Douglas_Mitchell has been named as a recipient of one of this year's Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards. Criteria for selection include "an independent body of scholarship attained within the first five years of their appointment as independent researchers, and a demonstrated commitment to education, signaling the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching". Only about a dozen Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar awards are given in the U.S. annually in all areas of biochemistry, chemistry, and chemical engineering.
Doug's nomination was based on his discovery and structural elucidation of new pathogen-specific antibiotics, the biosynthesis of such molecules, and the mechanism of action of those compounds. His creativity in research has been previously recognized by a number of prestigious awards, including the 2011 NIH Director's New Innovator Award, a 2012 Packard Fellowship, and his selection as one of a small number of "Tomorrow's PIs" by Genome Technology magazine. Even more recently, he was awarded the 2015 Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.
Excerpted from an email sent by Gregory Girolami