Hyejin Lee and others in the Hong lab have successfully achieved an asymmetric total synthesis of 4,9,10-trihydroxyguaia-11(13)en-12,6-olide (1), a naturally occurring guaianolide with intriguing biological potential. This 20-step synthetic route has uncovered exciting new anticancer activity of the natural product against aggressive childhood tumors, opening new avenues for drug discovery and mechanistic studies. Learn more about their recent discoveries in an ACS Central Science article here.… read more about Hong Lab Opens New Avenues for Drug Discovery and Mechanistic Studies »
Trinity College of Arts and Sciences recently celebrated the achievements of three 2025 Ph.D. graduates selected as the first recipients of the Trinity Distinguished Dissertation Award. Nominated by their programs and representing each of Trinity’s three divisions — Natural Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences — the recipients demonstrated remarkable academic excellence in their fields. This award honors not only their dissertation work but also their contributions to fostering a positive and enriching graduate… read more about Trinity Recognizes Excellence in Ph.D. Research »
Noble metal oxides are materials that are incredibly rare on earth but also have incredible properties that make them useful for chemical transformations and renewable energy. In this work, the Moreno-Hernandez Lab discovered a way to grow these expensive materials on inexpensive supports that not only made better use of the material but also had synergistic effects that improved their properties. A key finding was that ruthenium oxide grown on titanium oxide, the same material that sunscreen is composed of, resulted in a… read more about Moreno-Hernandez Lab Preserving Rare Elements Through Nanoscience »
North Carolina native Sidney Jordan has known about Duke for most of her life.“I started coming here for soccer camps when I was six or seven years old and remember thinking the campus was such an amazing place that I just wanted to be here. But at that age, how much does a kid really understand about college?”Years later, while tagging along on her older sister’s campus tour, Jordan’s perspective deepened. "Everything I saw, I liked. The academics are obviously challenging, and I wanted that, but I also loved the… read more about From Soccer Camp to the Hippocratic Oath »
Duke University awarded its inaugural Judith Decker Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching this year to three faculty members—Catherine Admay, Dorian Canelas and Karin Shapiro. The prize winners were chosen from 120 faculty candidates identified last spring during an open nomination period where Duke faculty, staff, alums, and current students submitted over 500 nominations.Duke’s Office of Undergraduate Education had student writers interview professors Admay, Canelas and Shapiro and get a take on their teaching… read more about Three Decker Award Winners on Engaging Students in Lifelong Learning »
Professor Emily Derbyshire has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science! Emily, the Eads Family Professor of Chemistry, studies the chemical biology of the liver stage of malaria infection. She has been recognized for the development of new therapeutics to address a major global health challenge. Fellowship in AAAS is considered one of the most distinct honors in the scientific community. The 2024 fellows class consists of 471 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24… read more about Derbyshire Elected as AAAS Fellow! »
Six Duke faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).Fellowship in AAAS is considered one of the most distinct honors in the scientific community.The 2024 fellows class consists of 471 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 AAAS disciplinary sections who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. “This year’s class of fellows are the embodiment of scientific excellence and service to our communities,” said Sudip… read more about Five Trinity Faculty Named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science »
Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 31 faculty members and will recognize them in a ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn on May 14.“I am very proud to recognize these outstanding faculty colleagues with distinguished professorships,” said President Vincent E. Price. “Through their extraordinary scholarship and teaching, they are advancing solutions, inventions and cures that will uplift humankind and make a lasting difference in the world.”Distinguished professorships honor faculty who are well-… read more about Six Trinity Faculty Members Among Duke's New Distinguished Professors »
Established when Germany was still divided by a wall, Duke in Berlin has provided students with a truly immersive study abroad experience for nearly 40 years. Administered by the Global Education Office (GEO) and sponsored by German Studies, the program is available during both fall and spring semesters as well as the summer — with options to stay in the city anywhere from one semester to a year. Together with the team at GEO, Andrea Larson, Duke in Berlin’s academic director, ensures students are well-prepared… read more about When Berlin Is Your Classroom »
Three undergraduate faculty members received the inaugural Judith Deckers Prize for excellence in undergraduate education. This honor recognizes leaders in their fields who have substantial track records of positively affecting student learning and lives. The honorees were celebrated Thursday evening during a reception on Duke’s campus. Provost Alec Gallimore, and Interim Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Candis Watts Smith each gave remarks, congratulating the prize winners and reflecting on their… read more about Three Undergraduate Faculty Win Inaugural Judith Deckers Teaching Award »
Heidi Kastenholz has a passion for lasers and for art, a combo that made for the perfect candidacy for a Bonk Fellowship! The Bonk Graduate Fellowship, named in honor of beloved former Chemical Education Professor Jim Bonk, awards funding to PhD candidates with pedagogically related projects that supplement their ongoing research projects. The Bonk Fellowship allows for the enrichment of the intense research experience obtained in their Ph.D. program while exploring opportunities of interest outside of the lab.… read more about Bonk Fellowship Leads to Co-Curated Nasher Exhibit for Heidi Kastenholz »
The Hong Lab has teamed up with more than seven different collaborators across multiple institutions in the fight against drug resistant bacteria, taking on the tough target of fungal infections through modified natural products, and to develop novel non-opioid pain medications. Their recent work has been featured in Nature Communications, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and JACS Au. To learn more about how the Hong Lab is combatting drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria… read more about Hong Lab Puts Up a Fight Against Drug Resistant Bacteria, Fungal Infections, and Pain »
Researchers in the Hong Lab, in collaboration with the Lee Lab (Department of Biochemistry) and the Ji Lab (Department of Anesthesiology), have recently published exciting new findings in Nature Communications on the development of a novel non-opioid pain medication. This research addresses the critical need for safer and more effective pain management strategies in the face of the ongoing opioid crisis. The team focused on the equilibrative nucleoside transporter subtype 1 (ENT1), a protein that regulates levels… read more about Promising Therapeutic Target for Pain Relief and Developing Non-addictive Pain Medications »
Researchers in the Hong Lab, in collaboration with the Heitman Lab (Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology) and the Steinbach and Juvvadi Labs (University of Arkansas), have announced a significant advancement in the fight against fungal infections. They have developed a series of new antifungal drugs that show potent activity against harmful fungi while minimizing effects on the human immune system. Fungal infections pose a significant global health threat, but there are limited treatment options available.… read more about Revolutionizing the Treatment of Fungal Infections Through Modified Natural Products »
The rise of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is a serious threat to public health. To combat these dangerous pathogens, we urgently need new antibiotics that work differently than existing ones. One promising approach is to target lipid A biosynthesis, a critical process for maintaining the integrity of the bacterial cell wall and bacterial survival. Researchers in the Hong Lab, in collaboration with the Zhou (Department of Biochemistry) and Yang (Department of Chemistry) Labs, have developed promising… read more about Combatting Drug-resistant Gram-negative Bacteria »
Congratulations to Aaron Franklin, Professor of Chemistry and Electrical Engineering. The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced its newest class of fellows, and it includes Dr. Franklin for his work on improving the performance and functionality of nanomaterial-enabled electronic devices. This includes the exploration of more environmentally sustainable electronics, such as recyclable printed transistors, as well as high-performance nanoscale devices.Dr. Franklin's lab developed a sensor technology to monitor car… read more about Aaron Franklin Elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors »
Professor Patrick Charbonneau has taken his knowledge of crystallization outside of the research lab and in to French-Canadian history. Charbonneau, an instructor of Chemistry 130L (The Chemistry and Physics of Cooking) has been using the example of fudge in his classes for several years to illustrate the polycrystalline structure of materials. It is when the time comes to find a source to explain the origin of the recipe that he runs into a problem: the available sources are "a bit of a mess," research hypotheses that are… read more about Crystallization Fascination Leads to History Revisited »
Congratulations to Prof. Ivan Moreno-Hernandez! The Moreno-Hernandez lab received an NSF CAREER Award to continue their efforts in researching strategies to improve electrocatalysts during the electrochemical production of valuable chemicals. The project, "Harnessing Chemistry and Disorder to Activate Oxygen Electrocatalysis," will employ the synthesis and manipulation of metal oxide nanocrystals to explore chemical effects on catalysis and to improve catalytic properties. State-of-the-art methods that enable the… read more about Ivan Moreno-Hernandez Receives NSF CAREER »
Are you interested in independent Chemistry research? Would you love to expand your hands-on research in the lab this summer? Apply now to Chem-SURF! The Chemistry Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows (Chem-SURF) Program is summer program designed to support students who are conducting research. All undergraduate researchers who are on campus during the summer are welcome to participate in program activities, including weekly professional development workshops, community-building events, and an undergraduate research… read more about Duke Chem Researchers: Join for the Summer! »
Hydrogen has the potential to be a great alternative to fossil fuels, specially “green hydrogen” which is produced by using electricity from renewable sources (e.g., wind, solar or hydroelectric) in devices called electrolyzers which split water into hydrogen and oxygen.Corrosion of catalysts inside electrolyzers is one of the main issues with the production of “green hydrogen” that prevents the adoption of electrolyzers at a global scale.The Moreno-Hernandez Laboratory focuses on understanding how the structure of these… read more about Moreno-Hernandez Lab highlights the importance of understanding nanoscale dynamic restructuring »
Two Duke alumni, Carlee Goldberg, T’22, and Faraan Rahim, T’23, have received the Samvid Scholarship. They were among 20 scholars selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants. The program awards up to $100,000 towards tuition and fees for two years of graduate study.Carlee Goldberg, originally from Parkland, Fla., graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in political science and history with high distinction. She was an A.B. Duke Scholar and a Nakayama Public Service Scholar. Following her undergraduate studies, Goldberg… read more about Two Duke Alumni Named to 2024 Samvid Scholars Cohort »
Professor of Chemistry Ben Wiley was honored with the Cleantech Research Innovation Award at the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster (RTCC)’s annual awards ceremony.The Cleantech Research Innovation Award recognizes an individual or team from industry or within an institution of higher education that is pursuing a research-based solution to a pressing cleantech challenge. Wiley’s work is focused on the reduction of industrial carbon emissions through the production of green hydrogen. Carbon emissions from the… read more about Ben Wiley Receives Clean Energy Research Innovation Award »
Congratulations to Nathan Wong! Nathan, a member of the Beratan Lab, has been awarded a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award! Nathan's project, “Atomistic Modelling of an Electron Bifurcation Protein to Understand Electrostatic Tunability”, will be conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with Dr. Simone Raugei. Nathan is one of just 62 students nationwide to receive this prestigious award, designed to provide world-class training and access to state-of-… read more about Nathan Wong Receives DOE Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Award! »
Four faculty in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences were recently recognized by the Arts & Sciences Council for outstanding achievements in undergraduate teaching.Each year, the Council’s Committee on Undergraduate Teaching selects outstanding faculty members for their commitment to their students, for engaging them deeply in research and scholarship, for their continued development as innovative teachers and mentors, and more.Members of the council — in collaboration with the dean's office — … read more about Four Trinity Faculty Receive 2024 Undergraduate Teaching Awards »
Prof. Michael Rubinstein, the Aleksandar S. Vesic Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering, has received the 2025 ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry! Michael’s career has shed multiple insights into the molecular basis for the physical behavior of polymers through theoretical modeling of polymeric liquids and networks, including association and entanglement effects. His work spans a wide range of topics and is frequently carried out in collaboration with a diverse set of experimentalists… read more about Michael Rubinstein Receives National ACS Award in Polymers! »
The Department invites applications and nominations for two tenure-track positions at the assistant professor level to begin July 1, 2025. In both positions we are seeking colleagues with strong commitments to research, teaching, and advancing a diverse and inclusive community of scholars. In one position we are interested in candidates with research interests focused in chemical biology. Candidates in any other subarea of chemistry will be considered for the second position. Applications should include a cover letter,… read more about Join Us at Duke! We're Hiring! »