During June 17th to 22th, 2017, the 25th American Peptide Symposium opened in Whistler, Canada, Dr. Robert Hodges, the technical consultant and shareholder of ProteLight Pharmaceuticals, received the most prestigious award in polypeptide research field, the Bruce Merrifield Award, for his outstanding lifetime achievement in peptide research, and his scientific creativity is the highest level in peptide field.

The Merrifield Award, the lifetime achievement award of peptide scientists, is the most prestigious award and the highest honor in polypeptide field. The award, presented once every two years, is the highest award in horror of polypeptide scientist lifetime achievement up to highest level.

Dr. Robert S. Hodges, a biochemistry doctor of University of Alberta, a biochemist, a fellow of Royal Society of Canada. He has been a chairman of the American Peptide Society, and now is the director of the Program in Biomolecular Structure, University of Colorado Denver, USA.

In 1971, he joined the laboratory of Dr. R.B. Merrifield (who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984) at Rockefeller University, where he worked as a post-doctorate fellow. From 1974, Dr. Hodges had been teaching at the University of Alberta for 25 years. From 2000, Dr. Hodges has been professor of University of Colorado Denver, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetic, a director of Research Center for Structural Biology and Biophysics, and holds the John Stewart Endowed chair in Peptide Chemistry.

Dr. Hodges has more than forty years of peptide research experience, has published over 560 academic papers and declared more than 70 patents. He has won many international prestigious academic awards, such as the MRC outstanding scientist award, the distinguished award in Canada, the Boehringer-Mannheim Award of Canadian Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Society (the outstanding achievement award in Canadian biochemistry and molecular biology field, and the Vincent Du Vigneaud (the outstanding achievement award in polypeptide research field) of the American Peptide Society, and Murray Goodman outstanding scientific and tutor award (the outstanding scientific research and instruction award of peptide research career), etc.

In 2011, Dr. Hodges invested in ProteLight Pharma, meanwhile he is the technical consultant of the corporation.

Apart from an outstanding scientist, Dr. Hodges is also an excellent athlete. As a representative of Canada, he has participated in World Speed Skating Championship for three times (in 1968, 1970 and 1971), Grenoble in 1968 and Sapporo,Japan Winter Olympic Games in 1972.

Dr. Robert Hodges (Left) and Dr. Yuxin Chen (Right) at 2017 APS conference hall