Samuel J. Danishefsky is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Columbia University and Emeritus Member of the Chemical Biology Program in the Sloan Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he held the Eugene W. Kettering Chair. He earned a B.S. from Yeshiva University in 1956 and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1962 under Peter Yates. Danishefsky's distinguished academic career spans several leading institutions. He served on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh from 1963 to 1980, rising to the rank of University Professor. From 1980 to 1993, he was at Yale University, attaining the position of Sterling Professor of Chemistry. In 1991, he joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as Director of the Laboratory for Bioorganic Chemistry. Since 1993, he has been Centennial Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University, splitting time between the two institutions.

In Chemistry, Danishefsky's research laboratory at Columbia University has been dedicated to the discovery and development of new agents of medicinal value through advances in chemical synthesis. His work encompasses the synthesis of structurally and biologically compelling small molecule natural products and their analogues for treating cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s diseases, employing Diverted Total Synthesis. He has pioneered medicinally relevant carbohydrate-based constructs, including glycopeptides, glycoproteins, and carbohydrate vaccines, advancing glycopeptide vaccines to clinical trials in collaboration with clinicians. Key innovations include the Danishefsky–Kitahara diene. Notable total syntheses include epothilones, calicheamicin, taxol, paecilomycine A (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007), spirotenuipesines A and B (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007), and multiply glycosylated erythropoietin (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004). His contributions are documented in publications such as “Pattern Recognition in Retrosynthetic Analysis: Snapshots in Total Synthesis” (J. Org. Chem. 2007) and “Toward Fully Synthetic Glycoproteins by Ultimately Convergent Routes” (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004). Danishefsky has received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1995/96), Arthur C. Cope Award (1998), William H. Nichols Medal (1999), Nagoya Gold Medal, Benjamin Franklin Medal (2006), Bristol-Myers Squibb Lifetime Achievement Award, ACS Roger Adams Award, and RSC Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal (2018). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His pioneering techniques have profoundly influenced organic synthesis and cancer therapeutics development.

Professional Email: danishes@mskcc.org