Councilor Report

Councilor Report: American Chemical Society Fall 2021 National Meeting

The ACS held its Fall National Meeting August 22-26 in Atlanta, GA, in a hybrid format. As of August 25, there were 8,205 registrations (1,895 hybrid and 6,310 virtual). Of approximately 1,200 oral sessions held, 71 were in-person-only, 244 were hybrid, and 855 were virtual. I registered early in anticipation of the meeting having face-to-face components, before I realized that the meeting dates coincided with the first week of classes at my institution. Therefore, I was unable to attend in person. I did speak with colleagues who presented –in both oral and poster format – and they reported that all went well. However, an issue that many reported was that since they were still physically at their work place, they were expected to be doing their normal activities unless they were actively participating in a session. Therefore, they missed all additional sessions that they might have attended, as well as the networking opportunities that make these meetings so refreshing and inspiring. I attended Councilor Meetings and the ACS Council Meeting, and these were very informative. Some of the information that I picked up is as follows: Spring and Fall 2022 National Meeting Registration fees will be $399 in-person, hybrid and $199 virtual.

ACS is in good financial health. 2021 (through June) showed a Net Surplus from Operations of $55M, which is $6M greater than the same period in 2021. Over 90% of the revenue is due to Information Services. For the past 5 years, there has been a steady decrease in industry members. A special discussion was held on this issue to address ways to decrease cost and increase value for this group. One factor which may help is the 2022 membership schedule. The new schedule will officially launch to the public January 1, 2022. The new membership options will be presented to renewing members for the upcoming 2022 term beginning in fall 2021. Three options will be available: Premium Package (Member, Affiliates), $160/yr.; Standard Package (Members Only), $80/yr., and the Basic Package (Associates), $0/yr. Finally, the ACS Officer Election period is September 27th through October 22nd at noon. You should have already received your ballot. So now, go vote! Respectfully, Linda Schultz

Around the Area

UT Dallas

Associate Professor Steven O. Nielsen and his collaborators in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Icahn School of Medicine, and Massachusetts General Hospital were awarded a four-year, $3,000,000 Collaborative Research grant from the NSF titled: Understanding the neuropeptide modulation of brain circuits by advanced nanomaterials and imaging. Professor Julia Chan was awarded a threeyear, $450,000 grant from the DOE titled: In situ probing and investigation of the crystal growth of highly correlated intermetallics. Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair and Professor Vladimir Gevorgyan was awarded a three-year $1,279,200 NIH grant titled: Transition metal-radical hybrid methods for organic synthesis. Professor Faruck Morcos is leading a team in creating a project aimed at getting people excited about exploring the molecular world. Along with students from DFW high schools, they created an NSF-funded game app where players are scientists who go out into the real world to discover molecules to take back to the app’s laboratory (www.moleculego.com). The Big Idea Competition (BIC), hosted annually by the UT Dallas Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and presented in partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center will take place on November 2nd and 3rd. The BIC brings the best undergraduate and graduate students together from all disciplines, alongside top research faculty and alumni, to pitch the most innovative startups and ideas for scholarship awards. Photos and the full story about Professor Gevorgyan’s award can be found at: https://nsm.utdallas.edu/chemistry-professor -awarded-1-2-million-to-probe-organicsynthesis-methods/

“Children’s Dislikes”

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compounds produced over time. Large differences in sulfur volatile production were found between individuals, and children usually had similar levels as their parents, which is likely explained by similar microbiomes. Children whose saliva produced high amounts of sulfur volatiles disliked raw Brassica vegetables the most, but this relationship was not seen in adults, who might learn to tolerate the flavor over time. These results provide a new potential explanation for why some people like Brassica vegetables and others (especially children) don’t, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from CSIRO.

From the ACS Press Room Continued “Tootsie Roll” “Microneedle Patch”

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monitoring in a salt-water solution and artificial saliva. For example, when covered in diluted artificial saliva, the sensor could reliably measure a change in voltage low enough to detect the 10-30% drop in salts that occurs when a person ovulates. While the maximum salt content in the artificial saliva samples was similar to that of a healthy adult, the researchers used calculations to estimate

that conductivities three times higher, which signal a problem with the kidneys, would be within the measurable range of the device. Although testing with real human samples is still needed, the researchers say that using soft candy as electrodes opens up the possibility for lowwaste, inexpensive electrochemical sensors and circuits in the future.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Ko-

rea. that they could increase the chances that the DNA would enter the nucleus of an APC.

To make their delivery system, the team attached DNA sequences encoding either the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or nucleocapsid protein to the surface of non-toxic nanoparticles. Inside the nanoparticles was an adjuvant — a molecule that helps stimulate an immune response. Then, the researchers coated a microneedle patch with the vaccine nanoparticles. The small rectangular patch contained 100 biodegradable microneedles, each less than 1/10 the diameter of a bee’s stinger, that could painlessly penetrate the skin’s outer layer. The researchers tested the system in mice, showing that the spike-protein-encoding microneedle patch caused strong antibody and T-cell responses, with no observable side effects. Because the vaccine patches can be stored at room temperature for at least 30 days without losing efficacy, they could be an important tool for developing COVID-19 vaccines with global accessibility, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Chinese Academy of Sciences.