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September 2018

Archives for September 2018

Oxford University Press Releases Kovac’s Book

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Jeff KovacOxford University Press has just released the second edition of Jeffery Kovac’s book, The Ethical Chemist. It provides a detailed discussion of professional ethics for chemists based on the view that the specific codes of conduct derive from a three part moral ideal. It also contains a large collection of specific ethical problems that exemplify important ethical issues that are ideal for use in courses or workshops for students or working chemists.

This book has 18 new cases on ethical problems that were not covered in the first edition. Kovac “tried to make the book more useful to industrial chemists by adding more cases raising issues they face in their work. In addition, I have revised many of the original cases to clarify situations that were vague and to enliven the prose to make them more interesting.”

As a Professor of Chemistry and Director of College Scholars, Kovac is the author of over 100 publications including six previous books.

 

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Sharma Group Research Highlighted in Spectroscopy Newsletter

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Research in the Sharma lab was recently highlighted in an online Spectroscopy newsletter for using SERS and SESORS to detect neurotransmitters and probe subsurface layers through the skull. She describes the advantages of these techniques and how they are used in biological applications.

Sharma explains, “SERS is advantageous in that it provides very rapid sample analysis time versus other techniques including HPLC, mass spectrometry (MS), and fluorescence. SERS also involves little to no sample preparation, no necessary labeling, and results in a “molecular fingerprint” for each analyte even for analytes with very similar chemical structures, making identification more straightforward.”

The research goal is to “establish limits of detection for various neurotransmitters that are commonly known to be involved in specific neurological diseases and then to detect these neurotransmitters in the brain.”

 

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Dai Receives Two Prestigious Awards

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The Department of Chemistry would like to extend congratulations to Sheng Dai for recently receiving two prestigious awards for his work. He was recently named the recipient of the highly sought-after 2019 ACS Award in Separations Science & Technology AND The International Mesoporous Society’s 2018 IMMA Award. He was bestowed these honors for his significant and sustained contributions to our current knowledge of porous materials and ionic liquids for energy-related separation.

His research has significantly impacted both the synthesis and characterization of these unique materials for a number of separation processes and energy storage. He is an internationally recognized expert in the synthesis and characterization of porous materials and ionic liquids for separation chemistry and was included in the 2015 Thompson-Reuters list of the world’s most influential chemists. His work includes publishing more than 600 peer-review papers, 28 patents, and according to the h index of 94 based on Web of Science (as of Sept. 16, 2018), his papers have been cited more than 36,000 times.

 

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Roy and Lebeis Receive NSF CAREER Awards

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The College of Arts and Sciences is excited to add Sharani Roy and Sarah Lebeis to a particularly exclusive group of honorees. They join the ranks of those having been selected to receive a coveted National Science Foundation CAREER award. This esteemed early-career honor is bestowed upon promising young faculty who show exceptional potential in their field and are devoted to higher education. This award also provides a 5 year grant to help fund their research. With the addition of Roy and Lebeis, the department will have accrued 11 of these high honors.

“NSF CAREER awards are designed to prepare tenure-track faculty for a lifetime of outstanding research and education service,” said Drew Haswell, research coordinator for the college.

Sharani Roy is an assistant professor of chemistry that specializes in surface chemistry. Her research attempts to develop newer, more accurate methods of studying surface chemistry that extend beyond previous concepts of molecular dynamics simulations. In addition to developing courses on computational chemistry, surface chemistry, and scientific computing, she has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to organize a symposium on surface chemistry.

Of the almost 800 applicants in her category, Roy was one of about 170 chosen for funding. In Lebeis’s category of approximately 400, fewer than 50 were selected.

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Alumnus Selected to Lead the National Institutes of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

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University of Tennessee’s alum Bruce J. Tromberg, PhD was recently appointed director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). At the developmental forefront of biophotonics, Dr. Tromberg currently maintains dual appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). Additionally, he spends time as director of UCI’s Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, an interdisciplinary research, teaching and clinical center for optics and photonics in biology and medicine. Though not currently a member of the NIH, he is expected to join in the coming year. Dr. Tromberg’s research focuses on biophotonics and biomedical optics, two rapidly growing fields that use light to image and conduct therapy at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. He has co-authored more than 450 publications and holds 18 patents for biophotonics technologies and their applications. He specializes in new technology development as well as clinical translation, validation and commercialization of promising methods designed to improve human health.

As director, Dr. Tromberg will be charged with overseeing the NIBIB’s annual budget of approximately $378 million. The NIBIB supports multidisciplinary research in the physical, mathematical and computational sciences. Though there are allocations to NIH Laboratories, the majority of the research budget is dispersed to over 800 active grants. These have been awarded to universities to help fund research both across the nation and around the world. He will head a team of approximately 230 staff members who work directly with the development of new biomedical imaging and bioengineering technologies and techniques. These cutting edge developments aim to fundamentally improve the detection, treatment and prevention of disease.

 

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