Ernesto Scoffone Prize (2024)

The Ernesto Scoffone Prize is conferred during the Congress of the Italian Peptide Society in memory of Professor Ernesto Scoffone, whose pioneering contributions to peptide chemistry played a foundational role in the establishment and growth of the peptide research community in Italy. In addition to honoring Professor Scoffone’s legacy, the award also aims to recognize and promote the continued vitality and excellence of our scientific community.

The Prize is awarded to a senior researcher—without restrictions concerning age, profession, or nationality—who has made significant and lasting contributions to the field of peptide science throughout their career.

The Italian Peptide Society is deeply honored to unanimously confer the Fourth Edition of the Ernesto Scoffone Prize (2024) upon Professor Padmanabhan Balaram, in recognition of his remarkable and sustained impact on peptide science.

Professor Balaram’s early investigations into the membrane-active peptide alamethicin sparked a long-standing interest in the conformational constraints on peptide backbone folding induced by the non-standard amino acid α-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib). His research has also been instrumental in the design and synthesis of disulfide-containing model peptides, enabling the development of bioorganic models for redox-active proteins featuring disulfide loops.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Professor Balaram has made outstanding contributions to multiple areas, including: the elucidation of the structure, conformation, and biological activity of both natural and designed peptides; the application of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry to the study of peptides and proteins; investigations into triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) from Plasmodium falciparum; and computational analysis of protein structures.