Biography

Helma Wennemers was born in 1969 in Offenbach am Main. After studying chemistry at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt (diploma 1993) she moved to Columbia University, New York where she carried out her graduate studies with W. Clark Still (PhD, 1996). Following postdoctoral studies at Nagoya University with Hisashi Yamamoto (1997-1998), she joined the faculty of Basel University as the Bachem-endowed assistant professor in 1999. She was promoted to associate professor (2004) and full professor (2011) at the University of Basel before moving to ETH Zurich in the fall of 2011.

Her research focuses on the development of small molecules for functions that are fulfilled in nature by large macromolecules with small peptides as central building blocks in these endeavors. Tripeptides obtained by combinatorial screening and rational design have been devised in her group as effective catalysts in a range of aldol and related conjugate addition reactions to produce products with quaternary stereogenic centers in high yields and exquisite stereoselectivities. In addition, the use of azidoproline containing oligoprolines as functionalizable molecular scaffolds allowed her lab to combine agonists with antagonists in defined distances yielding hybrid ligands with extraordinary tumor uptake properties in different cancer models. Her group has also ventured in material science developing functionalizable collagen model peptides (CMPs) and collagen-based functional materials for medicinal applications such as wound healing or drug delivery. Small peptides have also been used as additives for the size-controlled generation of noble metal nanoparticles for subsequent applications in catalysis. 

Helma received several recognitions for her research, including the Pedler Award (2016), JSPS Distinguished Lectureship (2016), Leonidas Zervas Award (2010), David Ginsburg Lectureship (2010), and Holger Erdtman Lectureship (2010).