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Fifty Years Ago in the Southwest Retort

DFW ACS Section initiates new local section award named after Wilfred T. Doherty.

This award has been established to promote the advancement of chemistry and chemical engineering and to emphasize the role and contributions of these fields of science to modern society. This award publicly recognizes the contributions of scientists who have made meritorious advances in chemistry or chemical engineering in the area of the Dallas-Fort Worth Section. Accomplishments for the award must be significant, but they may arise in a plethora of areas. Possibilities are chemical research, teaching, ACS activities, establishment of a new chemical industry, solution of pollution problems, advances in curative or preventive chemotherapy, chemical physics, radiology, nuclear fission, biological engineering, geochemistry, plant chemistry, chemical genetics, or application of chemistry to health are some possible fields for consideration. Meritorious innovations in teaching chemistry or chemical engineering in high school, colleges, junior colleges, or universities will be considered also. The person, persons, or groups to whom awards are given must be residents in the area assigned to the Dallas-Forth Section of the ACS. The work on which the award is based usually will have been done in this area. The award has been named for one of the four original trustees of the Robert A. Welch Foundation, whose deep interest in science, particularly chemistry, has been a cohesive force in this area for many years.

Wilfred Thomas (Doc)

Doherty was one of those founding trustees and was President of the Robert A. Welch Foundation at the time of his death on Nov. 16, 1971. Doherty’s warmth, Compiled by E. Thomas humanity, enthusiasm, vigor and interest in chemistry

Strom contributed vastly to his important role in leading chemical research in Texas from its slow beginnings to its present high status.

Morton Mason wins initial ACS DFW

Doherty Award. Dr. Morton Mason, Professor of Clinical Chemistry at UTSouthwestern Medical School and Director of the Dallas-City County Criminal Investigation Laboratory is the first winner of the section’s Doherty Award. Dr. Mason has been on the faculty of the medical school since 1944, the year after the school was founded. A recognized research authority, he is the author of 65 publications dealing with kidney and liver physiology, hypertension, analytical toxicology and electrolyte distribution. A native of Pasadena, CA, Dr. Mason received his doctorate from Duke in 1934. He served on the faculties of Duke and Vanderbilt’s departments of medicine before coming to Dallas. The ACS tour speakers for March are Dr. Martin S. Frant from Orion Research

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Fifty Years Ago continued from page 5 2021 DFW Section Officers

speaking on “Recent Industrial Applications of Ion Electrodes,” Dr. Howard V. Malmstadt of the University of Illinois discussing “Digital and Analog Instrumentation for Scientists,” and Dr. Robert L. Burwell, Jr. of Northwestern talking on “Hydrogenations and Related Reactions on Metallic Catalysts.” The DFW ACS Section’s Meeting-inMiniature will be held on Friday, April 28, at Texas Woman’s University. TWU faculty member L. C. Sams attended the first winter fluorine conference held in St. Petersburg, FL Jan. 23-29. Faculty member Lyman Caswell and student Daisy Lee gave a presentation at the San Antonio ACS SW Regional Meeting. Dr. Peggy Dunlap of Mobil’s Dallas Field Research Laboratory was appointed to the ACS Women Chemists Committee. At UTDallas Dr. Harold Werbin presented a paper at the 16th annual Biophysical Society meeting held Feb. 24-27 in Toronto. At East Texas State University Drs. L. Bone and D. Quane received two year Welch Foundation grants for $24,000. At Texas Tech Prof. William Herndon will present seminars on his theoretical organic research at Utah, Colorado, and Utah State universities. Dr. Edward Janzen of the University of Georgia gave a seminar here.

Chair: Trey Putnam Chair-elect: Mihaela C. Stefan

Past Chair: Mihaela C. Stefan

Treasurer: Martha Gilchrist

Secretary: Heidi Conrad Councilors:

Mary Anderson, Linda Schultz, E. Thomas Strom, and Jason McAfee

Alternate Councilors:

Michael Bigwood, John McIlroy, Daniela Hutanu, and Danny Tran

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX) is looking to hire several adjuncts to supervise General Chemistry Labs in Spring 2022. Ph.D. preferred, M.S. or Ph.D. in progress will be considered. Post-docs looking for teaching experience or retired teachers are encouraged to apply.

Send your resume to kayla.green@tcu.edu

From the ACS Press Room A Potentially Longer-lasting Cholera Vaccine

“Virus-like Particle Display of Vibrio cholerae O-specific Polysaccharide as a Potential Vaccine against Cholera” ACS Infectious Diseases

Cholera, a diarrheal disease caused by the highly transmissible bacteria Vibrio cholerae, kills tens of thousands of people each year worldwide. Current vaccines last only 2 –5 years, and they don’t work very well in young children. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Infectious Diseases have developed a new type of cholera vaccine consisting of polysaccharides displayed on virus-like par-

A virus-like particle (Qβ-OSP conjugate) displaying a polysaccharide from Vibrio cholerae bacteria generates a strong, long-lasting immune response in mice.

ticles. The vaccine generated long-lasting antibody responses against V. cholerae in mice. Current cholera vaccines contain killed or weakened V. cholerae bacteria and are administered orally. They offer the lowest level and duration of protection in young children, who are commonly affected by cholera in endemic countries. The immune system produces antibodies against the O-specific polysaccharide (OSP) on the surface of V. cholerae, but this polysaccharide in isolation does not generate a strong, long-lasting immune response. Peng Xu, Edward Ryan, Xuefei Huang and colleagues wondered if attaching OSP to virus-like particles could induce stronger, longer-lasting immunity. So the researchers developed a method to efficiently link multiple copies of OSP to Qβ, a virus-like particle that infects bacteria. The modified virus-like particles were recognized by antibodies in blood taken from recovering cholera patients, but not from patients with typhoid, another bacterial disease. Next, the team immunized mice with Qβ-OSP, observing that three doses caused a strong antibody response that persisted at least 265 days after the first dose. The immunized mice had antibodies that recognized the OSP from the natural lipopolysaccharide of V. cholerae. When the researchers mixed serum antibodies from the mice with other immune system proteins that kill bacteria and with live V. cholerae, antibodies from two of the five mice triggered more bacterial death than those from mice immunized with Qβ alone. The virus-like particle could mimic natural bacteria by presenting multiple copies of OSP on its surface, the researchers say, and it warrants further evaluation as a next-generation cholera vaccine. The authors acknowledge funding from the NIH, the Fogarty International Center and Michigan State University. Xuefei Huang is the founder of Iaso Therapeutics Inc.