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A project co-directed by UO Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty Andrew Marcus and UO Physic’s Michael Raymer has received a 3.6 million dollar award from the John Templeton Foundation.

The project, titled “Quantum Simulators of Complex Molecular Networks,” is to support approximately twenty grant-supported researchers from the University of Oregon, Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and Ulm University.

UO Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty Ken Prehoda is in the news this week, following the publication of a research paper in the open-access journal eLife.

The Prehoda Lab research examines a genetic mutation in single-celled organisms that helps to address several important questions that scientists have had about evolution, and also has implications for studying disease states, such as cancer. Their discoveries made the national news on January 11, 2016, with article in the Washington Post.

Listen to Prof. Prehoda talk about his research on OPB’s “Think Out Loud,” broadcast on January 14, 2016

Read more in the Washington Post, Discover Magazine and AroundTheO.

An up-and-coming perspective by the Shannon Boettcher lab on H2O oxidation is on the cover of the November issue of Chemistry of Materials, a publication of the American Chemical Society.

The article, titled “Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysis on Transition Metal Oxides and (Oxy)hydroxides: Activity Trends and Design Principles” by Michaela S. Burke, Lisa J. Enman, Adam S. Batchellor, Shihui Zou, and Shannon W. Boettcher, discusses new advances in understanding oxygen electrocatalysis on nickel−iron oxyhydroxides.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/21emBbH

A paper authored by UO Chemistry and Biochemistry grad student Matthew Bailey and faculty Kenneth Prehoda was published in the October issue of Developmental Cell.  Titled “Establishment of Par-Polarized Cortical Domains via Phosphoregulated Membrane Motifs,” the paper highlights how an enzyme that is mutated in many human cancers functions to organize molecules in healthy tissues.

Matthew is the 2015 recipient of the Peter Von Hippel Graduate Scholar Award.  The award seeks to recognize a senior PhD graduate student both for their outstanding performance in thesis research, and for their concern for fellow students and colleagues during their time at the University of Oregon.

Professor Prehoda is a biochemist and the current director of the Institute of Molecular Biology.

Read their paper at http://bit.ly/1PjXYoe

An article in the fall 2015 issue of Cascade magazine profiles research conducted by Muhammad Khalifa, class of 2014, while earning his BS degree in Biochemistry at the University of Oregon.  Khalifa worked for three years in the Haley lab and was listed as first author on a paper published this past July, an honor that identifies the person who made the greatest contributions to the project.

While at the UO, Muhammad was awarded the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department’s Kuntz-Swinehart Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes academic excellence in our majors.  He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Read more at http://bit.ly/1kI0Mk0

UO chemist Jasti aims to put his nanohoops into future devices

When Ramesh Jasti set out to make tiny organic circular structures using carbon atoms, the idea was to improve carbon nanotubes for use in electronics or optical devices. He quickly realized, however, that his technique might also roll solo.

Read more at AroundtheO

UO Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty Bradley Nolen has been named a recipient of the 2015 MRF Richard T. Jones New Investigator Award by the OHSU Foundation. The Medical Research Foundation (MRF) presents annual awards to outstanding Oregon researchers, scientists and mentors.

The Richard T. Jones New Investigator Award is a competitively awarded research grant that supports promising biomedical exploration and the development of research careers in clinical investigation in Oregon.

The Nolen lab investigates the regulation of the cytoskeleton, a molecular framework that provides physical support for cells, in order to increase understanding of how phenomena observed at the cellular level are controlled at the molecular level. This research has provided new windows on the complexities of cellular structure, and suggested a potential future route to therapeutic targeting for use in medical treatments.

Professor Nolen will receive his award at a ceremony to be held November 12, 2015, at the Centennial Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

A collaboration between UO Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics laboratories was featured as the cover article in the August 19th issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The research paper, written by Professor Michael Pluth‘s chemistry group and and Professor Raghu Parthasarathy‘s physics group is titled, “A Bright Fluorescent Probe for H2S Enables Analyte-Responsive, 3D Imaging in Live Zebrafish Using Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy.”

Read the paper at http://bit.ly/1KZPKjU

UO Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate student Andrew Wagner has been awarded a 2015 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship.

The $50,000 award will be distributed over two years, and is intended to help students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research by providing research assistance and training. Research topics may be broadly related to cardiovascular function and disease and stroke, or to related clinical, basic science, bioengineering or biotechnology, and public health problems, including multidisciplinary efforts.