Chemist Ben Shen, Ph.D. made “outstanding lifetime contributions to natural products chemistry,” and chemistry department Chair Matthew Disney, Ph.D., “significantly improved medicine and human health,” with his RNA-targeting innovations.
Wertheim UF Scripps Chemist Awarded Top Natural Products Chemistry Award
The American Society of Pharmacognosy announced that Chemist Ben Shen, Ph.D., is receiving its highest recognition, the Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to natural products chemistry research. Shen will receive his award and deliver a lecture during the 2027 ASP Annual Meeting in Orlando on June 27 – 30, 2027.
Shen is the founding director of The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute’s remarkable Natural Products Discovery Center, and an expert on a type of soil bacteria known for producing some of the world’s most important medicines.
The institute’s Natural Products Discovery Center holds the world’s largest collection of medically significant Actinobacteria, which have produced medicines including streptomycin and sirolimus.
Shen is sequencing the collection and creating a searchable database of new chemical entities that is available to research groups globally. There have been 1,150 users from 50 nations to date. Shen’s own research program has found possible chemical leads for potential new cancer drugs, antibiotics and agricultural threats such as Florida’s citrus greening problem.
RNA Expert Recognized with Streck Award Lectureship
For his work developing potential RNA-targeting medicines and enabling technologies, Wertheim UF Scripps chemist Matthew D. Disney, Ph.D., has been selected to deliver the 2026 Streck Award Lecture.
The Streck lectureship recognizes academic researchers whose work has significantly improved medicine and human health. It is awarded by a collaboration of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln and Streck, a Nebraska biotechnology company that develops laboratory products.
Previous winners have included Nobel Laureate Caarolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., of Stanford University, and Scripps Research chemist Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D., a member of the Wertheim UF Scripps External Advisory Board.
“They push boundaries in their fields, ask bold questions and develop technologies that have real impact on health care,” Steck said in its announcement. “What sets these scientists apart is their ability to translate fundamental discoveries into practical solutions that improve lives.”
Disney’s lecture, “Sequence-Based Design of Small Molecules Targeting RNA,” will be delivered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on April 30.
Streck noted that Disney’s work represented the award’s values in several ways:
- Scientific Innovation: Developing new strategies to target RNA, molecules once considered impossible to drug with small molecules.
- Translational Impact: Building platforms that connect laboratory discoveries with therapeutic applications.
- Research Leadership: Advancing the field of RNA-based medicine and training the next generation of scientists.
Disney serves as institute professor and chair in the chemistry department at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation and Technology. He is also the founding director of the UF Center for RNA Genomic Medicine, and the founder of several biotechnology companies, including Ribonaut Therapeutics and Expansion Therapeutics.