Chemistry professor David Vocadlo is one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” for 2010, according to the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

The Globe notes that Vocadlo, 37, didn't start out wanting to be a chemist—he was aiming to be an architect. An article in Scientific American changed his focus. The story was about proteins that regulate genes being turned on and off. He told the Globe: “Thinking of how these tiny proteins bind to DNA in a very specific way and play critical roles in biology was amazing to me.”

Vocadlo’s current research focuses on understanding processes that could lead to new treatments for serious diseases such as Alzheimer's and bacterial infections. Specifically, his lab is developing new chemical tools that researchers can use to study the role of specialized sugars in health and disease.

“My longer term expectation is that our research will contribute to improvements in human health. The major broad areas we are interested in now are antibiotic resistance and neurodegeneration,” says Vocadlo. “I hope to see the research lead to practical applications in the not-too-distant future.”

In February, Vocadlo was named one of six recipients of a prestigious E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The award recognizes outstanding contributions to science in Canada.

Vocadlo is also co-founder of Alectos Therapeutics Inc., a small-molecule drug development company that is a spinoff enterprise from his SFU research.