Carbohydrate chemistry, the final frontier. These ubiquitous building blocks of life are still the most challenging biomolecules to manipulate due to their structural diversity and complexity. A realm where only the bravest creative chemists can go, to deeply understand their biological importance, explore and embrace their therapeutic value. The use of carbohydrates as actives is an emerging field with a vast potential in several areas like cancer treatment, rare diseases or infections.
Our guest today is László Somsák, Professor of Organic Chemistry at University of Debrecen, Expert in the synthesis of glycomimetics and biologically active carbohydrates.
László has been working at Debrecen university for exactly 40 years now, with a main research interest for designing novel synthetic routes to create carbohydrates, discover glycomimetics, glycopeptidomimetics and lectin inhibitors. He is board member of nearly all local and international carbohydrate organizations and serves in the editorial board of the prestigious journal, CarboHydrate Research. He has almost 400 publications available on the topic.