Bertozzi delivered a convocation lecture at The Rockefeller University celebrating her Nobel-winning bioorthogonal chemistry research.
On May 24, 2023, Carolyn Bertozzi delivered a convocation lecture at The Rockefeller University in New York City, celebrating her Nobel Prize-winning contributions to bioorthogonal chemistry and their broader impact on biology and medicine. Rockefeller University, renowned for its focus on biomedical research, regularly invites distinguished scientists to address its graduating scholars and faculty community as part of its convocation ceremonies.
During her lecture, Bertozzi discussed the development and evolution of bioorthogonal chemistry, tracing its origins from her early work coining the concept in the early 2000s through its maturation into a widely used toolkit for studying biomolecules within living systems. She highlighted applications in cancer diagnostics, immunology, and glycoscience, fields her research had significantly advanced over more than two decades.
The lecture provided an opportunity for Bertozzi to reflect on her scientific journey to an audience of emerging researchers, emphasizing themes of interdisciplinary collaboration, perseverance in scientific innovation, and the real-world translational impact of fundamental chemistry discoveries.
This event exemplified the type of public scientific engagement that increased substantially following her Nobel Prize win in October 2022, as Bertozzi became sought after by academic institutions worldwide seeking to have her share both her scientific insights and her personal story as a trailblazing scientist and openly gay woman in STEM.