Satoshi Ömura, noted natural products chemist, shared the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the microbial production of the avermectin class of compounds; These compounds are important in the treatment of river blindness and other parasitic diseases. Ömura isolated avermectin from Streptomyces avermitilis isolated from Japanese soil. William Campbell followed up on this discovery for applications in livestock and other domestic animals. Youyou Tu also shared the prize for work with artemisinin, used in the treatment of malaria. Ömura and Williams shared one-half of the prize, while Tu received the other half, https://twitter.com/NobelPrize.
ASP member David Kroll wrote a piece about the announcement for Forbes magazine, http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2015/10/05/2015-nobel-prize-in-medicine-awarded-for-life-saving-malaria-and-roundworm-treatments/?utm_source=followingweekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20151005.
Ömura previously received the 2013 Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award from ASP, http:www.wp.pharmacognosy.us/grants-and-awards/grants-and-awards-archive/