The American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry has awarded James Paulson, PhD, the 2023 Claude S. Hudson Award. The award recognizes Paulson’s outstanding contributions to carbohydrate chemistry in education, research and applications. The award will be presented to Paulson by ACS at the Spring 2023 National Meeting.

The Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair of Chemistry and Chair of Scripps Research’s Department of Molecular Medicine, Paulson focuses on the chemical biology of chains of sugar molecules called glycans, and their role in immune cell signaling. Recent discoveries in his lab have led to a greater understanding of how glycan-binding receptor proteins regulate immune cell responses. These breakthroughs have given rise to strategies for more specific and effective methods for developing immune tolerance, treatment of autoimmune diseases, and targeting cancers, including lymphoma and leukemia. In addition to immunology, Paulson’s lab has investigated how influenza viruses adapt to glycan receptors in the airway for infection and transmission in humans, and how glycans on the HIV envelope glycoprotein help inform the design of vaccine candidates.

Paulson is the recipient of a distinguished list of awards and honors that speak to the international impact of his work. These include the President’s Innovator Award, the ACS Melville L. Wolfrom Award, the Karl Meyer Award, the Bijvoet Medal and the United States EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award. He is also an elected member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and served as the Chair of the ACS Carbohydrate Chemistry division in 2013-2014, and President for the Society for Glycobiology from 2002 to 2003.