9:21 a.m., Jan. 8, 2010----Eleftherios Papoutsakis, Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the Elmer Gaden, Jr. Award from the journal Biotechnology and Biotechnology for his December 2008 paper “Genome-scale Model for Clostridium acetobutylicum.”

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This annual award recognizes “a high-impact paper reflecting exceptional innovation, creativity, and originality.” It was established in honor of Elmer Gaden, Jr., who founded the journal and served as its editor for 25 years. Now retired from the faculty of the University of Virginia, Gaden is widely known as the father of biochemical engineering. Papoutsakis himself served as editor-in-chief of the journal for six years in the 1990s.

Papoutsakis leads a research group at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute focused on genomic and metabolic engineering studies of microbial systems as well as stem-cell differentiation. The research contributes to the understanding of cellular processes of both fundamental and industrial interest -- for example, applications for production of biofuels and chemicals from renewable feedstocks, as well as applications of stem-cell biotechnology for the production of blood cells.

The paper was co-authored with Ryan S. Senger, formerly a postdoctoral fellow in Papoutsakis's group and now an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Papoutsakis will receive a plaque, $2,500 (which will be shared with Senger), and acknowledgement of the award on the journal web site and in an upcoming issue. In addition, an Elmer Gaden Award special session will be held in conjunction with the Biochemical Technology Division's program at the Spring 2010 National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, to be held in San Francisco from March 21-25.

Following the award ceremony, Papoutsakis will deliver the award lecture entitled “With Pathways and Without.”

Papoutsakis earned his doctorate at Purdue University. He was a faculty member at Rice University and then at Northwestern before joining UD in 2007.

Article by Diane Kukich