American Peptide Society

History

The American Peptide Society was founded in 1990 as a nonprofit scientific and educational organization supporting research in peptide science. The Society grew out of the longstanding American Peptide Symposium series, which began in 1968 as a national forum for peptide chemistry and biology.

Following the founding of APS in 1990, the Twelfth American Peptide Symposium in 1991 became the first meeting held under the Society's auspices. Over the following decades, advances in synthesis, structural analysis, and biological applications were reflected in the evolving scientific themes of the Symposium series.

Founders and Pioneers

The development of peptide science in the United States, and the creation of the American Peptide Symposium, were shaped by a group of researchers whose work defined the early growth of the field and later informed the activities of the American Peptide Society.

Symposium Organizers

Early leaders included Saul W. Lande and Boris Weinstein, who organized the first American Peptide Symposium at Yale University in August 1968 and edited the inaugural proceedings volume on peptide chemistry and biochemistry. Johannes Meienhofer helped set the scientific tone of early Symposia through his work on peptide synthesis at the Children's Cancer Research Foundation and Harvard Medical School.

Additional contributors to the early era of peptide research included Murray Goodman (UC San Diego), Victor J. Hruby (University of Arizona), Daniel H. Rich (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Kenneth D. Kopple (University of Toronto / Illinois Institute of Technology), and Garland R. Marshall (Washington University in St. Louis), all of whom served as chairs or editors of American Peptide Symposia and their proceedings.

Pioneering Figures

Robert Bruce Merrifield developed solid-phase peptide synthesis and received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on peptide synthesis on a solid matrix. Vincent du Vigneaud was awarded the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the synthesis and characterization of peptide hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin.

Ralph F. Hirschmann led influential work in peptide and medicinal chemistry, including the first organic synthesis of an enzyme (ribonuclease). Miklos Bodanszky advanced widely used synthetic methodologies and authored textbooks that helped standardize peptide synthesis techniques.

Emil Thomas Kaiser contributed to the development of peptide and protein semisynthesis and segment-based strategies linking synthetic chemistry to protein engineering. Isabella Karle established X-ray crystallographic methods for high-resolution structure determination of peptides and other small molecules. Elkan R. Blout conducted early biophysical and conformational studies on peptides and proteins and later received the U.S. National Medal of Science for his work at the interface of chemistry and biology.

Organization and Governance

The American Peptide Society is governed by elected officers who oversee its scientific and administrative activities. Its leadership typically includes a President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and a Council composed of members from academic, industrial, and government research settings.

Council members serve fixed, rotating terms and contribute to long-term planning, scientific programming, membership activities, and the administration of Society awards. Officers are drawn from the community of researchers working in peptide chemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, and related disciplines.

The Society is a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), a coalition of scientific societies representing over 130,000 researchers in the biomedical and life sciences.

American Peptide Symposium

The American Peptide Symposium is a biennial scientific meeting coordinated by the American Peptide Society. The first Symposium took place in 1968 at Yale University and was organized by peptide chemists who recognized the need for a dedicated forum focused on peptide synthesis, structure, and biological activity.

Each Symposium brings together scientists from academic laboratories, pharmaceutical research groups, biotechnology companies, and government institutions. The program typically includes plenary lectures, invited presentations, selected oral contributions, poster sessions, workshops, and industrial exhibitions.

Complete Symposium History

Recent Symposia (2017–2025)

The 25th Symposium (2017), held at Whistler, BC, featured keynotes by David Baker (University of Washington) on de novo peptide design and Samuel Gellman (University of Wisconsin) on foldamer chemistry. Sessions addressed peptides and enzymes, membrane active peptides, post-translational modifications, computational design, peptidomimetics, glycopeptides, peptide therapeutics, constrained peptides and macrocycles, natural product biosynthesis, and peptide materials.

The 26th Symposium (2019) in Monterey opened with a keynote by Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold (Caltech) on directed evolution. The meeting introduced the inaugural Early Career Award Lectureships.

The 27th Symposium (2022) returned to Whistler following a one-year COVID-19 postponement, opening with a keynote on mRNA therapeutics by Melissa Moore (Moderna). The program emphasized genetically encoded libraries, machine learning, green synthesis, and peptide-based tools for cell signaling.

The 28th Symposium (2023) in Scottsdale featured keynotes by Laura Kiessling (MIT) on peptide-glycan interactions and James Wells (UCSF) on protein engineering.

The 29th Symposium (2025) in San Diego highlighted the resurgence of peptides as therapeutics and materials, with keynotes by Margaret Brimble (University of Auckland) and Scott Miller (Yale). The program introduced an inaugural Young Investigator Symposium.

Scientific Themes Across APS Symposia

The American Peptide Symposium reflects the broad range of scientific topics that define modern peptide research. The scientific scope of the meeting has evolved over time, and the proceedings volumes provide a detailed record of how the field has expanded across nearly six decades.

Advances in Peptide Synthesis

Early Symposia emphasized methods for assembling peptides and small proteins, including refinements of solid-phase peptide synthesis, improvements in coupling strategies, and approaches for synthesizing increasingly complex sequences. Later meetings highlighted chemoselective ligation techniques such as native chemical ligation, as well as methods for preparing cyclic peptides, constrained scaffolds, and non-canonical residues.

Structure and Conformational Analysis

Structural studies have remained central to Symposium programs. Research includes NMR spectroscopy in solution, X-ray crystallography of constrained sequences, biophysical characterization of folding motifs, and computational evaluations of conformational landscapes. Investigators have addressed helical bundles, β-hairpins, turns, macrocycles, and coiled-coil assemblies.

Therapeutic and Biological Peptides

Work at the interface of chemistry and biology includes peptide hormones, neurotransmitters, receptor ligands, and enzyme substrates. Topics include peptide modulators of GPCRs, cell-penetrating sequences, antimicrobial peptides, stapled and constrained peptides, and applications in oncology, infectious disease, and metabolic disorders.

Materials and Biomolecular Engineering

Self-assembling peptides, β-sheet and fibrillar architectures, peptide hydrogels, and biomolecular assemblies engineered for drug delivery, imaging, catalysis, and tissue interfacing have become increasingly prominent.

Computational and Designed Peptides

Recent programs incorporate molecular modeling, energy minimization, de novo design, and machine-learning approaches to predict structure and function. Algorithm-guided peptide discovery, computational design of macrocycles and foldamers, and simulations supporting experimental studies represent a rapidly expanding area.

Emerging Themes

Programs from the most recent Symposia include chemical probes for biological interrogation, peptide-based inhibitors of protein–protein interactions, methods for studying post-translational modifications, and approaches combining chemical synthesis with cellular or genetic systems.

Awards

The American Peptide Society administers several awards recognizing research achievements in peptide chemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, and related areas. Award lectures are presented at the American Peptide Symposium.

R. Bruce Merrifield Award

Honors lifetime achievements in peptide science. Recipients are selected for influential work in peptide chemistry, synthesis, structure, and biological function. The award commemorates Bruce Merrifield's development of solid-phase peptide synthesis, which transformed modern peptide research.

Vincent du Vigneaud Award

Recognizes mid-career researchers whose work has advanced the understanding of peptide chemistry and biology. Two du Vigneaud lectures are typically featured at each Symposium. Recent recipients include Marcey Waters (UNC) and Helma Wennemers (ETH Zürich) in 2023, and Dek Woolfson (University of Bristol) and Ashraf Brik (Technion) in 2025.

Murray Goodman Scientific Excellence and Mentorship Award

Recognizes scientific accomplishments together with a sustained record of mentorship and service to the peptide research community.

Rao Makineni Lectureship Award

Highlights innovative contributions to peptide science with clear scientific impact.

Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry

Honors significant contributions to the understanding of peptide synthesis, structure, and function. Past recipients include Jeffery W. Kelly (Scripps Research Institute).

Early Career Lectureship

Recognizes promising investigators in the early stages of their careers, highlighting emerging work in synthetic methods, structural studies, computational design, and biomedical applications.

Young Investigator Activities and Travel Awards

The Society supports participation by students and postdoctoral researchers through poster competitions, oral presentations, and travel awards.

Notable Members

The American Peptide Society has included researchers whose work has significantly influenced peptide chemistry, structural biology, chemical biology, and the development of peptide-based materials and therapeutics. Many have contributed to APS activities as Symposium chairs, plenary or invited lecturers, award recipients, or editors of proceedings volumes.

Award Recipients

Lila Gierasch — Vincent du Vigneaud Award (1984) and Merrifield Award, for work on protein folding and peptide conformation.

Horst Kessler — Vincent du Vigneaud Award (2002) and Merrifield Award, for cyclic peptide design and NMR methodology.

Wilfred van der Donk — Vincent du Vigneaud Award (2017), for research on lanthipeptide biosynthesis.

Alanna Schepartz — Ralph F. Hirschmann Award (2020), for contributions to β-peptide chemistry and cell-permeable miniature proteins.

Helma Wennemers and Marcey Waters — joint Vincent du Vigneaud Award (2023), for peptide catalysis, collagen model peptides, and non-covalent interactions in peptide molecular recognition. Waters also served as APS President (2017–2019).

Dek Woolfson — Vincent du Vigneaud Award (2025), for de novo protein and peptide design.

Jean Chmielewski — Makineni Lectureship recipient, for research spanning protein assembly and cellular delivery of therapeutics.

Symposium Leaders and Contributors

Researchers with notable involvement in APS activities include David J. Craik (cyclic peptides and drug discovery), Ronald T. Raines (protein and peptide chemistry), Philip E. Dawson (native chemical ligation), David Lawrence, Andrei Yudin (peptide macrocyclization), Paramjit Arora (α-helical stabilization), Anna Mapp (chemical genetic approaches), Mark D. Distefano (protein prenylation), and Les Miranda.

Collaborations and International Engagement

The American Peptide Society participates in international activities reflecting the global nature of peptide research. APS has longstanding relationships with peptide organizations in Europe, Asia, and Australia, and these partnerships appear throughout the proceedings of the American Peptide Symposium in the form of joint lectureships, invited speakers, and coordinated scientific sessions.

APS has periodically hosted joint meetings with the International Peptide Symposium, reflecting coordination among regional and national peptide societies through the International Peptide Liaison, a consortium referred to in earlier proceedings as the International Peptide Society.

APS members take part in international peptide conferences as plenary speakers, invited lecturers, session organizers, and collaborators, contributing to research networks spanning universities, research institutes, and scientific societies worldwide.

Through the International Peptide Liaison, APS participates in the planning of the International Peptide Symposium and engages in cooperative activities with partner organizations in other regions.

Publications

The American Peptide Society supports the dissemination of research in peptide science through its official journal, Peptide Science, published by Wiley. The journal publishes original research articles and reviews on peptide chemistry, synthesis, structure, and biological function, and serves as a forum connecting chemical, biological, and computational approaches to peptide and protein research.

Proceedings Volumes

A complete proceedings volume has been produced for every American Peptide Symposium since 1968. Each volume reflects the scientific scope of its meeting and includes plenary lectures, invited presentations, contributed papers, abstracts, and poster sessions.

Early volumes were published by academic and technical presses, while later volumes incorporated electronic production and distribution. Despite changes in format and publisher, the proceedings series provides a continuous record of developments in peptide chemistry, chemical biology, materials science, structural studies, and therapeutic discovery across nearly six decades.