KU Chemistry News Archive, 2012
We are happy to announce that two Chemistry undergraduates have been initiated into Mortar Board, a senior honor socitey. Christine Van Allen and Megan Watson joined 43 fellow students initiated into the society in 2012. New Mortar Board members are selected by outgoing chapter members based on distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Follow this link for the complete KU Press Release.
Congratulations to Caitlin Schupp, Chemistry graduate student and member of the Sue Lunte Research Group, who was one of twelve recipients of the Graduate Research Competition Award. The Competition took place the Kansas Union on March 7, 2012. Caitlin's award-winning poster was titled "Method Development for the Determination of Neurotransmitters in C. Elegans via Capillary Electrophoresis coupled to Laser-Induced Fluorescence Detection (CE-LIF)". Follow this link for the complete KU Press Release.
Congratulations to Mikhail Rubin for receiving the 2012 Barbara Schowen Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. Named for Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and former honors program director Barbara Schowen, this award is to recognize an outstanding faculty member for his/her outstanding support of undergraduate research. Dr. Rubin will also receive $1,000 to use for research.
The recent discovery of functional proteins that are intrinsically disordered, that is, lacking a well-defined structure, has challenged our understanding of protein function. However, the extent to which disordered states persist in the crowded conditions within a cell is still not understood. Professor David Weis has been awarded a five-year, $677,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to address this issue. The Weis lab will develop new mass spectrometry-based methods to probe protein structure under crowded conditions and answer the question "Does crowding stabilize intrinsically disordered proteins?” The grant will also support the development of an introductory course in biomolecular structure by Prof. Weis.
Congratulations to Rachel Saylor, Chemistry graduate student and member of the Sue Lunte Research Group who received an honorable mention for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. NSF fellowship recipients as well as honorable mentions represent the best among young scientists in the United States. Follow this link for the complete KU Press Release.
F. Sherwood Rowland passed away Saturday at the age of 84. Dr. Rowland was a former KU Chemistry faculty member 1956-1965. In 1995, Rowland was one of three people awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work explaining how chlorofluorocarbons, ubiquitous substances once used in an array of products from spray deodorant to industrial solvents, could destroy the ozone layer, the protective atmospheric blanket that screens out many of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. L.A. Times obituary
Congratulations to Chair & Professor Craig Lunte for receiving a National Institutes of Health grant for $1.29 million over the next 4 years. This NIH grant is for his proposal entitled “Microdialysis Studies of Seizure-Induces Oxidative Stress.”
The purpose of this project is to investigate the role of epileptic seizures in causing oxidative stress in the brain. The ultimate goal is to elucidate the brain’s response to this oxidative stress caused by seizures using microdialysis sampling. Because epilepsy affects over 1% of the world’s population, it is important to better understand how the brain is affected by seizure activity. This project is a collaboration with Professor Ivan Osorio from the Kansas University Medical Center.
Congratulations to Anthony Prosser, a 2011 graduate of the Chemistry Department, who has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Currently a graduate student at Emory University, Tony carried out research with Mikhail Rubin while an undergraduate at KU.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Chemistry George S. Wilson has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education by the Analytical Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The Giddings Award is presented each year to an ACS member who has enhanced the personal and professional development of students in the study of analytical chemistry. Two other Jayhawks who have won this award: Ted Kuwana (2004) and Cindy Larive (2007). Congratulations to George for this recognition of his many contributions to Chemistry Education!
Researchers from the University of Kansas are building a smaller,
cheaper and more flexible fiber-laser microscope that could revolutionize
biomedical and clinical work.
The KU project, headed by Carey
Johnson,
professor of chemistry, aims to simplify the tool and make using it
faster and more economical. The goal is to bring the technology down
in cost, and within reach of medical clinics and biomedical researchers. Read
more in this KU Press Release.
The Luther and Eleanore Hall Student Support Fund has been established by Dr. Sarah Hutchings and Ms. Sandra Morris in memory of their parents. The Fund will be used to provide travel awards and scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students in the Chemistry Department.
Dr. Luther Hall earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1950 at KU. Eleanore Kellogg Hardcastle Hall taught in the home economics department at KU. They met at KU through a mutual friend in 1950 and were married the next summer.The Chemistry Department is extremely grateful the Hall family for their generous gift in support of our students. Read a more complete biography of Luther and Eleanore Hall.
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