Professor Eranthie Weerapana wins Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award

Professor Eranthie Weerapana has been awarded the prestigious Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award for her project “Targeting Reactive Cysteine Residues for Cancer Therapy.” From a highly competitive field of 177, Weerapana was among 5 chosen to receive this honor. This award is designed to support research that is highly inventive and has the potential to influence the way that cancer is prevented, diagnosed or treated. She will receive $450,000 over a 3 year period to support this work.

Professor Weerapana was recently featured in an article in the Boston College Chronicle. (12.15.11)


NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to Professor Kian Tan

Professor Kian Tan will receive $550,000 over 5 years for work on his project “Application of Reversible Covalent Linkages in Organic Catalysis.” This grant program supports the work of junior faculty who epitomize the role of teacher-scholar by the quality of their research, education and its incorporation into the mission of their organization.
Professor Tan received his doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University from 2004-06.
(12.15.11)


Sa Zhou Captures Silver Award at Materials Research Society Fall Meeting

Graduate student Sa Zhou, a researcher in Professor Dunwei Wang’s group, was the recipient of a Silver Award at the fall meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS), which was recently held in Boston. This competition is open to domestic and international graduate students in a number of disciplines in addition to chemistry, such as, physics, materials science and engineering. Ms. Zhou is the first Boston College graduate student to win this prestigious award.
(12.15.11)


Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research to Professor Eranthie Weerapana

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Eranthie Weerapana has been awarded a Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research. Designed to support promising junior faculty who are engaged in new and innovative research in the biomedical sciences, the ultimate goal of this program is the achievement of medical breakthroughs. This prestigious and highly competitive award provides researchers with $300,000 over a 3 year period.

The Weerapana group is utilizing a multidisciplinary approach rooted in synthetic chemistry and mass spectrometry-based proteomics to investigate protein activities that regulate lifespan through the insulin-signaling pathway of the nematode, C. elegans. They aim to gain insight into the molecular basis of aging and define protein targets to aid in drug development efforts to delay the onset of aging and age-related diseases.

Professor Weerapana joined the Boston College Chemistry faculty in September, 2010. She held a Pfizer Post doctoral Fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute after earning her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
(11.17.11)


Professor L. T. Scott to chair ACS Division of Organic Chemistry

Professor Lawrence T. Scott has been named chair-elect for the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry. His one year term of office will run from January 1 – December 31, 2012. For the 2013 calendar year, he will serve as chair of the division.

With over 150,000 members worldwide, the American Chemical Society is the largest single-science professional society in the world, and the Division of Organic Chemistry, with over 16,000 members, is the largest division within the ACS. Professor Scott has served as an alternate councilor for the ACS, representing both the Division of Organic Chemistry and the geographical region in which Boston College is located, the Northeast Section.

Professor Scott came to Boston College in 1993 and currently occupies the Louise and Jim Vanderslice and Family Chair in Chemistry. Since 2006, he has served as associate chair of the chemistry department.
(10.27.11)


First Annual Boston Women in Chemistry Symposium award Erika Vieira Best Talk

Erika Vieira, a Ph.D. student in Professor Amir Hoveyda’s laboratory, won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the First Annual Boston Women in Chemistry Symposium. Held at Harvard University, this symposium was established to showcase the excellent work of female chemistry graduate students and post-docs in the greater Boston area. Talks and posters were presented by 50 participants on a wide range of topics. Erika’s oral presentation was entitled “NHC–Cu-Catalyzed Enantioselective Additions of Allyl and Propargyl Groups to Aldimines.” For more information about this event and a collection of photos taken throughout the day, visit: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hwic/WInCS/home.html
(10.4.11)


2011-2012 Bristol-Myers Squibb Graduate Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry awarded to Fang Gao

Fang Gao, a 5th year graduate student in Professor Amir H. Hoveyda’s group, has been chosen to receive the 2011-2012 Bristol-Myers Squibb Graduate Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry.

Recognized for their academic and research achievements as well as potential for future accomplishments, Gao in one of five national winners. The others chosen to receive this significant honor represent Scripps Research Institute, Harvard University, Columbia University and UCLA.
(6.30.11)

John Kozarich Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows Named

We are pleased to announce the appointments of the 2011 Kozarich Fellows,  Samantha Goetz, Leo Lamontagne and Patrick Wong, as they begin their summer research projects at the Merkert Chemistry Center. With the generosity of Dr. John Kozarich, who endowed the summer fellowship program that bears his name, the department recognizes these exceptional undergraduate researchers in the areas of organic chemistry, chemical biology and physical chemistry.  Biochemistry major Wong ’12 is a student researcher in the lab of Professor Jianmin Gao.  Both Goetz ’13 and Lamontagne ’13 are chemistry majors currently working in the laboratories of Professors Jason Kingsbury and Frank Tsung, respectively.

2011 Kozarich Fellows, (L-R) Patrick Wong, Samantha Goetz, and Leo Lamontagne.

Dr. Kozarich currently serves as chairman and president of ActivX Biosciences, Inc. and was formerly vice president at Merck Research Laboratories. He has also served on the faculty at the University of Maryland and Yale University Medical School. He has over 125 publications and holds three patents. Dr. Kozarich received his B.S. in Chemistry summa cum laude from BC; his Ph.D. in biological chemistry from MIT; and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. We are grateful for his generous support and inspiration.
(6.2.11)


LaMattina Graduate Fellows for 2010-2011

The 2010-2011 John LaMattina Graduate Student Fellows in Organic Chemistry are Rob Ely, Andrew Wommack, Amanda Worthy and Miao Yu. Funding for this fellowship was established through the generous support of alumnus John L. LaMattina (B.S. 1971) and family.

2010-2011 John LaMattina Graduate Student Fellows in Organic Chemistry (L-R) Rob Ely, Andrew Wommack, Amanda Worthy and Miao Yu.

A member of Professor James Morken group, Rob Ely’s research has focused on the development of the Ni-catalyzed- 1, 4-hydroboration of conjugated dienes. This reaction provides synthetically useful (Z)-allylic allyboronates, and upon oxidation, provides stereodefined substituted (Z)-allylic alcohols.

Andrew Wommack, who is in Professor Jason Kingsbury group, developed the bidirectional synthesis of ketones from monomeric formaldehyde by catalytic C-H insertion with diazoalkanes.

Amanda Worthy has worked on the branch selective and enantioselective hydroformylation of p-methoxyphenyl protected allylic amines using a catalytic directing ligand in Professor Kian Tan’s group.

Professor Amir Hoveyda’s group member, Miao Yu, has been working on the Mo-and W-catalyzed Z-selective macrocyclic ring-closing metathesis reaction.
(4.12.11)


Dr. Jeffery A. Byers Joins Chemistry Faculty

It is with great excitement that we announce that Dr. Jeffery A. Byers will be joining the department as an assistant professor of organic chemistry this summer. Currently, a postdoctoral fellow in the research laboratory of Professor Timothy F. Jamison, his research is focused on the mechanism of epoxide opening cascade reactions directed towards the synthesis of ladder polyether natural products, as well as the development of novel nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling between alkynes and epoxides for the construction of homoallylic epoxides. After receiving a B.A. in Chemistry Summa Cum Laude from Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Byers conducted his doctoral work with Professor John E. Bercaw at the California Institute of Technology. His graduate research involved the synthesis of zirconocenes and understanding their application in catalyzing the kinetic resolution of racemic α-olefins by polymerization.

Dr. Byers’ independent research program will focus on in transition metal catalysis and its application in organic, inorganic, and materials chemistry. Projects will be centered on the development of useful technologies while addressing fundamental questions in organometallic chemistry. Applications include: the synthesis of densely functionalized organic molecules for fine chemical applications, the synthesis of useful polymer and copolymer architectures such as biodegradable polymers, and reversible hydrogen sequestration for energy storage purposes.
(3.11.11)


Professor Amir Hoveyda ranked as one of the Top 100 Chemists

Professor Amir Hoveyda has recently been identified as one of the Top 100 Chemists in the world for the last decade.

In a recently released report by Thomson Reuters, data on more than one million chemists worldwide were used to rank chemists according to the impact of their published research since the year 2000, as judged by the average number of citations per publication. These 100 represent the top hundredth of one percent. The 122 scientific papers published by Hoveyda during the most recent decade were cited 6,967 times, giving him an impact factor of 57.11.

A complete list of Top 100 Chemists, including statistical information about the institutions and countries where they work, can be found at: http://www.sciencewatch.com/dr/sci/misc/Top100Chemists2000-10/

Professor Hoveyda is the Patricia and Joseph T. ’49 Vanderslice Millennium Professor and chair of the chemistry department at Boston College.
(3.3.11)


Professor Kian Tan Awarded 2011 Sloan Research Fellowship

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kian L. Tan has been named a 2011 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.  This highly competitive award recognizes early-career scientists whose work shows outstanding promise and provides financial support for fundamental research.

The Tan research group works on a reaction known as hydroformylation, an important process currently used to make commodity chemicals (current worldwide production is approximately 9 million tons per year). The Tan group has developed a novel catalyst that diverts the reaction to form organic compounds that were previously not accessible via hydroformylation. This breakthrough raises the possibility of applying hydroformylation in other chemical sectors such as fine and pharmaceutical chemical synthesis.

Professor Tan came to Boston College in 2006 after earning his PhD at the University of California Berkeley. He received a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2004 and worked in the laboratory of Professor Eric Jacobsen at Harvard University.
(2.15.11)


In Memoriam: Eugene Francis Merkert (1918 - 2011)

Retired industrialist, Mr. Eugene Francis Merkert, passed away on 12 January 2011 in Florida. He was 92. During his long friendship with Boston College, Mr. Merkert gave generously to the University, including the Eugene F. Merkert Chemistry Center that bears his name.

Mr. Merkert was born in Jamaica, New York in 1918. He attended New York University and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was the owner of Merkert Enterprises, Inc. which had 13 major divisions in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Mr. Merkert was an innovator whose company became the largest food broker in the United States in the early 1960s. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Freedoms Foundation Award in 1964 presented by former President Eisenhower and honorary doctorate of business administration degree from Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts. Mr. Merkert was also once part owner of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics. Mr. Merkert gave generously to many educational and charitable causes and had a particular concern for the underprivileged and minorities.
(1.18.11)


Graduate Student Symposium Awards

Winners of the inaugural 2010 Brian Lawrence Gray Award for Outstanding Poster are Christopher Pace, Victor Rendina and Yongjin Lin. The awards, which recognized the top three poster presentations at Chemistry's Graduate Student Symposium, are named in honor of the late Brian Lawrence Gray, who received his B.S. in Chemistry (Hoveyda Lab) from Boston College in 2001. Christopher Pace, a third year student in the Gao Lab presented "Split-Tetracysteine-FlAsH: Towards a Novel Strategy for Quantifying Transmembrane Helix Association." Victor Rendina, a third year student in the Kingsbury Lab, presented "Optically Active 2-Aryl Cycloalkanones by Catalytic Asymmetric Carbon Insertion." Yongjin Lin, a fourth year student in the Wang Lab, presented “Hetero-Nanostructures for High-Efficiency Solar Energy Conversions.” The annual Chemistry Department Graduate Student Symposium is held in October at BC's Connors Center in Dover, Massachusetts.
(12.28.10)


Making Science a Fan-tastic Experience

	Asst. Prof. Dunwei Wang (Chemistry), right, and senior Stafford Sheehan, a student in Wang’s lab, talk with a youthful BC football fan as he operates a hydrogen-powered toy car at a recent Fanfest. (Photo by Ed Hayward)

Saturdays in the fall may be made for college football, but they’re not too bad when it comes to chemistry, either, says Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang.

Prior to Eagles home games, Wang and students from his lab in the Merkert Chemistry Center set up shop at Fanfest, the pre-game celebration in the Flynn Recreation Complex for students, parents, alumni and fans.

Next to the bouncy house, Wang uses a radio-controlled car to catch the attention of the children attending Fanfest. They learn that the car doesn’t rely on batteries for power, but uses clean, environmentally friendly hydrogen as a power source.

“Football games are a big deal at Boston College,” said Wang, a native of China who admits he’s still learning the American game. “We thought it was a great chance to show people what kind of scientific research is taking place at Boston College and to reach out to children and let them know that they don’t have to be intimidated by science. Science can be fun and they can enjoy learning about it.”

Searching for new sources of clean energy is a big part of the research that Wang conducts in his lab. He has used nanotechnology to engineer “nanonets,” tiny, highly-conductive web-like structures that show promise as a new platform for a number of clean energy applications, including extracting hydrogen from water and building better lithium ion batteries.

While the nanonets are not on display, water-splitting is exactly what kids get a chance to do at the lab’s Fanfest station. It starts with fueling the car. Visitors press a small water-filled hand pump, generating the energy to separate – or split – hydrogen from oxygen. When the water within the pump is split, the hydrogen gas is stored in a small pouch. This fuel tank is placed in the car and it’s off to the races.

Children run the car through a course set up on the floor of the Plex basketball courts. Wang’s students time the racers and the top finisher gets to pick from a couple of solar-powered toys as prizes.

At a table, lamps are used to power toys that get their energy from solar panels. In addition to being pretty cool to look at, the devices offer Wang the chance to talk about how solar power and other clean energy solutions work. Wang says children – and adults – have great curiosity about the subjects. Most often, they’ve heard about solar power and hydrogen-powered engines, but they don’t know the science behind the technologies that have advanced furthest in efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

“The kids ask a lot of questions and the adults ask a lot of questions too,” said Wang. “That’s exactly what we want to happen.”

Wang hopes to spark an interest in science, just as he was inspired as a child by articles he read about advances in superconductivity. Having grown up on a farm in rural China with no electricity, he was fascinated by the early breakthroughs and the idea that new materials could conduct electricity with zero energy-draining resistance.

Finding sustainable solutions to global energy problems motivates his work.

“I enjoy the prosperity that development has offered us, but I do not like the prospect of what we have done to Mother Nature through this development,” said Wang. “That is a key motivation to develop clean technology, which we can enjoy and which will not devastate our environment.”

The message is one young Eagles fans are keen to understand.

“I like science, it’s my favorite subject,” said 12-year-old Angelina, who visited the clean energy display during a recent football game. “I don’t really know what hydrogen is, but I know about solar power. It would be great not to use gasoline and use the sun instead.”
By ED HAYWARD | CHRONICLE STAFF
Published: Dec. 16, 2010

To view a video of this event, see:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bcchronicle?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/Cnrm-MhAP3E


In Memoriam: Professor Andre Jacques de Bethune (1919-2010)

Professor Andre Jacques de Bethune

Retired Professor of Chemistry André Jacques de Béthune, an accomplished researcher and teacher who taught at Boston College for 41 years, passed away on 30 October in Newport Hospital, Newport, RI. He was 91.

“Andre was one of the first physical chemists in this department that gained national recognition,” said BC Chemistry Professor David L. McFadden, who taught with Professor de Béthune for two years. “He was nationally known for his research in electrochemistry. He published a table of temperature dependence of electrode potentials that was used widely in the field.” Professor de Béthune, who in 1960 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Chemistry, joined the Boston College faculty in 1947 and served as Chemistry Department chair from 1965-67 and 1972-74. He also was associate editor of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

A native of Brussels, Professor de Béthune immigrated to the United States when he was nine years old. He graduated from St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, NJ, in 1939 and earned his doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University six years later. During World War II, Professor de Béthune worked on the Manhattan Project and was a fellow of the National Research Council at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
(11.8.10)


Professor Larry McLaughlin appointed Vice Provost for Research

Professor of Chemistry Larry W. McLaughlin has been appointed vice provost for research (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Professor of Chemistry Larry W. McLaughlin has been appointed vice provost for research, Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza announced recently. McLaughlin assumes the new post Jan. 1.

McLaughlin, a biological chemist who has taught at BC for 25 years, will work with faculty and administrators, as well as students, to support, enhance and advance research activities across BC. He replaces Rourke Professor of Physics Kevin Bedell, who returned to teaching and research.

“I am grateful to Professor Kevin Bedell for his service as the inaugural vice provost for research and am delighted that Professor McLaughlin will be taking on this important role,” Garza said in a letter to faculty.

McLaughlin, who served as Chemistry Department chairman from 1999 to 2001, said the time was right in his career to take on a senior leadership role in shaping BC’s research portfolio.

“It’s a time when I’m willing to try something else,” said McLaughlin, adding that he is excited to apply his experiences as a researcher to the challenges of coordinating the broad range of research that takes place on campus. “I don’t want to just be an administrator. I want to be an administrator who can use his capacity as a researcher to improve the greater good of the research community at BC.”

The vice provost for research oversees the Office of Sponsored Programs, which administers the University’s $66.2 million annual portfolio in externally funded research and projects, the Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing, which works with faculty to license and commercialize intellectual property developed at BC, the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance, and the Director of Research Protection.

While not all faculty pursue external funding for their research, McLaughlin said he wants the office to support professors and researchers who seek outside funding so they can compete successfully for research dollars.

“I’m looking forward to working with people in all areas of research who will educate me about what their work entails and tell me how the University can help keep good programs going and expand them,” said McLaughlin. “I’m also looking forward to helping those who want to get involved in developing their own research projects and programs.”

McLaughlin said he will maintain his research lab and continue to work with graduate students. “I don’t want to go away to another office and lose touch,” he said.
By ED HAYWARD | CHRONICLE STAFF
(10.19.10)

Link to Professor McLaughlin's Research Group Website
Link to Professor McLaughlin's Chemistry Outreach Program
Link to Professor McLaughlin's Research Highlights article


Hee Yeon Cho awarded 2011 ACS Graduate Fellowship

Ms. Hee Yeon Cho has been awarded a 2011 Graduate Fellowship by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. Hee Yeon's fellowship, sponsored by Roche, is one of only ten that the ACS awards annually nationwide "to outstanding third and fourth year graduate students in organic chemistry." In addition to supporting Hee Yeon's dissertation research, the fellowship will fund her participation in the 2011 National Organic Chemistry Symposium. Hee Yeon is a fourth-year graduate student with Professors Lawrence Scott and James Morken. Her research is focused on borylative multicomponent coupling reactions and on novel chemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons.

For more information about the award, see:
http://www.organicdivision.org/?nd=graduate_fellowship
For more information about this year's recipients, see:
http://www.organicdivision.org/?nd=2010_2011_fellowship_awardees
(9.10.10)


Professor Evan Kantrowitz designs scientific application for iPad

Looking to analyze scientific data on your iPad? There's an app for that, thanks to Professor of Chemistry Evan Kantrowitz.

Kantrowitz designed the app Scientific Data Analysis for the iPad primarily for the plotting and analysis of all types of data that can be formulated as x, y pairs. The app was approved by Apple and made available in its App Store this summer.

Professor Evan Kantrowitz (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

In a broader sense, the app is part of the transformation of the iPad into a lab tool capable of providing students and other researchers with new ways to use the dynamic computing platform from Apple to improve the research process. 

"I didn't write it just to write an app for the iPad," said Kantrowitz. "I wrote it to see if I could come up with a way to use tablet computers in a research setting."

Designed with chemistry research in mind, the app gives users the ability to plot data in x, y pairs and then analyze that data using a wide range of common scientific formulas. The app can convert the data into graphs and charts and lets the user store data or export them to other applications or for use in lab reports or research publications. 

A biochemist, Kantrowitz lists computer programming among his hobbies. He has used electronic tools for a number of purposes, such as creating a wiki to replace his lab's operations manual, which had grown to nearly three inches thick.

In the iPad, Kantrowitz saw an opportunity to replace the laboratory notebook, as well as use the improved graphics of the iPad to put more electronic resources at the fingertips of his graduate, undergraduate and post-doctoral researchers.

Chemistry lab work revolves around conducting experiments, logging the results in notebooks and then analyzing the findings, a task that now involves turning to the body of scientific knowledge on the Internet, Kantrowitz said. Typically, desktop computers are not located in labs or close to areas where experiments are conducted.

"This does offer the chance to improve efficiency," he said. "They can do almost everything without moving away from where they are working."

A long-time member of the University's Academic Technology Advisory Board, Kantrowitz showed the app to Academic Technology Executive Director Rita Owens, who arranged to provide six iPads to the Kantrowitz lab to test the impact of the app and the iPad in a research setting.

Owens said Kantrowitz's project goes to the core of efforts to improve instructional technology available to both faculty and students, either in the classroom or laboratory setting.

"What I like is seeding innovation, using technology to support faculty so they can develop and support their students and their researchers," said Owens, whose department sponsors the annual Academic Technology Innovation Grant program. "What I like is his ingenuity in developing the iPad app and the practical use of it by his students in the lab. That's what we look for all the time."

To learn more about the app, visit the website:
http://www.scidataanalysis.com/sda/main.html.
By ED HAYWARD | CHRONICLE STAFF
Published: Sept. 9, 2010


Professor Lawrence Scott to receive ACS 2011 George A. Olah Award

Professor Lawrence T. Scott has been chosen to receive The American Chemical Society 2011 George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry. The announcement was made in the 30 August 2010 issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

This award is given “to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding research achievements in hydrocarbon or petroleum chemistry” and consists of $5,000 and a certificate. The guidelines for the award stipulate that the awardee must have accomplished "outstanding research in the chemistry of hydrocarbons or petroleum and its products. Special consideration is given to independence of thought and originality."

Originally established in 1948 as the ACS Award in Petroleum Chemistry, this award has been supported under the current title since 1997 through a fund initially created by donations from the Morris S. Smith Foundation and the Dow Chemical Co. Former recipients of the award have represented a wide range of research fields.
(8.30.10)


Dr. John L. LaMattina (BCC'71) Fellows

The development and training of young scientists continues to be at the very heart of the Chemistry Department's teaching and research mission. We are especially grateful to Dr. John LaMattina (BCC'71), a distinguished alumnus of the Boston College Chemistry Department and scientist leader in industry, whose generous support of our graduate students continues to foster excellence in the next generation of chemical scientists.

David Moebius

Robert O'Brien

Ping Zhang

We are pleased to announce that David Moebius, Robert O'Brien and Ping Zhang were named as LaMattina Fellows during the past academic year. All are advanced graduate students in the department's organic chemistry division and are actively engaged in research that has resulted in publications. David Moebius, a member of Professor Jason Kingsbury's research group, was a co-author on the article, "Catalytic and Regioselective Ring Expansion of Arylcyclobutanones with Trimethylsilyldiazomethane. Ligand-Dependent Entry to -Ketosilane or Enolsilane Adducts," which appeared in Organic Letters (2010, Vol. 12. No. 16, 3598-3601). Robert O'Brien, a member of Professor Amir Hoveyda's research group, was a co-author on the article "H-Bonding as a Control Element in Stereoselective Ru-Catalyzed Olefin Metathesis," published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2009, 131, 8378-8379). Ping Zhang, a member of Professor James Morken's research group, co-authored the article, "Pd-Catalyzed Enantioselective Allyl-Allyl Cross-Coupling" which appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2010, 132 (31), pp 10686-10688).
(8.23.10)


2010 STUDENT AWARDS

At the Student Awards Ceremony on 7 May 2010, graduate students and undergraduate Chemistry/Biochemistry majors received special recognition. See the complete list of award recipients >>


Dr. Raymond L. Rodin Fellowships in Chemistry Announced

The Chemistry Department announced the appointment of three Rodin Graduate Fellowships in academic year 2009/10: Amanda Worthy (Professor Kian Tan's research group), Jennifer Quimby (Professor Lawrence Scott's research group), and Sa Zhou (Professor Dunwei Wang's research group). The development and training of young scientists is at the heart of the department’s teaching and research mission, and we are especially proud of the exceptional accomplishments of our women graduate students. We look forward to the positive impact that their experiences as Rodin Fellows will bring to their professional careers. The department is grateful to the generous support of Ms. Rita Rodin Johnston (BC’90) who made this gift in the memory of her late father and distinguished chemist, Dr. Raymond L. Rodin.
(8.17.10)



Brian Lawrence Gray Prize awarded to Ka Dennis Cheng

The inaugural Brian Lawrence Gray Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in Chemistry was established in 2010 in memory of the late Brian Lawrence Gray by his parents, Melvin and Marie Gray of Garden City, New York. Brian, who received his B.S. in Chemistry from Boston College in 2001, was an exceptionally gifted young scientist and scholar. In the laboratories of Professor Amir Hoveyda, Brian co-authored scientific papers and was a co-inventor on the discovery of an important catalyst for olefin metathesis that is now used worldwide by chemists in industry as well as academia. It is income from that patent that funds the prize bearing his name.

Chemistry Department Chair Professor Amir Hoveyda, Kate O'Dea, Brian Lawrence Gray Prize recipient Dennis Cheng, and Marie and Melvin Gray.

After graduation, Brian spent two years as a British Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where he carried out research in the laboratories of Professor Steven Ley. Brian then returned to Massachusetts and enrolled at Harvard University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow and a member of Professor Stuart Schreiber's research team. Brian had completed the writing of his doctoral thesis at the time of his passing.

Sharing his warm memories of Brian, Department Chair Professor Amir H. Hoveyda presented the inaugural Brian Lawrence Gray Prize to Ka Dennis Cheng at the Chemistry Student Awards Ceremony on 7 May. Dennis, a Chemistry major who will enter his junior year this fall, plans to continue his research in Professor Kian Tan's laboratory. Dennis aspires to pursue a doctoral degree in organic chemistry when he graduates from BC. He hopes to use his knowledge of chemistry to improve people's lives through drug discovery or to make the Earth a better place for future generations through green chemistry. Brian's parents, Melvin and Marie Gray, and his friend Kate O'Dea, a BC alumnus, were on hand to honor Brian and to congratulate Dennis.
(8.16.10)


Eric Fort is first recipient of the John Madden Distinguished Service Award

The John Madden Distinguished Service Award has been established in honor of Mr. John G. Madden, former Chemistry Operations Manager and Safety Officer. John is a 1971 graduate of the BC Chemistry Department. He holds the distinction of “triple Eagle,” having graduated also from Boston College High School and the Lynch School of Education with an M.S.T. degree. After careers in education and industry, John returned to his alma mater to manage the then brand new Merkert Chemistry Center in 1992. For over 17 years, John has kept Chemistry running, humming, and safe – no small feat when one considers the challenges of operations and safety in a growing, fast-paced world-class chemistry environment. The department thanks John for his distinguished service and for inspiring his colleagues with his dedication and integrity.

Eric Fort (center), first recipient of the John Madden Distinguished Service Award, is shown with Chemistry Operations Manager John Madden (left) and Acting Director of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, Gail Hall (right) at the Merkert Chemistry Center.

At the Chemistry Student Awards Ceremony on 7 May 2010, the first John Madden Distinguished Service Award was made to Mr. Eric Fort for extraordinary service. On the morning of Saturday, 20 March 2010, Eric rescued a colleague whose clothes had caught on fire when a flask he was carrying exploded in his hands. Eric’s cool head and swift, decisive actions saved his colleague from incurring far more serious burns and got the fire in the lab extinguished before it could spread. He somehow also managed to phone 911 while administering first aid to a gash on his colleague’s arm. Eric’s early training as an eagle scout and his regular safety refreshers from John Madden were put to the test, and a potential disaster was averted.

Eric Fort has completed his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry with Professor Lawrence Scott and will begin a faculty position at his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota in the fall. John Madden has assumed the part-time position of Chemistry Assistant Operations Manager, as he embarks on the final leg of his career at Boston College.
(8.16.10)


Jeong-Long Lin Summer Research Fellows Named

The Chemistry Department has named three Jeong-Long Lin Summer Research Fellows. For ten weeks over the summer, Lin Fellows are engaged in research in faculty laboratories at the Merkert Chemistry Center, where they join teams of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.

Summer 2010 Jeong-Long Lin Fellows – Agnieszka Bellatreche, Ian Roundtree, and Lunecee Eligene – outside the Merkert Chemistry Center.

Professor Mary Roberts welcomed two Lin Fellows into her laboratory. Agnieszka Bellatreche, from Salem State College, is learning molecular biological techniques and applying these to constructing a variant of a phospholipase C enzyme to be used for fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and monitoring binding of the protein to vesicles. Lunecee Eligene, from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, is synthesizing 13C-labeled phospholipids (phosphatidylserine and phosphatidic acid) for use in NMR experiments aimed at characterizing membrane dynamics and how they are affected by peripheral proteins. Working in the laboratory of Professor James Morken, Ian Roundtree, a Boston College undergraduate, has been developing a catalyst for the conversion of simple organic molecules to reactive organoboron reagents that are instrumental for the synthesis of complex molecules.

Established in 2008, the Jeong-Long Lin Summer Research Fellowship Program reaches out to undergraduate students who are finishing their sophomore and junior years and who are under-represented in professions related to the chemical sciences. Professor Jeong-Long Lin, a visionary physical chemist, served as chair of the Chemistry Department at Boston College during a pivotal period in the department’s history. His leadership emphasized the high standards of scholarship that have sustained the Department’s excellence and continue to inspire us into the future.
(8.7.10)


Inaugural American Chemical Society Graduate Research Symposium hosted by BC

The Boston College Chemistry Department hosted the inaugural American Chemical Society (ACS) Organic Chemistry Division Graduate Research Symposium in July 2010. Professor Lawrence T. Scott, Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry, and Ms. Dale Mahoney, Chemistry Graduate Program Administrator, helped to organize the three-day event, which highlighted the research of 55 graduate students representing over two dozen colleges and universities from the U.S. and Canada. Chairs from chemistry departments with top-ranked organic chemistry programs were invited by the ACS to nominate their best graduate students. From over 100 applications received, fifty-five fourth-year graduate students representing all areas of organic chemistry – from total synthesis to organic materials – were selected to participate in the research symposium.

Student participants presented their research results in formal talks and poster sessions in the Merkert Chemistry Center. BC’s Chemistry Department, which ranks 16th nationally in organic chemistry, was represented by five young scientist scholars: Ms. Laura Kliman from Professor James Morken’s group; Mr. Ted Lightburn from Professor Kian Tan’s group; Ms. Natalie Smith from Professor Lawrence Scott’s group; Ms. Erika Vieira from Professor Amir Hoveyda’s group; and Mr. Andrew Womack from Professor Jason Kingsbury’s group. Scientists from academia, industry and the NIH led panel discussions about career paths, and students had the opportunity to network individually with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry. Professor Amir Hoveyda, Chair of the BC Chemistry Department, delivered the keynote address, “Recent Adventures in Catalyst Discovery and Development.”

The ACS graduate research symposium, which will be held at the University of California at Santa Barbara next year, received high accolades in the 2 August 2010 issue of Chemical and Engineering News.
(8.6.10)


Dr. Amnon Stanger is Visiting Professor of Chemistry

The Chemistry Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Amnon Stanger as a Visiting Professor of Chemistry. Professor Stanger, a permanent member of the Chemistry faculty at Technion – the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, will be a most valuable addition to the intellectual life of the department.

Professor Stanger received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1980 and his Ph.D. in Physical Organic and Computational Organic Chemistry from Technion in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he was a Weizmann Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley with Professor K. Peter Vollhardt. Professor Stanger has also served as Visiting Professor of Chemistry at the Freie Universitat Berlin in Germany. At Technion, Professor Stanger is affectionately known as the "Lord of the Rings," for his research on the mysteries of aromatic rings, which have continued to tantalize researchers decades after their discovery.

Professor Stanger will teach Mechanistic Organic Chemistry in the fall semester and Physical Organic Chemistry in the spring 2011.
(8.23.10)


Dr. Frank Tsung Joins Chemistry Faculty

It is with great excitement that we announce that Dr. Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung joined our department as an assistant professor of physical chemistry this summer. Dr. Tsung was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of Professors Gabor Somorjai and Peidong Yang at the University of California at Berkeley, where his work focused on the synthesis of various metal and metal oxide nano- structures for heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. Dr. Tsung received his B.S. from National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Tsung's graduate research focused on nano-material syntheses directed by amphiphilic molecules.

Dr. Tsung's independent research program will focus on the development of nano-scale catalytic systems for energy-related reactions. His research aims at establishing new synthetic strategies for the development of nano-catalyst systems to optimize solar-to-chemical energy conversion. His program includes in-situ catalytic studies of solar-to-chemical energy conversion, syngas reactions, biomass de- polymerization, and low-temperature PEM fuel cell reactions.
(8.20.10)


Dr. Eranthie Weerapana Joins Chemistry Faculty

It is with great excitement that we announce that Dr. Eranthie Weerapana, most recently a Pfizer Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla), joined our department this summer as an assistant professor in chemical biology. Dr. Weerapana received her B.S. in Chemistry Cum Laude with Honors from Yale University and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from MIT, where she conducted her doctoral work in the laboratory of Professor Barbara Imperiali. Dr. Weerapana’s graduate research focused on the synthesis and evaluation of substrates for enzymes associated with the N-linked protein glycosylation pathway in prokaryotes, resulting in the functional annotation of several glycosyltransferases that play key roles in this process. In the laboratory of Professor Benjamin Cravatt at Scripps, her postdoctoral investigations involved the development and application of chemical probes and quantitative mass spectrometry platforms to investigate and functionally annotate the “reactive” proteome.

Dr. Weerapana’s independent research program will focus on the synthesis of chemical probes and the application of chemical proteomic methods to characterize and interrogate protein oxidation and glycosylation events in pathophysiological systems.
(8.20.10)


Women in Science & Technology Thrives at Five

The Women In Science and Technology Program marks its fifth anniversary this month, with a volunteer corps of undergraduate chemistry, biology and biochemistry majors leading girls from Boston-area high schools through a month-long weekend program of research, lectures, field trips, and mentoring in the sciences.

Courtney McKee ’11, right, worked with (L-R) Rachel Kerr of Trinity Catholic High School in Newton, Saloni Sachar of Melrose High School and Rebecca Rago of Brookline High School during a recent session of the Women In Science and Technology Program.  (Photo by J.D. Levine)

Started by alumna Elizabeth O’Day ’06, WIST brings approximately 30 high school students to campus, where they are guided through Saturday programs organized entirely by BC undergrads.

This year’s WIST co-coordinators, biology majors Janine Sanderman ’10 and Courtney McKee ’11, are teamed up with student leaders Meg Cells ’10, chemistry and education, and Sara Samaha ’11, and Cristina Olcese ’10, both biology students. Faculty advisors are Professor of Chemistry Mary Roberts, Adjunct Associate Professor of Chemistry Lynne O’Connell and Associate Professor of Biology Clare O’Connor.

O’Day said she started the program after constantly being asked how she felt about being one of the few female students majoring in biochemistry. Even as a graduate student working toward her doctorate in chemical biology at Harvard Medical School, she finds she is still one of relatively few women doing biochemistry research.

“Until I got those questions, I never thought of it that way. I just loved science and doing real research in the lab,” said O’Day. “But I thought it would be great to encourage girls in high school to pursue study and careers in science and not feel like they were the only ones. It’s important for girls to still think it is possible.”

The WIST undergraduate coordinators and a group of approximately 15 undergraduate science majors lead the roughly 30 high schoolers through college-level experiments into polymers, diagnostic tests, materials and forensics. The program also includes field trips to places like O’Day’s lab at Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the New England Wildlife Center and BC’s Weston Observatory.

The high school students come from throughout the Boston area and must apply to the program. Funding and support for the program come from the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Chemistry and Biology departments.

“I’ve been impressed by how well it’s run by our students,” said Roberts. “Each year they come together and prepare the program, then carry it out. They put a lot of effort into it and that makes a difference for these high school students. For our students, it’s a great experience and chance to keep learning. If you really want to understand something, you teach it.”

McKee said the volunteers come together annually with participants from prior years taking on leadership roles. They meet monthly throughout the fall and then weekly as the start-date approaches. McKee said the intent has been to have the program serve as a “springboard” into the sciences.

“This is an experience I would have loved to have had in high school that wasn’t available to me,” said McKee, a Presidential Scholar and A&S Honors Program member, and currently a Beckman Scholar whose research with Associate Professor of Biology Junona Moroianu is supported by an 18-month grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. “So I was interested in providing the experience to high school students. The approach this year has been to try to help develop skills and a way of thinking scientifically that will allow them to pursue science in the future.”

O’Day said it’s gratifying to see the program continue to thrive and that she looks forward to the chance to host students during a tour of her Harvard lab.

“I’m always so impressed that the BC students step up to keep the program going and that the high school students still keep coming,” O’Day said. “It’s quite inspiring how much they care and how much time they put into it. My role is limited now. It’s other people who have made it what it is today. The BC community has really taken it over and embraced it.”

For more information about the Women In Science and Technology program, see www.bc.edu/schools/cas/chemistry/diversity/wst.html.
(2.18.10)


Professor Dunwei Wang Building a Better Battery

A tiny scaffold-like titanium structure of Nanonets coated with silicon particles could pave the way for faster, lighter and longer-lasting Lithium-ion batteries, according to a team of Boston College chemists who developed the new anode material using nanotechnology.

The web-like Nanonets developed in the lab of Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang offer a unique structural strength, more surface area and greater conductivity, which produced a charge/re-charge rate five to 10 times greater than typical Lithium-ion anode material, a common component in batteries for a range of consumer electronics, according to findings published in the current online edition of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.

In addition, the Nanonets proved exceptionally durable, showing a negligible drop-off in capacity during charge and re-charge cycles. The researchers observed an average of 0.1% capacity fade per cycle between the 20th and the 100th cycles.

“As researchers pursue the next generation of re-chargeable Lithium-ion battery technology, a premium has been placed on increased power and a greater battery life span,” said Wang. “In that context, the Nanonet device makes a giant leap toward those two goals and gives us a superior anode material.”

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used in consumer electronics devices. This type of rechargeable battery allows Lithium ions to move from the anode electrode to the cathode when in use. When charged, the ions move from cathode back to the anode.

The structure and conductivity of the Nanonets improved the ability to insert and extract Lithium ions from the particulate Silicon coating, the team reported. Running at a charge/discharge rate of 8,400 milliamps per gram (mA/g) – which is approximately five to 10 times greater than similar devices – the specific capacity of the material was greater than 1,000 milliamps-hour per gram (mA-h/g). Typically, laptop Lithium-ion batteries are rated anywhere between 4,000 and 12,000 mA/h, meaning it would only take between four and 12 grams of the Nanonet anode material to achieve similar capacity.

Wang said the capability to preserve the crystalline Titanium Silicon core during the charge/discharge process was the key to achieving the high performance of the Nanonet anode material.  Additional research in his lab will examine the performance of the Nanonet as a cathode material.

View the Nano Letters paper at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl903345f
-Ed Hayward, Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs, ed.hayward@bc.edu
(2.16.10)


Merkert Chemistry Center Hosts Beckman Scholars Winterfest

Beckman scholars from five New England colleges and universities—Boston College, Boston University, Smith College, Wellesley College, and Yale University—assembled in the Merkert Chemistry Center on January 23 to discuss their research projects in the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, and the biological and medical sciences. The scholarship program, which is funded by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, supports research by undergraduates—71 from 40 institutions at present—who work with a faculty mentor full-time during two summers and part-time during the intervening academic year.

The 15 students meeting at Boston College, including the University’s four current Beckman scholars, discussed topics ranging from the “Role of myosin II in cytokinetic contractile ring formation in fission yeast” to “Identifying mechanisms for polymeric degradation by endophytic fungi.” Above, reviewing a poster presentation in the Merkert foyer are, from left, Courtney McKee ’11 (“Studies on the nuclear localization of E7 protein of low risk papillomavirus type ll”), Julie Olson of Smith College (“Development of a tandem Diels-Alder/Pauson-Khand strategy for the synthesis of tetracycles”), and Stephen Bohlman ’11 (“The development of an asymmetric Kharasch addition reaction”).

The idea for the regional meeting came from professor of chemistry David McFadden and was sponsored by the biology and chemistry departments.
(2.4.10)


Professor Amir Hoveyda wins 2010 Yamada-Koga Prize

Professor Amir Hoveyda, the Joseph T. and Patricia Vanderslice Millennium Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Chemistry Department, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Yamada-Koga Prize, an international award given annually by the Chemical Society of Japan to an organic chemist who has had a major impact in the field of synthesis of optically active compounds. There will be a one-day symposium on 29 October 2010 in Tokyo to honor Professor Hoveyda, with speakers from all over the world to present lectures. Professor Hoveyda will also present an award lecture.

The prize consists of a medal, a plaque, a cash award, and travel expenses for the recipient to and from Japan. Founded in 1995 to commemorate the late Professor Shun-ichi Yamada's pioneering research on the synthesis of optically active compounds, the Yamada Prize was renamed as the Yamada-Koga Prize in 2005, to honor also the late Professor Kenji Koga.

It is a special honor for Professor Hoveyda to be awarded this prize in recognition of his world-class research on the synthesis of optically active compounds. The fact that the selection committee chose a Boston College professor for this prize speaks to the Chemistry Department's - and the University's - growing reputation in the sciences, nationally and internationally. For a list of Yamada-Koga prize recipients, please see: Recipients of the Yamada-Koga Prize
(11.10.09)


Professor Larry Scott receives ISPAC award

We are pleased to announce that Professor Larry Scott has received a prestigious award from the International Society for Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds at their Twenty-Second International Symposium for Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, which was held this year in Charleston, SC.   The award, which is given once every two years, was presented on the first day of the symposium, and Professor Scott was asked to present a plenary lecture on his research at Boston College, which he entitled "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Bowls, Baskets, Balls, and Tubes:  Challenging Targets for Chemical Synthesis." The award certificate reads: "The International Society for Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds presents the 2009 Research Achievement Award to Professor Lawrence T. Scott for his outstanding contributions to the field of polycyclic aromatic compound research, particularly in the areas of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon synthesis and mechanistic investigations.”

Professor Mohanty’s research is in theoretical and computational biophysics, chemical biology, and physical chemistry. His interdisciplinary research program utilizes and develops a range of novel and powerful techniques that spans fields from modern physical chemistry, biophysics, biophysical chemistry and soft condensed matter physics. The driving force in the advances of his research program is their close collaboration with experimental groups. A number of areas of current interest to Professor Mohanty include (i) single molecule studies on the ribosome; (ii) chemical biology of DNA flexibility in vivo; (iii) polyelectrolyte behavior of DNA and RNA, and (iv) dynamics of super-cooled liquids and glasses.

Professor Mohanty received his Ph.D. from Brown University and completed his post-doctoral studies at the University of California at San Diego. He joined the Chemistry Department at Boston College in 1985.
(4.10.09)


Graduate Fellows Announced

The development and training of young scientists continues to be at the very heart of the Chemistry Department’s teaching and research mission. We are especially grateful to two distinguished alumni of Boston College – Dr. John LaMattina, BCC ’71 and Rita Rodin Johnston, BC’90 - whose generous support of our graduate students will foster excellence in the next generation of chemical scientists.

La Mattina Graduate Fellows

A new class of exceptionally effective catalysts that promote the powerful olefin metathesis reaction has been discovered by a team of Boston College and MIT scientists, opening up a vast new scientific platform to researchers in medicine, biology and materials. The new catalysts can be easily prepared and possess unique features never before utilized by chemists, according to findings from a team led by Professor Amir H. Hoveyda and MIT Professor and Nobel Laureate Richard Schrock, who received the 2005 prize in Chemistry for early discoveries of catalytic olefin metathesis. The team's findings are reported in the current online edition of the journal Nature. "In order for chemists to gain access to molecules that can enhance the quality of human life, we need reliable, highly efficient, selective and environmentally friendly chemical reactions," said Hoveyda, the Joseph T. and Patricia Vanderslice Millennium Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department. "Discovering catalysts that promote these transformations is one of the great challenges of modern chemistry."

Catalytic olefin metathesis transforms simple molecules into complex ones. But a chief challenge has been developing catalysts to this organic chemical reaction that are practical and offer exceptional selectivity for a significantly broader range of reactions. Schrock, the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry at MIT, said the unprecedented level of control the new class of catalysts provides will advance research across multiple fields. "We expect this highly flexible palette of catalysts to be useful for a wide variety of catalytic reactions that are catalyzed by a high oxidation state alkylidene species, and to be able to design catalytic metathesis reactions with a control that has rarely if ever been observed before," Schrock said. Highly versatile molecules that contain carbon–carbon double bonds, alkenes, or olefins, are ubiquitous in medicinally relevant and biologically active molecules. Tetrahedral in constitution, the new catalysts are the first to exploit a metal with four different ligands– molecules that bond to the central metal – which in turn dictate the catalysts' high level of reactivity and selectivity. "For the first time these catalysts take advantage of the configuration of a metal with four different ligands attached to it, an untested situation that has long been predicted to be a strong director of asymmetric catalytic reactions that take place at the metal center," said Schrock. Unique to this catalyst is the metal molybdenum as a source of chirality, also known as "handedness. "Like the mirror image of left hand and right, molecules can come in two variations, one a reflection of the other. But these two variations often function in entirely different ways – sometimes one proves harmful, while the other is benign. With molybdenum at its core, the new catalyst gives chemists a simple, unique and efficient way to produce one form of the molecule or the other in order to yield the desired reactions. The new catalysts are also structurally flexible, a relatively unconventional attribute that lends them exceptional chemical activity. The discovery of catalysts with stable configurations and flexible structures is expected to allow chemists to design, prepare and develop new chemical transformations that furnish unprecedented levels of reactivity and selectivity, according to the co-authors, which include BC researchers Steven J. Malcolmson, Simon J. Meek, and Elizabeth S.Sattely.

The findings mark the latest discovery from the long-standing collaboration between the Hoveyda and Schrock labs, work that has been supported by more than $3.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health for nearly a decade. "Unquestioned leaders in their own areas of science, Hoveyda and Schrock have pooled their complementary skills to come up with an elegant solution to an elusive goal—the development of catalysts for enantioselective olefin metathesis," said John Schwab, who oversees organic synthesis grants at the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "This is a beautiful illustration of the power of collaborative science."
(11.19.08)
Science Daily, Chemistry World (UK), Nanowerk, PhysOrg.com, DailyIndia.com, http://web.mit.edu/chemistry



Davidovits Lab and Aerodyne Collaborate on Climate Change Technology

An aerosol mass spectrometer developed by scientists from the Merkert Chemistry Center and Aerodyne Research, Inc. is giving scientists who study airborne particles the technology they need to examine the life cycles of atmospheric aerosols – such as soot – and their impact on issues ranging from climate change to public health. Chemistry Professor Paul Davidovits and Aerodyne Principle Scientist Timothy B. Onasch say their novel spectrometer allows researchers to understand what happens to these submicroscopic particles that can absorb and scatter light and influence the lifetime of clouds.

“For scientists looking at climate change, the biggest uncertainty has to do do with the effect of aerosol particles in the air,” says Davidovits. “The issue is made that much more complex because aerosols can have different effects on climate. That means the target is constantly shifting.” For further information, please see: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080725094041.htm
(07.28.08)


John Kozarich Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows Named

We are pleased to announce the appointments of the 2008 Kozarich Fellows as they embark on their summer research projects at the Merkert Chemistry Center. Austin Travis and Angelo Cangialosi, both sophomores at Boston College, are actively engaged in the laboratories of Professors Jason Kingsbury and Amir Hoveyda, respectively.  Austin’s and Angelo’s unabashed enthusiasm for studying organic chemistry at Boston College shone through in their fellowship proposals. As a researcher in the Kingsbury lab, Austin relishes the challenges to his intellectual and creative capabilities. Angelo embraces the analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities required for successful molecular synthesis in the Hoveyda lab. As young researchers, Austin and Angelo seem destined to follow in the footsteps of role model, Dr. John Kozarich (BCC’71).



For Dr. John Kozarich, who endowed the summer fellowship program that bears his name, the undergraduate research experience in the Chemistry Department at Boston College planted the seeds for his astounding career in academic and pharmaceutical research. Dr. Kozarich currently serves as chairman and president of ActivX Biosciences, Inc. and was formerly vice president at Merck Research Laboratories. He has also served on the faculty at the University of Maryland and Yale University Medical School. He has over 125 publications and holds three patents. Dr. Kozarich received his B.S. in Chemistry summa cum laude from BC; his Ph.D. in biological chemistry from MIT; and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. We are grateful for his generous support and inspiration. (06.20.08)


Inaugural Jeong-Long Lin Fellows Begin Summer Research

The Merkert Chemistry Center welcomes the inaugural Jeong-Long Lin Fellows as they begin their summer research projects in our faculty laboratories. Patrick Momplaisir is no stranger to Boston College, having obtained a B.S. in Management in 2003. Patrick has been in the McNair Program at the University of Massachusetts/Boston since 2006, where he is taking post-baccalaureate courses in medical science. Patrick is working with Professor Larry McLaughlin’s research group on a project that entails synthesizing modified oligonucleotides for use in studying biological events such as RNA processing. Ervin Pejo started out at Bunker Hill Community College and transferred to the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, where he is a Biochemistry major. Ervin is working with Professor Mary Roberts’s research group on a project that looks at phospholipases and their interactions with membranes. Andrew Rivera, a Boston College undergraduate, is majoring in Biochemistry and just finished his freshman year. Andrew is working with Professor Kian Tan’s research group on a project to develop methods for controlling selectivity in organic reactions.



Professor Jeong-Long Lin, a visionary physical chemist, served as chair of the Chemistry Department at Boston College during a pivotal period in the department’s history. His leadership emphasized the high standards of scholarship that have sustained the department’s excellence and continue to inspire us into the future. (6.17.08)


Women in Science & Technology Program: Third Time’s a Charm!

A Boston College student-run program designed to inspire the next generation of women scientists has just completed its third year. The month-long Saturday series, which ran from 26 January through 16 February, brought together 24 female students from Boston-area high schools for research, lectures, field trips, and the opportunity to meet mentors and role models from scientific disciplines. This year’s participants came from Braintree High School, Malden High School, Methuen High School, North Cambridge Catholic High School, and Trinity Catholic High School.



Participants spent the morning sessions engaged in laboratory experiments led by women undergraduate science majors from Boston College. In the afternoon sessions, participants enjoyed field trips and special lectures designed to demystify science with real-life applications. Activities included a tour of a research lab at the Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute where they saw brain surgery performed on a mouse. They visited the New England Wildlife Center for a hands-on tour of their treatment care facilities and educational center. A detective from the Sexual Assault Unit of the Boston Police Department discussed the use of science-based techniques on crime scene investigations. Professor Goran Krilov, a theoretical chemist, engaged participants with hands-on computer visualizations of chemical structures. On the final day of the program, participants were given a tour by Ms. Elizabeth O’Day (BCC’06) of several Harvard University research laboratories. Liz O’Day, now a graduate student at Harvard, initiated the WST Program in 2006, as a way of sharing her enthusiasm for science with young women and introducing them to career opportunities in the field.

Eighteen undergraduate women science majors at BC volunteered their time and energy to help with the project, and Liz Carroll served in a leadership role. Chemistry Professors Mary Roberts and Lynne O’Connell and Clare O’Connor from Biology serve as advisors to WST, in addition to being role models for the students.

We thank Boston College undergraduate science majors Amanda Balboni, Nikki Carreau, Liz Carroll, Meaghan Cells, Courtney Cronin, Dani Currier, Grace Festin, Inna Grishkan, Emily Kim, Grace Kim, Julie Oh, Katie Poutsiaka, Nari Rheu, Kristen Schratz, Sarah Shannahan, Cara Sullivan, Christine Vaudo, and Allison Whalen for their contributions to WST. (2.20.08)


Professor Torsten Fiebig Receives Sloan Research Fellowship

The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce that Professor Torsten Fiebig, an assistant professor of physical chemistry, has been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship. The highly prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships are intended to enhance the careers of the very best young faculty members in specified fields of science. Currently, a total of 118 fellowships are awarded annually in seven fields: chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics. The Sloan Research Fellowships were established in 1955 to provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars. Selection procedures for Sloan Research Fellowships are designed to identify those who show the most outstanding promise of making fundamental contributions to new knowledge.

Professor Fiebig joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Boston College in 2003. A native of Germany, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Gottingen in 1996 and was a post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Professor Fiebig’s honors include: the Grammatikakis-Neumann Award of the Swiss Chemical Society (2006); the Emmy-Noether Fellowship (2000), and the Otto-Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society (1997).

The Fiebig research group is interested in a fundamental understanding of molecular interactions and ultrafast processes (e.g. energy, electron and proton transfer) in complex molecular architectures. Our primary focus is to develop and apply new spectroscopic methodologies for probing real-time structural changes in biological systems. The underlying goal is to understand molecular function by probing structure and dynamics simultaneously. Currently, the Fiebig research group investigates the interaction of UV-radiation with DNA on the ultrafast time scale addressing the question of how electronic excess energy delocalizes and dissipates in -stacked nucleic acids. (02.15.08)

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