About James (Jim) S. Huston, PhD
Jim Huston (1945-2020) was a pioneering and visionary antibody engineer; his invention of the single chain Fv (sFv or scFv) antibody was a seminal advance. These genetically encoded molecules could express the vast diversity of antibody repertoires, be used for specific target binding by themselves, incorporated into multifunctional molecules, attached to cell surfaces, or applied in any number of formats relevant to biomedicine. Over the years scFvs became a staple in the antibody field enabling many critical advances.
Jim was one of the first people to see the long-term potential of antibody engineering and recognise how broad the applications could be. Those who had the privilege of interacting with him, benefitted greatly not only from his generosity, enthusiasm, intellectual rigour and encouragement but also from his willingness to share his wisdom and experience. Jim was passionate about disseminating knowledge and education. He served as a scientific advisor to the Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics meetings for three decades and was editor of the annual Protein Engineering, Design and Structure (PEDS) special issue on antibodies. His insistence on scientific quality and education helped stimulate the culture of knowledge sharing between academia, industry and policy makers that is unique to our field. Building on this, he co-founded The Antibody Society in 2007 and was the Founding President and Chairman, remaining an active Board Member until his death. He shared the gratification of many that after a long gestation, antibody engineering and therapeutics are proving so beneficial to human health with the promise of much more to come.
About the James S. Huston Antibody Science Talent Award
The James S. Huston Antibody Science Talent Award is sponsored by The Antibody Society to recognize and encourage upcoming scientists in the field of Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics. Early career research scientists, i.e., those within 10 years of their most recent advanced degree (Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent), are eligible for the Award. The scientist is recognized for making important contributions to the antibody field and/or the dissemination of antibody knowledge. Eligibility of the nominee will be checked at time of nomination and before presentation of award.
The recipient will be invited to give a lecture on their work, which will be made available on-line on The Antibody Society’s website (https://www.antibodysociety.org), and to give a lecture at the Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics conference in December 2021. The award includes international recognition of the scientist’s accomplishments, a $1500 USD prize, and travel costs and registration fees to attend the annual Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics conference in San Diego, California.
2020 James S. Huston Antibody Science Talent Award Recipient
We are delighted to announce that the Board of Directors has selected Dr. Jonathan Sockolosky as the 2020 James S. Huston Antibody Science Talent Award recipient.
Jonathan Sockolosky received his BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan and his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from UCSF where he studied FcRn biology and engineered peptide mimetics of the Fc:FcRn interaction as surrogate Fc domains to impart proteins with FcRn-like properties. Jonathan completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University in the lab of Professor K. Christopher Garcia, where he invented orthogonal IL-2 cytokine-receptor pairs for cell therapy currently under development by Synthekine, as well as unraveled the mechanisms of antagonizing the CD47/SIRPa interaction in syngeneic tumor models in combination with antitumor antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors. After leaving Stanford, Jonathan was a Principal Scientist at ALX Oncology, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing CD47/SIRPa antagonists for cancer immunotherapy. Currently, he is a Scientist in the Department of Antibody Engineering at Genentech, where his research group focuses on the development of next-generation immune modulating therapeutics for oncology and cancer immunology.
For further information about the nomination process, please visit the award criteria page.
