It is with great pleasure that we announce Dr Akimitsu Okamoto, from RIKEN, Japan, as the winner of the OBC Lecture Award 2008.

Dr Okamoto was selected by the judges in recognition of his contribution to the field of bioorganic chemistry. His research focuses on the design, synthesis and physical properties of new, man-made biopolymers. 

Dr Okamoto's award lecture will be given at the 31st National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium at the University of Pittsburgh, 15th-19th June 2008, where he will talk about the development of highly functional nucleic acids and their application to gene analysis. 

'It is a great pleasure to accept the 2008 OBC lecture award,' said Okamoto. 'I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all collaborators for their efforts in contributing to these studies.' 

The award is given to chemists who have made a significant research contribution to organic or bioorganic chemistry, and ideally who have had an independent research career of between 8 and 15 years. The call for nominations triggered a great response from the organic and bioorganic community, with the winner being selected from all the nominees by a panel of judges.