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! »
Professors David Beratan, Warren Warren and Weitao Yang received National ACS Awards at the Fall meeting in Denver. David received the Irving Langmuir Award for his contributions to the field of Chemical Physics. Warren received the E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy for contributions in the field of fundamental or applied spectroscopy in chemistry. Weitao, the 2024 ACS Theory Awardee, is recognized for the tremendous impact on electronic structure calculations including both the development of… read more about Duke PChem Sweeps ACS National Awards! »
Professor Kathryn Haas has received the David and Janet Vaughan Brooks Teaching Award from the Arts and Sciences Council in recognition of her dedication to instruction in and outside of the classroom and lab! The award highlights Kat's equitable and inclusive teaching, her ability to spark excitement about learning, her encouragement of a deep dive into disciplinary ways of thinking, her efforts to make connections beyond the courses she teaches, and for her teaching innovations. Thank you, Kathryn, for… read more about Prof. Kathryn Haas Receives the Vaughan Brooks Teaching Award »
The Becker Lab is expanding the material properties of 3D-printed poly (propylene fumarate-co-propylene succinate) copolyesters and their use in drug delivery applications. In their recent work, "Controlled Transdermal Delivery of Dexamethasone for Pain Management via Photochemically 3D-Printed Bioresorbable Microneedle Arrays", Becker lab members are fabricating poly(propylene fumarate-co-propylene succinate) oligomers into DXM-loaded, bioresorbable MAPs via continuous… read more about Becker Lab Expanding the Material Properties of 3D-printed Polyesters for Use in Drug Delivery Applications »
The Warren Lab's recent use of pump-probe microscopy for effective art restoration was featured in Laser Focus World. The lab built upon their mode-locked laser systems from the early 2000's, using pump-probe microscopy—a nonlinear optical imaging technique used to study chemical reactions. The lab uses ultrafast laser pulses of near-infrared (IR) light to allow for the identification of chemical compounds present in a paint pigment sample without invasive means. The team is now working… read more about Warren Lab's Use of Pump-probe Microscopy for Art Restoration Featured in Laser Focus World »
The Malcolmson lab has discovered a reductive coupling of azatrienes and ketones for the Z-selective synthesis of allylic 1,2-amino tertiary alcohols. The strategy, developed by a team that was spearheaded by graduate student Jiaqi Zhu, provides an aminoallylation approach to this valuable pharmacophore that greatly expands upon the chemical space that is accessible for this moiety. The reaction is a rare example of a catalytic carbonyl allylation that forms a Z-alkene and two stereogenic centers and is… read more about Malcolmson Lab Discovers Catalytic Z-Selective Ketone Aminoallylations to Prepare Vicinal Amino Tertiary Alcohols »
Now in its second year, the Duke Climate and Sustainability Teaching Fellows (CAST) held a weeklong workshop for 11 Duke and DKU faculty this spring to explore the connections between climate change and sustainable solutions, using a ‘systems thinking’ framework of examining multifaceted challenges. The CAST Fellows Program is dedicated to increasing the prevalence and quality of climate and sustainability concepts in academic courses across all departments at Duke. It supports instructors who are interested… read more about Incorporating Climate & Sustainability into Classes Across Duke »
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Duke University and MIT have developed an easy-to-use intuitive tool that could help in the design of new mechanophores, which have a range of practical applications in materials science and organic synthesis due to their ability to change physically or chemically in response to force. A mechanophore discovered a few years ago by Illinois chemists can release controlled amounts of carbon monoxide when triggered by mechanical force, which can potentially be used in… read more about New Tool Could Facilitate Discovery of New Mechanically Responsive Materials »