Benjamin Cravatt, the Norton B. Gilula Chair in Biology and Chemistry at Scripps Research, will receive the 2025 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. Established in 1980 by Elsevier, the publisher of the Tetrahedron journal series, this annual award is presented to an organic, bioorganic or medicinal chemist who’s made significant and original contributions to their field.
“I’m deeply honored to receive this prize, which reflects the creativity and dedication of the many students, postdocs and collaborators I’ve had the privilege to work with over the years,” says Cravatt. “Our goal has always been to use chemistry as a lens to see biology differently and to find new paths to better medicines.”
Cravatt is being recognized for pioneering advances that have redefined how scientists study and target disease-relevant proteins. His lab developed activity-based protein profiling (ABPP): a method that captures the activity and drug interactions of proteins on a global scale, from cells to whole organisms. ABPP has enabled the discovery of inhibitors and drug candidates that have advanced to clinical trials for treating various conditions—ranging from neurodegeneration to different forms of cancer. Last year, his Molecular Cell study with Associate Professor Michael Erb of Scripps Research revealed how small molecules interact with a cancer transcript factor called FOXA1, helping identify a crucial binding site on its surface.
The Tetrahedron Prize is the latest honor in a growing list for Cravatt, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2014 and to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017. In 2024, he received both the Heinrich Wieland Prize and the Bristol Myers Squibb Award for Enzyme Chemistry. Cravatt’s other accolades include the AACR Award for Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, the ASBMB Merck Award, the Cope Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Prize in Biological Chemistry, the Jeremy Knowles Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, the Searle Scholar Award and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry.
The Tetrahedron Prize includes a certificate, medal and $15,000. Previous recipients from Scripps Research include President and CEO Pete Schultz, Nobel Laureate and W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry K. Barry Sharpless, Scripps Family Chair Professor Chi-Huey Wong, and the Richard and Alice Cramer Professor of Chemistry Dale Boger.
Cravatt will formally receive the award later this year during the annual Tetrahedron Symposium, where he will present a plenary lecture.