Dehua Pei receives 2025 Distinguished Scholar Award

Dehua Pei, PhD, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has earned The Ohio State University 2025 Distinguished Scholar Award. Senior leadership in the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge recently surprised Pei with the honor.     

Pei's work involves understanding the mechanisms by which biomolecules, such as peptides and proteins, cross cell membranes. This is crucial for drug discovery, as many potential therapeutic agents cannot naturally penetrate cells. 

Pei added, "The success here would not have happened without support from the university and leadership like Susan (Olesik) and Claudia (Turro, department chair). Susan has been very passionate about industrial connections and commercialization and we are now seeing the fruits of that."

“Your prolific discoveries alone set you apart,” said Cynthia Carnes, senior associate vice president for research operations. “What’s more is your ability to translate those innovations into real-world applications that improve lives. Your research has led to 27 patents and 11 provisional patent applications, which is remarkable.” 

"The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry produces more patents and invention disclosures than any other department in the college—and maybe in the university,” shared David Horn, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “You deserve congratulations for the culture of entrepreneurship you've helped built in the department and for leading with the example of your consequential research." 

“You combine several disciplines to discover not only how to make potential new pharmaceutical compounds, but also to understand how these compounds work and why. That science produces incredible commercialization opportunities that you have effectively moved forward to improve lives and we are proud of that whole stream of work that you're doing.,” Susan Olesik, divisional dean of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. 

Pei leads the world in understanding the membrane transport of biomolecules and developing intracellular drug delivery systems. His group discovered a fundamental membrane transport mechanism – the vesicle budding-and-collapse (VBC) mechanism – thereby solving a longstanding mystery in biology and overcoming a major bottleneck in drug discovery. By taking advantage of this novel mechanism, his group developed the most advanced intracellular drug delivery systems, including cyclic cell-penetrating peptides and membrane translocation domains. His discoveries are poised to revolutionize the drug discovery process and provide a new class of medicines. Pei was honored as Ohio State’s 2017 Innovator of the Year and named a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010. He received American Chemical Society Akron Section Award in 2009 and American Chemical Society Columbus Section Award in 2018. He co-founded Entrada Therapeutics in 2016 and served as its Chief Scientific Advisor in 2016-2021. Pei obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wuhan University (China) in 1986 and his doctorate in organic chemistry from University of California, Berkeley. Before joining Ohio State in 1995, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. 

The Distinguished Scholar Award is among the highest annual honors awarded at Ohio State. The university-level award annually honors six faculty members who demonstrate scholarly activity, conduct research or creative works that represent exceptional achievements in their fields and garner distinction for the university.  Award recipients are nominated by their departments and chosen by a committee of senior faculty, including past award recipients. Distinguished Scholars receive an honorarium and a research grant to be used over the next three years. 

Quotes from Pei’s nomination:   

“For years, Prof. Pei has been a stalwart in the peptide science community. He developed many clever approaches to using peptides as tools to understand post-translational modification mechanisms and selectivity. He has also made important contributions to the development of methods for the discovery of macrocyclic peptides that engage difficult protein targets. But what sets Prof. Pei apart from his peers in this area is his groundbreaking work in technologies that allow large, cell-impermeable molecules to access the interior of cells through endocytosis.” Thomas Kodadek, University of Florida.   

“Pei has developed a detailed mechanistic hypothesis that, surprisingly, brings new concepts to a heavily studied subject. His work is very careful, and his conclusions are convincing. In foundational Biochemistry papers from 2014 and 2016, Pei proposed that his cyclic peptides initially enter cells via one of two endocytotic paths. He defined conditions that allow energy-dependent entry and other conditions that allow energy-independent entry. This mechanistic dichotomy explained many previous sources of confusion. The most intriguing facet of his hypothesis explained how the peptides escape from endosomes to enter the cytoplasm, a long-standing problem in this field...This well-supported mechanism is very attractive and provides a framework for future design of improved strategies for intracellular delivery." Samuel H. Gellman, University of Wisconsin. 

“Dr. Pei has outstanding scientific credentials and worldwide reputation in the field of peptide drug discovery. I would place Dr. Pei in the top 1% of scientists contributing to basic science and translational medicine relative to his research to advance novel macrocyclic cell-penetrating peptides, bicyclic cell-penetrating metallopeptides, and membrane translocating domains as new peptide therapeutic modalities that will significantly impact future breakthrough medicines. Dr. Pei’s multidisciplinary rigor and entrepreneurship (as founder of Entrada Therapeutics, Syneron, and, most recently, Permeasis) in peptide drug discovery unquestionably merits this esteemed award.” Tomi Sawyer, Maestro Therapeutics.

“Being part of the body of his former students and postdoctoral fellows makes me proud, and the same applies to the work that was created together with him (4 joint publications). Indeed, our connection remained intact over the years, which was also made possible through cooperation, from which in particular the young scientists in our groups benefited. I still admire his extraordinary skills, open and courteous attitude, always available to help and advise any questions or difficulties with research tasks. Moreover, his approach as a mentor, the organization of his group, and the development of functional structures are key characteristics of his performance as an academic teacher, from which my own work and the development of my first young investigator group at the University of Jena and later the own department in Bonn benefited." Diana Imhof, University of Bonn.