Professor Christina Smolke, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of DTU Biosustain, has been awarded the Novozymes Award for Excellence in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering. The award ceremony took place Friday in Glassalen at DTU in Lyngby.
This Friday DTU had the privilege of hosting the ceremony for The Novozymes Award for Excellence in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering. The event was held in Glassalen and this year’s proud recipient is Professor Christina Smolke, from Stanford University in USA. Professor Smolke is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of DTU Biosustain/Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustanability.
"I am incredibly honored to be recognized in this way. The prior recipients are visionaries in this field, and for me it is an honor to be included among them."
Professor Christina Smolke
The Novozymes Award for Excellence in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering was established in honor of the DTU Professor John Villadsen, the founding father of modern bioengineering at DTU and its first recipient in 2015.
Having just received the award this year’s winner was of course delighted:
“I am incredibly honored to be recognized in this way. The prior recipients are visionaries in this field, and for me it is an honor to be included among them,” says Professor Christina Smolke.
Not only are the previous recipients renowned scientist with proven records of excellence but as the title implies the award is handed out by Novozymes. That too is an important factor for Christina Smolke who aside from being a professor at Stanford is also the founder and CEO of Antheia, a startup biotech company:
“Novozymes has long been a leader in leveraging biotechnology to address global challenges in health and sustainability. Given the impact and meaning we have been working to build at Antheia, it is incredibly meaningful to have this technology recognized by this inspiring, world-leading company,” says Christina Smolke.
A “Herculean effort to say the least”
Before the award ceremony Christina Smolke visited DTU Biosustain where she plays a significant role as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board. At the center she was greeted by its Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Partnership Officer, Dina Petranovic, who wholeheartedly agrees with the Novozymes choice of honoring the work of Christina Smolke:
“I am so thrilled for her! The idea of using microbes to produce something valuable is not new in the field of metabolic engineering, but this particular effort was Herculean to say the least: so many steps and complicated enzymes that need to be identified, cloned and optimized… but they did it!” says Dina Petranovic.
According to Novozymes they honor this year’s recipient for pioneering the production of complex plant products using yeast-based fermentation:
“Professor Smolke was the first to demonstrate the assembly of long and complex biosynthetic pathways in microorganisms that are functional and produce the desired natural product. She achieved remarkable breakthroughs in reconstructing the complete biosynthetic route for medicinal opioids, an achievement that required the integration of multiple enzymes from various organisms. Professor Smolke used enzymes from mammals, plants, and fungi, and identified novel enzyme functions to build a functional pathway of more than 20 enzymes,” states the press release from Novozymes.
The Award includes a public lecture, a Diploma and 100,000 DKK from Novozymes.