ANTONÍN HOLÝ MEMORIAL AWARD

Zhengqiang Wang, PhD

Zhengqiang (ZQ) Wang is a trained synthetic medicinal chemist and a career antiviral researcher. He received his BSc in Chemistry from Nankai University in 1993, MSc in organic chemistry from Peking University in 1996 and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Wayne State University in 2003. Subsequently, he did postdoc with Professor Robert Vince at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Minesota, where he learned medicinal chemistry and developed strong interest in antiviral drug discovery. In 2008, he started his independent career at Center for Drug Design (CDD), University of Minnesota, where he is currently Professor and co-Director. Research in his lab focuses primarily on NIH-funded antiviral drug discovery projects targeting important human viral pathogens including HIV-1, hepatitis B virus (HBV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and monkeypox virus (MPXV), utilizing his lab’s core expertise in molecular design, organic synthesis, in vitro assays and chemo proteomics. He has also built and / or enhanced drug discovery research platforms at CDD, currently directing a Pharmacology Core consisting of in vitro ADMET, in vivo pharmacokinetics (PK) and in vivo Tox and a Chem Core comprising medicinal chemistry and computational chemistry. One area of Dr. Wang’s leading research has been to design metal-chelating pharmacophores for targeting viral metal-dependent nucleases, including HIV-1 RT-associated RNase H, HCMV pUL89 and orthopoxvirus resolvases. Dr. Wang is a long time ISAR member and has served on the editorial board of multiple journals and numerous NIH grant review panels, including the DMPA study section as a standing member.

About the Award

The Antonín Holý Memorial Award is presented annually by the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR) at the International Conference on Antiviral Research. The award is sponsored by Gilead, which provides annual funding of $7,500 to ISAR. This award honors a senior scientist of international stature who has made innovative

contributions with a major impact on antiviral drug discovery and/or development, particularly through outstanding work in medicinal chemistry. The award includes a $5,000 cash award and up to $2,500 for administrative fees and travel support (varies based on awardee location). The recipient will also deliver a presentation at the annual conference.

Award Criteria

The recipient should be a senior scientist of international stature who has demonstrated:

Nominations

Nominations must be submitted by a member in good standing of ISAR and should include:

Nominations are reviewed by the ISAR Awards Committee, which selects the recipient. The ISAR President will notify the recipient and nominator of the selection. The award is presented at the next International Conference on Antiviral Research, where the recipient will deliver a presentation as part of the award ceremony.

Previous Recipients