Distinguished Professor Michael E. Jung, the Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in Medicinal Drug Discovery, has been named the recipient of the prestigious 2025 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award for Chemistry in Service to Society.
According to the NAS press release, Jung is being recognized for his groundbreaking work, which has advanced synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry and been instrumental to the treatment of prostate cancer. Jung has made seminal contributions to drug development, particularly in modulating transcription factors. His work includes the design, synthesis, and development of two revolutionary new drugs, Enzalutamide (Xtandi) and Apalutamide (Erleada), for the treatment of castration-resistant and castratesensitive prostate cancer, which have extended the lives of hundreds of thousands of men worldwide. Jung continues to examine ways to treat cancer at various stages of development. Other medicinal chemistry projects include the studies of an androgen receptor degrader that halts the growth of both normal prostate cancer and the androgen receptor splice variants as well as a novel brain-penetrant epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor for the treatment of glioblastoma.
Jung will be presented with the award at the Awards Ceremony on April 27, 2025, at 2:30 pm Eastern during the NAS 162nd Annual Meeting and will be webcast live.
Known for his work in organic and medicinal chemistry, Jung collaborated with Dr. Charles Sawyers to design and synthesize enzalutamide, approved by the FDA in 2012, and apalutamide, approved by the FDA in 2018, for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer and more recently castration-sensitive prostate cancer. He has co-founded 14 biotech companies and serves as a consultant or scientific advisory board member for several pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Currently four drugs from his lab are in phase 1 or phase 2 clinical trials. Most recently he was announced as the recipient of the 2025 Edward E. Smissman Award from the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry for his seminal work in synthetic medicinal chemistry. In August 2024, Jung was inducted into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. His other awards and honors include the IUPAC-Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry in 2022 and the AACR Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research Award in 2019.
Established by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society is awarded biennially for contributions to chemistry, either in fundamental science or its application, that clearly satisfy a societal need. The award is given in alternate years to chemists working in industry and to those in academia, government, and nonprofit organizations. The award is presented with a $20,000 prize.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
