Jacques U. Baenziger, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cell biology and physiology and of pathology and immunology, recently received the Karl Meyer Award for excellence in research in glycobiology.
The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Glycobiology in Boston. Glycobiology is the study of sugars and their role in human biology.
Baenziger is internationally recognized as a leader in glycobiology, and his work has greatly enhanced the understanding of how carbohydrates encode information by interacting with binding proteins located on the surface of cells.
His team has identified and characterized several unique sugar complexes, called oligosaccharides, and how cells recognize these sugars. The researchers are investigating the synthesis of these oligosaccharides and the role they play in hormonal regulation of reproduction and cellular recognition during development.
Baenziger is an alumnus of the School of Medicine, where he earned doctoral degrees in 1975. He remained at the medical school for his postgraduate training and joined the faculty in 1977.