The Kitasato Microbial Chemistry Medal is an annual award presented by the Kitasato Institute and Kitasato University in Japan since 1973 in recognition of outstanding research in the field of microbial chemistry.
The 2025 award recognises the pioneering efforts of the Challis/Alkhalaf research group in the exploitation of microbial genomics for the discovery of novel bioactive metabolites - resulting in the discovery of numerous novel natural products and new biosynthetic enzymes.
Prof. Greg Challis, Monash Warwick Alliance Professor of Sustainable Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick says: "I was delighted and very surprised to receive this award recognising the achievements of the research groups I co-lead with Lona Alkhalaf at Warwick and Monash Universities. This is a wonderful endorsement of the groundbreaking work carried out by these groups over the past 25 years on antibiotics and other bioactive substances from microbes."
Prof. Challis was presented with the award unexpectedly in Japan while participating as an invited speaker in a symposium celebrating the 90th birthday of the Japanese Nobel Laureate Satoshi Ōmura (and the 10th anniversary of the award of his Nobel Prize).
The medal is highly regarded in the field and has been awarded to prominent international scientists for their significant contributions, including K. Barry Sharpless (twice a winner of the Chemistry Nobel Prize), Albert Eschenmoser (recipient of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry), and Max Tishler (former President of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories).
Prof. Nikola Chmel, Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick says: "I am delighted by this recognition of Professor Challis and Dr Alkhalaf's impressive achievements in discovery, biosynthesis and bioengineering of peptides and other bioactive natural products. Greg and Lona are fantastic colleagues, and their work is a shining example how science can be collaborative and truly global, with their research spanning two continents, several research groups, and disciplines."
Greg and Lona's team will continue to develop genome mining pipelines for the discovery of new natural products and biosynthetic enzymes, focusing on approaches suitable for implementation in industrial research and development programmes.
