Jonathan Sessler (born 20 May 1956 in Urbana, Illinois) is a professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at The University of Texas at Austin. He is notable for his pioneering work on expanded porphyrins and their applications to biology and medicine. He is a co-founder of Pharmacyclics, Inc., a company that works with expanded porphyrins, and Anionics, Inc., which develops anion recognition chemistry. Pharmacyclics was sold to AbbVie for $21 billion in 2015.

History and career

Sessler received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1977 from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1982 from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He continued as a post-doctoral fellow at L' Université Louis Pasteur, and worked in Kyoto, Japan before becoming an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin in 1984. He was treated for cancer at

Stanford University Medical Center Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the ...

during work on his Ph.D. Discussions with his colleagues regarding possible treatments eventually led to the discovery of so-called " texaphyrin" molecules, named as such due a semblance to the shape of the five-pointed star in the State flag of Texasbr>10-Gallon Molecule Stomps Tumors
In 1996, Sessler described possible uses of these compounds in medicine in the ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' journal. His company, Pharmacyclics, Inc., which went public in 1995, licensed the technology behind "texaphyrins" from the University to develop commercial and medical uses for the molecules. Texasflag texaphyrin Rahulsoman

Sessler has written extensively, authoring or co-authoring over 600 publications. In addition, he has co-authored two books and edited another two. He holds more than 70 U.S. patents. Dr. Sessler has received many awards and much recognition, as a Sloan Fellow (1999), Fellow of the

AAAS AAAS may refer to: * American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a learned society and center for policy research; the publisher of the journal ''Dædalus'' * American Association for the Advancement of Science, an organization that supports scientifi ...

(1999), Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (1999), ACS Cope Scholar (1999), recipient of the JSPS and Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellowships (1999), and winner of the Izatt-Christensen Award (1999). Sessler has participated in hosting chemistry circuses on the UT campu
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These circuses are held for different grade levels from elementary to college, and aim to expose students to "fun" aspects of chemistry. Sessler has also lectured on how the disease Porphyria, caused by a deficiency in porphyrins, may be related to the origin of myths about vampires and werewolves. In 2021, he was elected member of the U. S.

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

., entry in member directory:

References

External links

Jonathan L. Sessler
— Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin. Accessed 14 March 2006.
Company History & Overview
— Phaymacyclics.com. Accessed 14 March 2006.

— Stanford University. Accessed 14 March 2006.
"Interview: Discovering the Texas molecule"
- - Jonathan Sessler talks to The '' Royal Society of Chemistry'' about what motivated him to discover texaphyrin and about the aims of the companies he co-founded {{DEFAULTSORT:Sessler, Jonathan 1956 births Living people 21st-century American chemists University of Texas at Austin faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences