New Academic Year includes a ‘Changing of the Guard’ for UO Chemistry and Biochemistry

Andrew H. Marcus

 

Michael Haley
Michael Haley

 

The University of Oregon Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry began the fall term with a new department head at the helm.  On July 1, 2014, Andrew H. Marcus officially stepped up to the position as Michael Haley stepped down.

Professor Haley, of the department’s Organic/Inorganic division, served two 3-year terms as department head beginning in 2008, overseeing a period in which the number of our undergraduate majors nearly doubled and our graduate student enrollments increased 20%.  Highlights of his tenure included the building of the new General Chemistry teaching laboratories and student Resource Center, overseeing two classroom remodels, more than doubling the number of teaching assistantships, and the hiring of six new faculty.

Professor Marcus, a Physical Chemist, was selected last spring by the department faculty and the College of Arts and Sciences to serve as the department’s next head.  Prof. Marcus has been at the University of Oregon since 1996.  This will be his first time serving as department head, and he is looking forward to working with colleagues to push the quality of the department even further.

Please join us as we welcome Andrew Marcus as our new head, and thank Michael Haley for his six years of service to the department!

Organic/Inorganic Seminar ~ Friday October 17th

cegelski photoLynette Cegelski
Stanford University

2:30 pm, 331 Klamath Hall
Coffee Reception 2:00PM in Klamath 377

Title: Structure, Function, and Inhibition of Bacterial Biofilms: Lessons from Small Molecules and a Big Magnet

Abstract:
Bacterial biofilms are complex multicellular assemblies that exhibit resistance to antibiotics and contribute to the pathogenesis of serious and chronic infectious diseases. As insoluble and non-crystalline materials, biofilms pose a challenge to analysis by conventional methods. We are working to transform vague biofilm descriptors from terms like slime and glue into quantitative parameters of chemical and molecular composition. We recently developed an approach that integrates non-perturbative preparation of the extracellular matrix with electron microscopy, biochemistry and solid-state NMR spectroscopy to define the chemical composition of the intact and insoluble extracellular matrix of a clinically important pathogenic bacterium–uropathogenic E. coli. Our data permitted a sum-of-all-the-parts analysis. In our chemical biology efforts, we have also discovered small-molecule biofilm inhibitors of E. coli biofilms and we are examining their influence on biofilm composition and architecture. I will discuss these results and our emerging discoveries in biofilms formed by Vibrio cholerae.

Website: http://cegelskilab.stanford.edu/

Refreshments will be served at 2:00pm in 377 Klamath
Seminar will begin at 2:30PM in 331 Klamath.
Hosted by Prof. Vickie DeRose