College of Science and Technology
Chemistry UPDATE CHAIR’S MESSAGE The Department of Chemistry continues to grow at an exciting pace in research, undergraduate education, facilities and outreach. Recruiting outstanding faculty remains a priority. Over the past five years, we have recruited one third of our faculty from top institutions around the country, and we are not done yet. This past year, Ann Valentine, William Wuest and Vincent Voelz joined the faculty, bringing expertise in bioinorganic, bioorganic, and computational biochemical research, respectively. The size of the Undergraduate Research Program has more than doubled, with considerable support from the Dean’s Office. The department now has more than 50 undergraduate research projects underway, ranging from high performance computing protein folding calculations in the Voelz laboratory to carbon nanotube research in the Borguet Group. Sponsored research funding has increased by 200 percent since 2007. Publications in top journals grew by a similar degree, with some 80 publications appearing in the last year. To expand transformative research efforts, we recently acquired a mass spectrometry and x-ray crystallography facility and NSF-funded transmission electron microscope. Faculty, graduate students and undergraduates received numerous awards, scholarships and grants, both from Temple University and outside organizations. These include Franklin Davis winning the ACS Paul Gassman Award, Hai-Lung Dai winning the ACS Langmuir Lectureship, and Professor Borguet and myself winning the ACS Philadelphia Section Award. Even in a difficult economy, chemistry graduates continue to find success in the job market and in prestigious graduate programs. Financial contributions to the department from alumni and friends have reached an all time high. The work of our faculty in the classroom and the laboratory continues to impact the quality of life in the Philadelphia region and beyond. With your help the department will continue to move forward. I am grateful to the many colleagues, students, staff and graduates who have helped make the department so successful. Thank you for all you do for chemistry. Sincerely,
Robert Levis
LOOK INSIDE: Student Earns URP Award . . . . . . . . . 2 Chemistry’s Disinguished Faculty and Student Awards . . 2 Awards and Honors . . 3 Active Research Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Alumni Profile: Jim Guare . . . . . . . . . . 4
Summer 2012
New Chemistry Faculty Bring Research Expertise and Passion for Teaching Ann Valentine, Associate Professor Ann Valentine taught at Yale University for 10 years in the chemistry department as an assistant and then as an associate professor. She earned her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on bioinorganic hydrocarbon oxidation using an enzyme extracted from a thermophile bacteria. As a postdoctoral research associate at Penn State, Valentine worked on the structure and mechanism of the bacteriophage T4 primosome. Vincent Voelz, Assistant Professor Vincent Voelz earned his PhD from the University of California–San Francisco, where he studied the zipping and assembly search strategy that was used to simulate and monitor proteins in their physical folding process. He showed that the zipping and assembly method was fast enough to predict protein structure with an atomically detailed force field. As a postdoctoral research associate at Stanford University, Voelz continued his work on the understanding of protein folding using theory and simulation. William Wuest, Assistant Professor William Wuest, an expert in organic and bioorganic chemistry, earned his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, Wuest developed a synthetic effort for the total synthesis of {+)-Peloruside A. As a postdoctoral research associate at the Harvard Medical School he investigated the cloning, overproduction, purification and characterization of enzymes for use in the development of new natural product biosynthesis strategies.
Student Earns URP Award
Chemistry’s Distinguished Faculty and Student Awards FACULTY AWARDS The Italia–Eire Foundation Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award Francis Spano, Professor The Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award Steven Fleming, Professor (Teaching/Instructional) GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
The Undergraduate Research Program (URP) gets chemistry students into the laboratory with world-class researchers, offering a chance to participate in advanced projects as undergraduates. URP hosts an annual research symposium at which students present their research findings either through a presentation or a poster. This year, chemistry major Khristina Pavlenko was named First Place Winner for the Poster Session. Her research, Cannabidiol and mechanisms in preventing chemotherapy neuropathic pain in female mice C57/Bl/6, explored neuropathic pain—sensitivity to cold, heat or touch— commonly experienced by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. “Sometimes the treatment has to be stopped because they can no longer handle the pain,” explains Pavlenko. “We need a drug that can stop the pain and allow patients to remain on chemotherapy.” In Pavlenko’s project mice are injected with paclitaxel, a drug commonly used to fight breast and lung cancers, and then tested for their sensitivity to touch. Another set of mice, among other control groups, is injected with both paclitaxel and cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive compound found in cannabis. “Mice were less sensitive with the drug combination,” says Pavlenko, who worked with Sara Jane Ward, research assistant professor at the School of Pharmacy. “Cannabidiol appears to be effective in reducing neuropathic pain. Research is now a viable career option for Pavlenko. “URP is the best opportunity Temple could offer,” she says. “It made me realize another great way I can help people.”
Alumnus gift to create chemistry’s first endowed professorship A $500,000 gift from the estates of Robert L. Smith (MA ’49, Chem) and his wife, Lucretia, will be used to support promising young chemistry faculty and to help jump start their research careers. Recipients for the Robert L. Smith Early Career Professorship in Chemistry, the first named professorship in the department, will be selected by the dean of the college with recommendations from the chair of the chemistry department. The award will rotate to a new recipient every three years. Most innovative research initiatives must often secure initial results before funding from government and other outside sources becomes available. The Smith Professorship will provide young faculty with seed money for investigations that may have a tremendous potential payoff and form the foundation of a successful academic career. The award would also provide the kind of flexible funding for curricular development that would enable recipients to be more skilled teachers in the classroom.
Der-Min Fan Chemistry Graduate Student Scholarship Matthew Sender, Chemistry UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS Abraham and Ruth Clearfield Scholarship Megan Jennings, Chemistry with Teaching Albert B. Brown Chemistry Scholarship Fund Carrie Carson, Chemistry Andrea Broad Scholarship in Biological Sciences John Mikitsh, Biochemistry Hazel M. Tomlinson, PhD Memorial Scholarship Michael Cleaveland, Chemistry Mateusz Dobrowolski, Biochemistry Vasile Donos, Chemistry Nicole Haloupek, Biochemistry Jin Leung, Chemistry John Mikitsh, Biochemistry Chigoziem Oguh, Chemisty Akash Patel, Biochemistry Joseph Trout, Chemistry Haibin Zhu, Biochemistry Henry A. Sloviter Student Research Award in Chemistry Jacqueline Mejia, Chemistry Morna Brennen Memorial Scholarship Fund Amy Gutekunst, Chemistry with Teaching Natan Luehrmann-Cowen Award Fund Ananthi Rajamoorthi, Biochemistry Shirley and Bernard Brown Scholarship in Chemistry Angela Snow, Chemistry The Dean’s Scholarship Mateusz Dobrowski, Biochemistry
Active Research Grants AWARDS AND HONORS Seed grant for interdisciplinary research Temple’s Provost Office awarded a grant for multidisciplinary and clinical translational research to Chemistry Professor Bradford Wayland and Svetlana Neretina from the College of Engineering for “An Innovative Strategy for the Fabrication of Nano-Based Multijunction Solar Cells.” ECS summer fellowship Devika Sil, a doctoral candidate and student researcher in the Borguet Group, received a $5,000 summer fellowship from the Electrochemical Society for 2012. Prestigious internship in Canada Undergraduate Kyle Johnston participated in a summer internship at the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences (SIMS) at the University of Ottawa in Canada. SIMS conducts cuttingedge interdisciplinary research in areas of molecular sciences that have the potential to stimulate entirely new or emerging sectors of the Canadian economy. TU Diamond Research Scholars • Elorm Agra, Biochemistry “Bound Geodesics In Surfaces With Cylindrical Ends” • Sean McWilliams, Chemistry, “Novel Synthesis of LowCoordinate Manganese Clusters” • Pegah Safabakhsh, Biochemistry “An Enhanced Gene Trap for Transposon-Mediated Insertional Mutagenesis in Zebrafish” Löwdin lecturer Spiridoula Matsika has been invited to give the 2012 Löwdin lecture in quantum chemistry at Uppsalla Universitat in Sweden.
For more news, go to www.temple.edu/cst/chemistry.
Rodrigo Andrade
Robert Levis
• Asymmetric Synthesis of Strychnos and Aspidosperma Alkaloids, NSF • Discovery of Novel Macrolide Antibiotics, NIH/DHHS
• Filament-Based Raman Detection of Radioactive Materials, Defense Threat Reduction Agency • Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Validation of Ultrafast Nonlinear LightMatter Coupling Associated with Filamentation in Transparent Media, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (University of Arizona) • Multidimensional Detection of Explosive Devices, Office of Naval Research • Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing by Design, Army Research Laboratory • Shaped Intense Laser Detection and Surveillance, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command • Strong Field Control of Molecular Processes, NSF
Eric Borguet • A Molecular Resolution Investigation/Electron, NSF • Acid Base Chemistry at the AqueousMineral, American Chemical • Array Piezoelectric Nanocantilever Sensors, Benjamin Franklin Tech Partners • CRC: Long Range Electron Transfer, NSF • Development of a Novel Single Channel Biosensor Chip Utilizing Piezoelectric Acoustic Plate Waves, Aviana Molecular Technologies Inc. • Guidelines for the Preparation of Project Plans/Gas Analytical System Based on Nanosensor to Analyze Fire-Presage Gases, North Atlantic Treaty Organization • Hypergol Sensor Using Passive Wireless Saw Devices, Applied Sensor Research and Development Corp. • Nanoscale Cellular Probes, Benjamin Franklin Tech Partners • Passive Wireless Saw Humidity Sensors and Systems, Applied Sensor Research and Development Corp.
Hai-Lung Dai • Molecular Interaction with colloidal surfaces probed by nonlinear light scattering, NSF • Structure and Spectroscopy/Buried Interfaces/Organic, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Franklin Davis • Asymmetric Synthesis of Substituted Tropanes, Biostrategy Partners
Steven Fleming • Bio-organic Reaction Animations, NSF
Michael Klein • Advanced Modeling of Ions in Solutions, DOE • Building Computational Models to Probe Membrane Fusion, NSF • Center of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation, NSF (University of Pennsylvania) • Collaborative Research: Cyberinfrastructure and Research Facilities Chemical Computations on Future High End Computers, NSF • Design and Mechanistic Studies of Mimics of Antimicrobial Peptides, NIH (UCSF) • Development of Drugs that Target the M2 Proton Channel from the Influenza A Virus, NIH (UCSF) • Interaction of Inhaled Anesthetics with Membranes & Membrane Proteins: Insights from Simulation Study, NIH (University of Pennsylvania)
Spiridoula Matsika • Combining High Level Ab Initio Calculations/Laser, DOE • Theoretical Studies of Nonadiabiotic Photoinitiated Processes in Complex Systems, NSF • Understanding Laser Control of Molecular Dynamics, DOE
Allen Nicholson • Reactivity Epitomes of Ribonuclease III Substrates, NIH • Reactivity Epitopes for Ribonuclease III Substrates, NIH
Christian Schafmeister • Development of Protein Surface Binding, Low Entropy Oligomers, National Institute of General Medical Sciences/NIH/DHHS • Disrupting Protein-Protein Interactions with Bis-peptides, NIH • Investigating Cell Membrane Permeation as a General Mechanism to Promote Bacterial Cell Death: Developing Antimicrobial Bis-Peptides, Cephalon Inc. • Molecular Lego Based Catalysis, Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Scott Sieburth • Silanediols Serine and Threonine Protease Inhibitors, NIH
Francis Spano • Modeling the Optical Properties of Conjugated Polymer Assemblies: Interchain vs. Intrachain Interactions, NSF • Using Circularly Polarized Light to Probe Optical Excitations in Organic Supramolecular Systems, NSF Robert Stanley • Photoinduced Electron Transfer in DNA Photolyase, NSF continued on next page
Active Research Grants continued Daniel R. Strongin • Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center at Montana State University, NASA • Complexities Affecting the Rate and Mechanism of Pyrite Oxidation: An Interdisciplinary Approach, DOE • CRC: Structure-Sorption Relation/Iron Oxyhydroxide, NSF • Inhibiting Oxidation of Metal SulfideContaining Material Using Nano Bilayers of Phospholipids, Benjamin Franklin Tech Partners, NanoTechnology Institute • Investigating the Surface Structure and Reactivity, NSF (University of Delaware) • Reactivity of Iron-Bearing Minerals and CO2 Sequestration, DOE
Ann Valentine • Ascidian Transferrins and the Evolution of Metal Trafficking, NSF
Susan Varnum • Greater Philadelphia STEM Center Afterschool Program, McKean Defense Group • Greater Philadelphia STEM Center Summer Science Camp, McKean Defense Group, Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center • MSP: Chemistry Professional Development, Philadelphia School District • Science in the City, NSF • Teacher Professional Development Related to Injury, Philadelphia School District • TU-CCP Academic Community/Expanding Opportunity, NIH • TU-Smart, NSF
Bradford B. Wayland • Alkaline Fuel Cell Membrane Design and Synthesis, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company • Catalytic Hydrogenation/Carbon Monoxide, DOE • Metal-Centered Radicals and Organometallic Complex, NSF
Stephanie Wunder • Anion Exchange Polymer Membranes, Hybrid Plastics • Bonding of Lithium Phosphate Glass, Max Power, Inc. • Layered Nanolaminated MAX Phases as Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries, Ben Franklin Technology Partners (Drexel University) • Self-Assembled Multi-Ionic Lithium Salts for Solid, NSF
ALUMNI PROFILE
After Merck, Jim Guare’s next challenge is cookery Newly retired in 2008, Jim Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) was looking for another challenge. “I seriously considered going to medical school,” says Guare, who spent 28 years at Merck & Co., Inc. Ultimately, Guare set his sights on food. “I had always been interested in the chemistry of food preparation, but I didn’t understand the techniques of cooking,” he says. Today, Guare is earning an associate’s degree in culinary arts at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. “Everything you cook is chemistry,” explains Guare. “from browning meat to the latest in molecular gastronomy.” Guare was one of the first synthetic chemists to work on protease inhibitors for the treatment of HIV, playing a major role in the discovery of Crixivan. Crixivan’s effectiveness against the virus was the breakthrough that transformed HIV infection from a disease that brought certain death into a manageable condition. It played a key role in the Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy treatment regimen, introduced in 1996 and still used today. In 1997, he and his team earned the National Inventor of the Year Award for work on Crixivan. Guare continued his HIV work at Merck and was a key contributor to Isentress, the first integrase inhibitor approved by the FDA and an even more effective HIV drug. “A lot of the scientific community didn’t think it was possible to develop an integrase inhibitor,” says Guare. That work helped earn him the Technological Achievement in Organic Chemistry Award from the ACS in 2002. Guare was inspired by two chemistry faculty members, the late Edgar Howard Jr. and Professor Emeritus Grant Krow. “It wasn’t just regurgitating facts,” Guare says. “It was taking what you know and, with the right guidance and direction, making something no one else has ever made. That’s the joy of chemistry.”
Lasers could help detect radioactive threats The Center for Advanced Photonics Research (CAPR) received a $450,000, three-year grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to further develop laser-based technologies created by CAPR for the potential standoff, or at a distance, detection of radioactive materials. CAPR researchers will study concepts that emerged from previous projects to create standoff detection of improvised explosive devices. Researchers discovered that they could detect signature molecules in the air by using a commercially available laser and a $50 lens. “If you take the output of a commodity laser and put the pulse through a 2 meter lens in air, after about 3 meters, you get a really short, few-cycle pulse. This automatically creates one of the shortest laser pulses in the world and used to cost up to a $1 million to create,” said chemistry chair Robert Levis. “But now you can get this short pulse basically for free right out in the air.” Levis said that any molecules caught in the short pulse start to move in perfect unison, with each type of molecule creating its own pattern or signature. The question is whether radioactive decay in the air creates enough new signature molecules to allow detection. “When the molecules begin moving as one and you put a weak laser beam through the same volume, you can identify the molecules by their signature movement,” he said. “We realized we could use this process to perform gas phase Raman spectroscopy to identify the molecules.”