News
June 18, 2018 Professor Michael Stone Awarded NIH Funding to Study DNA Adduct-Induced Mutagenesis The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a grant to Prof. Stone to delineate both chemistry and biology arising from dietary exposures to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). This mycotoxin contributes to the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major cause of mortality worldwide. The etiology of HCC is complex, including infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and chronic dietary exposures to AFB1. AFB1 DNA adducts undergo chemical transformations once formed, e.g., unmasking new chemical functionality that may differentially modulate DNA repair and replication. Understanding structure-activity relationships delineating the chemistry of these lesions, their structural alterations to DNA, and interactions with DNA processing enzymes will translate into an understanding as to how their chemistry modulates biological processing; which may drive characteristic mutagenic signatures in HCC. Prof. Stone's work may also facilitate the identification of biomarkers for dietary exposures to AFB1 and identify targets for chemotherapeutic intervention in cancer.
June 1, 2018 Professor Prasad Polavarapu Releases New Book, Chiral Analysis Dr. Polavarapu releases new book, Chiral Analysis: Advances in Spectroscopy, Chromatography and Emerging Methods. Buy the book here.
May 23, 2018 Professor Brian Bachmann Develops New Process to Identify Personalized Cancer Drugs Derived from Nature Read the full article here.
May 17, 2018 Professor John McLean and Associate Professor Renã Robinson Named as SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows for 2018-19 Read the full article here.
May 14, 2018 2017-18 Joesten Science Volunteer Award Winners Announced Congratulations to Samantha Chiang, Nicholas Hyman, and Daniel Shaykevich for winning the 2017-18 Joesten Science Volunteer Award. This award recognizes the highest level of dedication to K-12 Science Outreach activities.
May 11, 2018 Congratulations to All Our of Graduating Chemistry Students Congratulations to our 2018 Undergraduate and Graduate Students. We wish you good luck in your future endeavours! Full list of graduating students below:
Undergraduate Students:
Marie Armbruster (ChBE)
Justin Badgett
John Cliburn
Linda Cui
Franklin Gong (ChBE)
Elsabet Haile
Nicholas Hyman (ChBE)
Collin Hong
Ryan Hunt
Nicole Jenkinson (ChBE)
Choong-Won Jin
Ying Jin (Fall Grad)
Shannon Malone (Pbdy)
Muhammad Mahmood (Suhaib)
Hope Pan (Fall Grad)
Matthew Park (Pbdy)
Hamza Patel
Thomas Plaxco (Pbdy)
J. Alex Pulliam
Saquib Rahman
Syed Raza
Hanna Roenfanz
Grant Steelman
Gregory White
Graduates Students:
Dorothy Ackerman
Suzanne Batiste
Robert Davis
James Dodds
Amanda Duran
Darwin Fu
Michael Goodman
Bian Li
Christine Markwalter
April 30, 2018 The Beckman Scholars Program Announces Their 2018-2019 Scholars
Lawrence Berg and his mentor, Dr. Steven Townsend Carter Powers and his mentor, Dr. Julián Hillyer
The Beckman Scholars Program at Vanderbilt is pleased to name our 2018-2019 Scholars.
Lawrence Berg is a rising senior from Flowood, Mississippi who is triple majoring in Chemistry, Engineering Science, and Political Science with a minor in Environmental Engineering. Lawrence will be mentored by Dr. Steven Townsend, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Townsend has been on the faculty at Vanderbilt since 2014 and has developed an interdisciplinary program in glycobiology and organic synthesis.
Carter Powers is a rising junior majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. Carter will be mentored by Dr. Julián Hillyer, Chancellor's Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences. Dr. Hillyer is an expert in the biology of pathogens in the mosquito hemocoel, and he has established a program that examines aspects of immunology and circulatory physiology that limit systemic infections.
Lawrence and Carter were selected by the 2018 VU BSP Selection Committee which evaluated each applicant's academic accomplishment, a short research proposal and public presentation, and an interview. Awardees are selected based on their future promise as undergraduate researchers, and the role that training in research will play in their long-term career plans.
April 27, 2018 Department Chair, David Cliffel, Endowed as Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair Congratulations to David Cliffel who was endowed at an April 25th ceremony. Read the full article here.
April 24, 2018 2018 Undergraduate Awards in Chemistry Winners Announced Congratulations to the following winners:
-Excellence in Teaching Award: Dr. Lauren Buchanan
-Donald E. Pearson Award: Grant William Steelman
-Outstanding Chemistry Research Award: Marie Elizabeth Armbruster
-Organic Chemistry Award: Linda Leyi Cui
-Thomas W. Martin Award: Nicholas James Hyman
-Robert V. Dilts Award: Saquib Rahman
-Mark M. Jones Award: Nicole Marie Jenkinson
-Merck Index Award: Hope Pan
-2018 Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry: Kathryn Segner
April 18, 2018 Professor Jens Meiler's Paper on the Crystal Structure for Neuropeptide Y Receptor Published in Nature Journal Jens Meiler’s team determined the first crystal structure for a neuropeptide Y receptor, deciphering the thousands of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other atoms involved with it and how they bind to one another. Read the full article here.
April 17, 2018 Assistant Professor Steven Townsend Selected to Present His Research at ACS's 2018 Academic Young Investigator's Symposium in Boston Congratulations to Steven Townsend for being selected to present his research at the American Chemical Society's 2018 Academic Young Investigator's Symposium in Boston. Thanks to Carmelo Rizzo for nominating him for this opportunity.
April 4, 2018 VSVS Receives Best Collaborative Program Award from the Vanderbilt Awards for Leadership Excellence The Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science received the award for fostering great partnerships with Head Magnet Middle School to stimulate interest in science within the Nashville community and for co-organizing the Head Magnet Science Carnival to inspire its students to view science in new ways. More information here.
March 23, 2018 Susan Verberne-Sutton Receives Mentorship Award This award recognizes the individual VUceptor who demonstrated outstanding mentorship skills with regard to either their partner or their VUceptees over the course of the Fall semester. More information here.
February 20, 2018 Sandra Rosenthal Selected as 2018 Herty Medalist Sandra Rosenthal, the Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, has been named the winner of this year’s Charles H. Herty Medal by the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society. The award is given to recognize outstanding chemists in the Southeast U.S. who have made significant contributions to their field.Rosenthal is being recognized for her development of nanocrystal probes for neuroscience and white-light emitting nanocrystals as well as her contributions to improving STEM education across Tennessee. Read the full article here.
December 1, 2017 Graduate Student Oanh Vu Receives a Phase-II MolSSI Software Fellowship from the Molecular Sciences Software Institute Congratulations to Oanh Vu on receiving a Phase-II MolSSI Software Fellowship from the Molecular Sciences Software Institute. More information here.
November 17, 2017 The Vanderbilt Chapter of The American Chemical Society Receives Honorable Mention Award Congratulations to the Vanderbilt Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society on receiving an Honorable Mention Award. Thank you to Tara Todd and Alissa Hare for all of your hard work.
September 4, 2017 Graduate Student Stephanie Bamberger Receives First Place Student Presentation Award Stephanie Bamberger, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry, received the first place graduate student presentation award from the ACS Division of Chemical Toxicology at the 254th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, recently held in Washington, DC. Stephanie’s presentation, titled "Characterization of the 2,6-Diamino-4-hydroxy-N5-(methyl)-formamidopyrimidine DNA Lesion”, summarized innovative research in which she utilized isotope-edited 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterize configurational and conformational equilibria for this complex form of DNA damage. These complex types of DNA damage arise from re-arrangement of initial DNA alkylation products following treatment with cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Stephanie’s work, which was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, will enable further studies designed to determine how and why DNA alkylating agents introduce unique mutagenic signatures in DNA, and to determine how specific configurational and conformational equilibria modulate their cytotoxicity, as well as DNA damage recognition, repair, and mutagenesis. Stephanie’s co-authors were Hope Pan, Ryan Bowen, Chanchal Kumar Malik, Tracy Johnson-Salyard, Carmelo Rizzo, and Michael P. Stone.