Craig Lindsley, the William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine and director of Vanderbilt University’s Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, will be inducted as a member of the 2021 class of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. MEDI is a subunit of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society and the premier home of chemistry professionals.
Lindsley, the youngest inductee to the Hall of Fame, was selected because of his contributions to the field of medicinal chemistry.
“This is a huge, career-defining honor and an amazing group of medicinal chemists and drug discovery scientists amongst whom to be included. This is a tremendous acknowledgement of the WCNDD’s work and influence in the medicinal chemistry field,” said Lindsley, also University Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Chemistry. “In all honesty, this honor belongs to all of my former and current colleagues from Lilly, Merck and the WCNDD. Medicinal chemistry is just one arm of successful drug discovery, and no one person can do this alone or take credit–it is big team science.”
“Craig Lindsley is a great medicinal chemist whose impact has been recognized not only by his induction into the MEDI Hall of Fame but also by his recent appointment as editor in chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the premier journal in the field,” said Lawrence Marnett, dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. “He brings great credit to the Basic Sciences and to Vanderbilt, but his greatest legacy may be the contributions he is making to improving the lives of individuals suffering from neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.”
“Induction into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame is an acknowledgement by leaders in our field that an individual scientist has had a sustained and substantial impact on research, teaching or service to the division,” said Jacob Schwarz, chair of the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry executive committee. “Dr. Lindsley is a rare example of someone who embodies all three of these achievements: from his early career work in the pharmaceutical industry, to his current role as educator and research mentor and finally as an ad hoc member of the MEDI executive committee. Dr. Lindsley has become well-known in our scientific community thanks to his tireless efforts both as author and editor, advancing the field of neuroscience drug discovery through research and training and by being an active social media presence highlighting exciting new developments.”
Other 2021 MEDI Hall of Fame inductees are Edward Roberts, professor of molecular medicine and Scripps Research, and Anabella Villalobos, medicinal chemist and senior pharmaceutical executive at Biogen. Inductees are selected annually from nominations submitted by MEDI members and who have previously received the Edward E. Smissman Award, the Division of Medicinal Chemistry award, an ACS GlaxoSmithKline Alfred Burger Award or an E. B. Hershberg Award.
The 2021 Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized at the ACS National Meeting in Atlanta on Aug. 22, 2021.