools to study biological processes.
At Stanford since 2015, Bertozzi and her team’s research initially focused on glycobiology to the study of cell-surface sugars, including glycolipids and glycoproteins. To image these sugars with microscopes, the team developed a tool called bioorthogonal chemistry, which relies on pairs of chemical groups that want to react and form a bond with each other. Bioorthogonal refers to the fact that these partners do not interact or interfere with biology. Using the spotlight of bioorthogonal chemistry, the team revealed an as-yet-unknown cell-surface sugar—glycoRNA. This approach is now used to study molecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA in live cells and has potential as a drug delivery system for cancer therapeutics.
Bertozzi completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Harvard University and her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Lardy Distinguished Lecture Series in Chemistry was established through an endowment from Henry and Annrita Lardy. A native of Roslyn and a 1939 State graduate, Lardy earned a master’s and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. Lardy pioneered work in livestock artificial insemination and became a recognized authority in biochemistry.
The purpose of the series is to bring recognized leaders in chemistry research and education to SDSU.
Public Lecture:
- “Sweet Revenge on Cancer:”
- 5:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 6, at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center (1601 University Boulevard, Brookings)
- Zoom link: https://sdstate.zoom.us/j/95467082733
Scientific Lecture:
- “Therapeutic Opportunities in Glycoscience Enabled with Bioorthogonal Chemistry”
- 9:00 a.m., Monday, Feb. 6, at Wooster Celebration Hall, SDSU Alumni Center (815 Medary Ave., Brookings)
- Zoom link: https://sdstate.zoom.us/j/93613801495