Dr. Abraham Mendoza has been awarded two separates prizes as a young researcher, by the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), in the modality of Group Leader, and Lilly pharmaceutical, together with RSEQ itself, in its category of 'Young Researcher 2023', with which excellence in the career of young Spanish scientists under 40 years of age is distinguished. Mendoza leads the Sustainable Organic Chemistry Group at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) of the University of Valencia (Spain) focused on "developing simplified methods to access important and functional molecules in significant quantities and more efficiently".
The 2023 Lilly/RSEQ 'Young Investigator' Award recognizes the work of Abraham Mendoza aimed at improving the sustainability of organic synthesis and limiting the impact on the environment, by reducing the number of chemical reactions required to obtain complex molecules. One of his most notable successes has been the development of a new reagent, called NHPI-DA, which is a modular carbon source that allows significantly shorter synthetic sequences to be used. "With this new technology we not only use fewer natural resources and reduce the human teams involved, but we also speed up the process of developing new medical treatments, which have already been transferred to R&D in the private sector", explains the researcher at the ICMol.
The 'Group Leader' Award, within the framework of the RSEQ's 'young researchers' modality, has awarded Abraham Mendoza in recognition of his outstanding work as head of a research team.
Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Oviedo, Abraham Mendoza began his career at this institution. After graduating, he obtained a master's degree and a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the Enrique Moles University Institute of Organometallic Chemistry. Once this stage was completed, he moved to California (USA), where he researched the synthesis of antitumor products for two years at The Scripps Research Institute.
His passion for organic chemistry and catalysis prompted him to continue developing his career at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) and in 2013 he began to lead his own research team at Stockholm University (Sweden), where he received funding for his group from the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation -Sweden's largest philanthropic institution supporting science-, the Swedish Research Council and the European Research Council (ERC) through its Starting Grant programme.
In 2022 he returned to Spain and joined the Institute of Molecular Science of the University of Valencia, in the Science Park of the academic institution, with the support of the Generalitat Valenciana through its scientific program of excellence CIDEGENT for senior group leaders.
In the 22 previous editions of these awards, there are few precedents for the same scientist to be recognized as RSEQ group leader and Lilly young researcher in the same year.
The award ceremonies will take place during the Biennial Chemistry Meeting and the RSEQ Young Researchers Symposium in the months of June and November, respectively.
