John Groves, the Hugh Stott Taylor Chair in Chemistry, will receive the Frontiers in Biological Chemistry Award for 2009 from the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
The award was established by the institute in 1995 to honor an internationally renowned scientist in the field of either bioinorganic chemistry or biological photochemistry. Awardees are invited to give a series of lectures. That event is capped by a special award lecture in which the honoree addresses a general audience. Groves is expected to receive his award next winter.
Groves' work centers on understanding the molecular mechanisms of metalloproteins. He is known for his work with cytrochrome P450 enzymes, powerful proteins that detoxify materials in the bloodstream and play a key role in the body's ability to metabolize drugs.
Groves came to Princeton in 1985 after teaching at the University of Michigan for 16 years, where he was director of the Michigan Center for Catalysis and Surface Science. Among his many honors, he is a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
