Professor Ben Davis awarded 2025 Claude S Hudson Award

Congratulations to Professor Ben Davis who has received the 2025 Claude S Hudson Award, presented by the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The Hudson Award is presented biennially by the ACS Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry & Chemical Glycobiology (CARB), committed to advancing the field of carbohydrate chemistry and chemical glycobiology through support and collaboration. The Award recognises outstanding contributions to carbohydrate chemistry in education, research, or applications and is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to carbohydrate chemistry. 

Ben holds a joint appointment between the Rosalind Franklin Institute as Science Director and Challenge lead for Molecular Perturbations: Chemistry Engineering Biology, and the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford.

The aim of the Molecular Perturbations Challenge is to use innovative chemistries to better understand and modulate the molecules of life. We are developing techniques to selectively manipulate the structure of molecules that ‘do the work’ in living systems, such as proteins, sugars and lipids in vitro and in vivo. This level of molecular manipulation in context in vivo is in its infancy and, so far, has mainly been attempted in vitro. If these techniques could be adapted to work in living systems, they could be a game changer to understand biology and create new diagnostics and therapeutics.

At the announcement of the award, Ben said, “I am delighted and honoured to receive this award from the ACS. This reflects the support of both the Franklin and University of Oxford, enabling me and my group to continue to break boundaries in the area of carbohydrate chemistry and explore new and innovative research areas.”