News & Events
Congratulations to Alvin Crumbliss for receiving the 2009 Distinguished Lecturer Award from the NC section of the American Chemical Society.
The Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Imaging, together with Coherent, Inc., is organizing a three-day meeting in French Family Science Center, December 14-16, 2009. The first half of the meeting (CMBI) is "New Directions in Microscopy: Sharper, Deeper, Smarter" with an international collection of speakers; the second half (Coherent) is the Southeast Regional Ultrafast laser conference. Preregistration for both meetings guarantees meals and the conference proceedings, and can be done at the CMBI website.
Professor Warren has assumed the chair position for the Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society. He is also a member of the Laserfest Technical Advisory Committee, which is coordinating the yearlong worldwide activities celebrating 2010 as the fiftieth anniversary of the invention of the laser.
Three Duke Chemistry alumni start their independent academic careers:
Dr. Alex Shestopolav, a postdoctoral fellow in the Toone lab, has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester.
Dr. Andres Cisneros, a former graduate student of Professor Yang, has started his Assistant Professorship of Chemistry at Wayne State University.
Dr. Mike Serpe, a postdoctoral fellow in the Craig lab, has started his Assistant Professorship of Chemistry at the University of Alberta.
Professor Michael Therien is one of only eight new faculty members (out of 275) featured in this year's new faculty profile at Duke.
The 5th Annual Evening of Chemistry Demonstration Program The Department of Chemistry, Duke University, cordially invites you, your students, and families to The 5th Annual Evening of Chemistry Demonstration Program, Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (Oct. 1 Rain Date), 7:15 – 8:30 PM, on the front lawn of the French Family Science Center, 124 Science Drive. Parking is available in the Chemistry Lot off of Circuit Drive. Contact Dr. Ken Lyle for more information (kenneth.lyle@duke.edu, 681-9952).
C.R. Hauser fellowship Maria M. Bednar is the recent recipient of the C.R. Hauser Fellowship for her research on the enzyme Chlamydial Protease/Proteosome-like Activity Factor (CPAF). CPAF has been identified has one of the main factors in Chlamydia infection and survival. CPAF is involved in both infection and immune evasion, making it an interesting subject for enzymology studies and a prime target for drug design.
Kathleen Zeilik and the CR Houser fellowships Mariam Lucila Sharaf is the recent recipient of the Kathleen Zeilik and the CR Houser Fellowships from the Duke Chemistry department at Duke University for her research in boranophosphate modified RNA as potential anticancer therapies. Borane (*--BH_3 *) chemistry offers unique chemical characteristics that make these compounds promising for enhancing the potential of anticancer strategies such as RNA interference (siRNA) and tumor specific aptamers.
Burroughs Wellcome fellowship Meghan Blackledge is the recent recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome fellowship for her research on the synthesis and mechanistic studies of WAP-8294A2. WAP-8294A2 is a novel cyclic depsipeptide antibiotic active against gram-positive pathogens such as S. aureus. We are interested in using synthetic and semisynthetic methods to elucidate its mechanism of action and relevant structural characteristics.
CR Hauser and J.T. Adams fellowships Alexander Shestopalov is the recent recipient of the CR Hauser and J.T. Adams fellowships for his research in Catalytic Microcontact Printing. With other members of Eric Toone's group, he has developed several inkless catalytic microcontact printing techniques that achieves accurate, fast, and complete pattern reproduction on SAMs of Fmoc-, Boc- and TBS-protected amines and alcohols immobilized on gold and Si-H using a polyurethane-acrylate stamps functionalized with covalently bound catalysts. Currently, he is working on an inkless µCP protocol that permits patterning and subsequent patter-specific functionalization of the passivated silicon substrates bearing SAMs that render complete Si-C-type termination of all surface-exposed Si atoms.
Burroughs Wellcome fellowship Leigh Allen is the recent recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome fellowship for her research on a novel enzyme involved in the peptidoglycan recycling pathway. This pathway shows promise as a potential target for new antibiotics. Recently, the de novo crystal structure of the enzyme was solved and kinetic activity was demonstrated. Future and ongoing efforts include the synthesis of the natural substrate in addition to potential enzyme inhibitors.
CR Hauser and Hobbs Endowment fellowships Marcus Cheek is the recent recent recipient of the CR Hauser and Hobbs Endowment fellowships for his research in antiviral alpha-P-borano modified triphosphates. Alpha-/P/-Boranotriphosphates, where the alpha-phosphoryl oxygen is substituted by a borane (BH3) group, have been shown to exhibit diverse and unique properties including being a good substrate for DNA and RNA polymerases. Marcus and others in the Shaw lab are currently testing the effects of this modification on the antiviral potency of chain terminating sugar and base modified purine nucleosides against Hepatitis C Viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase (HCV RdRp).
Burroughs Wellcome and Kathleen Zielik fellowships Timothy Brown is the recent recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome and Kathleen Zielik fellowships for his research in gold(I) pi-activation catalysis. His reseach is aimed at better understanding the mechanisms of gold(I)-catalyzed hydrofunctionalization reactions for the development of improved synthetic methods. Most recently, he has isolated and studied novel cationic gold(I) pi-alkene complexes which are proposed intermediates in a number of gold(I)-catalyzed reactions of alkenes.
C. R. Hauser and Kathleen Zielik fellowships Marina Dickens is the recent recipient of the C. R. Hauser and Kathleen Zielik fellowships for her research in developing prochelators to minimize oxidative stress. She recently developed a new boronic ester masked prochelator called QBP which is activated under conditions that mimic early Alzheimer's pathology where copper, amyloid beta, and reductants exacerbate reactive oxygen species formation. Once activated to its unmasked form, the released chelator diminishes copper's pro-oxidant reactivity and inhibits amyloid beta aggregation.
Jeremy Lenhardt Wins ACS Fellowship Congratulations to Jeremy Lenhardt, who has been awarded the 2009-2010 Schering Plough Fellowship from the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry. These national awards are highly competitive and fellowship winners are selected based on their academic record, research productivity, and career potential.
P.M. Gross fellowship Kai Zhang is the recent recipient of the P. M. Gross fellowship for his study of modulated phases. He uses Monte Carlo methods and thermodynamic integration to calculate the free energy and phase diagrams of modulated phases, which contain periodic patterns such as lamellae, cylinders or clusters.
P.M. Gross fellowship Emily Tarsis is the recent recipient of the PM Gross fellowship for her research on the development of methods for the asymmetric alkylation of ketones. In her current project, she is applying this methodology to the total synthesis of Apratoxin D, which has potent cytotoxicity against H-460 lung cancer cells (IC_50 = 2.6 nM).
Krigbaum Memorial fellowship Elizabeth Jenista is the recent recipient of the Krigbaum Memorial fellowship for her research in advanced applications in magnetic resonance imaging. Liz's research focuses on developing new methods for contrast enhancement by extracting endogenous contrast (generated by manipulating the inherent physics of the system) or through development of exogenous contrast agents using hyperpolarized carbon. Her recent work has developed methods for enhancing tissue contrast using unevenly spaced refocusing pulses resulting in an increase in signal in tissue by 70%, intermolecular multiple quantum temperature imaging for in vivo absolute temperature detection, and the development of long lived, hyperpolarized contrast agents for metabolic imaging.