Second Year Graduate Student Paper Featured on Journal Cover

March 21, 2017 by chemweb

Zachary Ogburn, a second year chemistry graduate student from the Frank Vogt’s Research Group, published his first paper titled “Microalgae as embedded environmental monitors” on Analytica Chimica Acta (ACA), a leading journal in analytical chemistry. The paper was selected to be featured on the journal’s cover (Vol. 954).

In his first-authored paper, Ogburn developed analytical methodologies that utilize microalgae’s adaptation as a novel approach for in-situ environmental monitoring. Microalgae are important component in marine ecosystems because of their ability to transform large quantities of inorganic compounds into biomass. The study specifically looked at phytoplankton’s sequestration of atmospheric CO2, a greenhouse gas, and nitrate, one cause of harmful algae blooms.

Frank Vogt, associate professor of chemistry and Ogburn’s mentor, is quite proud of Ogburn’s achievement. “I want to point out that ACA is a leading journal in analytical chemistry and Zack got this paper accepted at the end of his 2nd year!” Vogt said.

ACA is an international journal that publishes research in all branches of analytical chemistry. According to 2016 Journal Citation Reports published by Reuters, ACA has a 5-year impact factor of 4.841.

Ogburn grew up in Loganville, GA, where he graduated from Loganville High in 2009 as well as enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard. He was a recipient of the Georgia Military Scholarship and graduated from the University of North Georgia with his B.S. in chemistry in 2013. Upon graduation Ogburn received a commission as an officer in the Chemical Corps and he is currently a 1st LT serving as the chemical officer for the 1-121 Infantry Battalion of the Georgia Guard. Ogburn joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the spring of 2015 and is currently working towards his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry.

Chemistry Graduate Student Neil Williams Featured in USA Today

January 13, 2017 by chemweb

Neil Williams, a 4^th year PhD candidate in Professor Sheng Dai’s group, had his research featured in a USA Today article. Williams is part of a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that discovered a method for removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly from air. This breakthrough in carbon capture was also mentioned by Knoxville News Sentinel and Forbes.

Read the full article on USA Today.

Chemistry Professor Emeritus Bill Bull Passed Away

January 3, 2017 by chemweb

William Bull, also known as Bill Bull, chemistry professor emeritus and former associate head of department at UT, passed away Tuesday, December 27, 2016. The service took place at 10 a.m. December 31 at Second Presbyterian Church. The following obituary was published on the Knoxville News Sentinel website.

William Bull

1933 – 2016

Knoxville, TN

William Earnest Bull, of Knoxville, passed away Tuesday, December 27, 2016, just a few weeks shy of celebrating his 84th birthday. Born during the height of the depression in 1933 on a farm near Lonedell, MO, his family moved to Granite City, IL where he spent most of his childhood. He excelled in school, especially enjoying mathematics and science. Through his hard work he earned academic scholarships and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. While in school at Southern Illinois University, he met and married the love of his long life, Margaret in 1955. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Champaign with a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry, Bill joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After 40 years of service, he retired as Associate Head of the Department. To mark this occasion an audio/visual classroom in Dabney Hall was named in his honor. Bill was a passionate gardener who enjoyed raising vegetables. He turned a rocky, clay-filled patch of dirt into a very bountiful garden at their west Knoxville home. He also built a greenhouse, which was used to grow orchids, poinsettias, cacti and seedlings. In his retirement years, he and Margaret moved to Clinton, TN where he continued to garden. They also traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Mideast and South America. Bill was a strong supporter of the arts and the community. He enjoyed the Knoxville Symphony and Knoxville Opera. He assisted Margaret with volunteer work at the Knoxville Museum of Art Library. In addition, He was a faithful and dutiful member of Second Presbyterian Church.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret; his parents, Everett and Daisy Bull; and his sister, Elizabeth Caschetta. Bill is survived by his sons, Larry, Jeff and his wife Sara, and Greg; grandchildren, Michael and Christina; great-grandson Christian; and his sister Barbara.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 31, 2016, at Second Presbyterian Church with receiving of friends immediately following the service. The family will have a private burial. In lieu of flowers the family requests consideration of a donation to Second Presbyterian Church, 2829 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919 or the University of Tennessee Foundation – Chemistry Enrichment Fund at Arts and Sciences Development, 137 Alumni Memorial Building, 1408 Middle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996, (www.chem.utk.edu/giving). Arrangements by Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. Online condolences at www.rosemortuary.com

 

Published in Knoxville News Sentinel from Dec. 29 to Dec. 31, 2016- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/knoxnews/obituary.aspx?n=william-bull&p…

Chemistry Department Received Increased Funding from NIH

January 3, 2017 by chemweb

In 2016, the National Institutes of Health increased support for projects in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Tessa Calhoun, assistant professor, received funding for her project “Imaging Amphotericin B’s Mechanism of Action with Transient Absorption Microscopy.” David Jenkins, associate professor, is the PI of awarded project “Catalytic C2+N1 Aziridination from Organic and Carbamate Azides.” The third awarded project, “Labeling of Lipid Products Using Synthetic Tagged Metabolite Probes to Analyze Lipid Biosynthesis and Trafficking,” was directed by associate professor Michael Best.

Both Jenkins and Best were also NSF CAREER awardees in 2013 and 2010.

“We are thrilled to see so many new NIH awards in the Department of Chemistry,” said Taylor Eighmy, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement at the UT Office of Research and Engagement. “Since implementing a strategic plan to grow UT’s NIH funding in 2014, we have created a number of new resources and development opportunities through the Office of Research and Engagement to support our NIH researchers and help them submit strong proposals. These calculated efforts are beginning to have a noticeable impact on our researchers’ success with NIH, and we hope this trend continues.”

The following are the descriptions of each awarded project:

Tessa Calhoun, Imaging Amphotericin B’s Mechanism of Action with Transient Absorption Microscopy

The dramatic rise of antimicrobial resistance has created the need for new approaches in the design of novel drug systems. Professor Calhoun’s project focuses on the study of Amphotericin B, an important antifungal therapeutic often used as a last line of defense for systemic fungal infections, which has developed limited cases of clinical resistance despite decades of use. A better understanding of how this drug operates within cells could inform our understanding of the design principles of novel drug delivery systems needed to reduce the occurrences of antimicrobial resistance. In her project, Calhoun will use transient absorption microscopy to directly image how Amphotericin B acts in both model and living systems to achieve its effective behavior.

David Jenkins, Catalytic C2+N1 Aziridination from Organic and Carbamate Azides

Aziridines are biologically active functional groups found in natural products, such as mitomycins and azinomycins, which are critical in biology and synthetic medicinal chemistry due to their antitumor properties. Despite the myriad uses for aziridines in pharmaceutical products, as well as synthetic intermediates, their efficient synthesis has not yet been achieved. In this project, Jenkins proposes to extend research on catalytic aziridination to include new directions relevant to the medicinal chemistry community—in particular, the synthesis of carbamate protected aziridines and chiral aziridines. Chiral aziridines are a useful tool in the synthesis of single enantiomer drugs.

Michael Best, Labeling of Lipid Products Using Synthetic Tagged Metabolite Probes to Analyze Lipid Biosynthesis and Trafficking

While lipids control many of the most critical biological processes that lead to diseases (including cancer), tracking the production of these molecules in cells remains a significant challenge. In his project, Best explores novel approaches for the labeling of lipid structures that will enable tracking of the identity and location of lipids in cells, with a focus on cancer cells. These strategies will significantly enhance our understanding of the biosynthesis and movement of important lipid molecules within their native cellular environments.

Campagna Honored at Annual Faculty Awards Banquet

December 16, 2016 by chemweb

Each year, faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences are recognized for their contributions to the college, the university, and the impact of their teaching and research at the annual faculty awards dinner. One member of the Department of Chemistry received an award at this year’s event, which took place Thursday, December 1, 2016.

Shawn Campagna, associate professor, received the Interdepartmental Collaborative Scholarship and Research award for his work with Professors Helen Baghdoyan and Ralph Lydic in the Department of Psychology.

The psychology/chemistry collaboration uses state-of-the-art chemical techniques to identify known and unknown brain molecules that regulate naturally-occurring and drug-induced states of consciousness. The long-range goal is to establish causal relationships between specific molecules and behavioral states and physiological traits. Their collaborative research will quantify the effect of different drug classes on different brain regions and further our basic science knowledge of brain function.

Congratulations to Professor Campagna on his achievement.

Chemistry Professor Led Group Won R&D 100 Awards

November 8, 2016 by chemweb

Chemistry professor Sheng Dai led a group of scientists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 525 Solutions developed U-Grabber, an adsorbent material designed to extract uranium and other metals from water inexpensively and efficiently. The project received 2016 R&D 100 Award, known as the “Oscars of Invention”, honoring innovative breakthroughs in materials science, biomedicine, consumer products and more from academia, industry and government-sponsored research agencies since its inception in 1963.

U-Grabber is made from polyethylene fibers, similar to PVC, woven into braids and grafted with chains of a uranium-attractive chemical called amidoxime. The free-floating uranium in the water binds with the fibers and can be extracted, purified and sold as nuclear fuel.

The fibers can be reconstituted and reused, are cheap to produce at scale and can bolster dwindling terrestrial supplies of uranium. They can also be customized to bind with other toxic or valuable aqueous metals, providing an environmentally sound method of cleaning bodies of water such as mines or fly ash ponds.

The development team was Sheng Dai, Suree Brown (UT), Robin Rogers (525 Solutions), Christopher Janke, Richard Mayes, Tomonori Saito and Ronnie Hanes (525 Solutions).

“Suree Brown played the most important role in developing this technology,” said Dai. Brown is a chemistry alumna and now a Research Associate working in Dai’s group at UT.

Brown was born and raised in Thailand. After obtaining her B.S. in chemistry from Chulalongkorn University, she came to UT to pursue a PhD in chemistry under professor Craig Barnes, during which time she acquired skills and experiences in organometallics and olefin polymerization.

Brown started working with Dai during the final year of her PhD study. After obtaining her PhD in 2002, she continued to work with Dai at ORNL and later on at UT.

“I had the privilege to work with various advanced materials, including nanomaterials, polymers, and hybrid materials, for a wide variety of applications, including radiation detection and uranium recovery from seawater.”Brown said. “We cannot do the work we do without the help and support from the chemistry department as a whole and the staff here.”

Brown is happily married. She and her husband enjoy reading, swimming, and spending time with children and animals.

U-Grabber is one of the seven winning projects at the Lab this year. Read the full article on ORNL’s website.

Larese Group Alumnus Barbour Part of the Team Find Static “Stripes” of Electrical Charge in Copper-Oxide Superconductor

October 31, 2016 by chemweb

Chemistry alumnus Andi Barbour (first from right), member of the Brookhaven Lab research team, found static “stripes” of electrical charge in copper-oxide superconductor. The team published their research results on October 11 in Physical Review Letters. Barbour obtained his PhD degree in chemistry in 2009 studying with Professor John Larese.

Read the full article on Brookhaven National Lab website.

Professor Campagna Part of the Team Identified Bacterial Genes that Could Lessen Severity of Malaria

October 26, 2016 by chemweb

KNOXVILLE—Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have identified a set of bacterial genes that may help them find ways to lessen the severity of the disease malaria.

Their findings could also aid the research of fellow scientists working in malaria-stricken regions around the world.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

Collaborators in this work include Steven Wilhelm, the Kenneth and Blaire Mossman Professor in the UT Department of Microbiology; Shawn Campagna, UT associate professor of chemistry; Gary LeCleir, UT research assistant professor of microbiology; Joshua Stough, UT doctoral student in microbiology; and Nathan Schmidt, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Louisville.

Read the full article on UT News

Graduate Student to Help Organize International Symposium on ‘Green Chemistry’

October 5, 2016 by chemweb

The past summer was not ordinary for chemistry graduate student Roberto Federico-Perez, a member of Xue’s Research Group at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He participated in a week-long Green Chemistry & Sustainable Energy Summer School that took place at the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, Colorado from June 21 to 28. During the Summer School, Federico-Perez was introduced to Network of Early-career Sustainable Scientists and Engineers (NESSE), and was selected to work with NESSE in La Rochelle, France next May to organize the 2017 International Symposium on Green Chemistry (ISGC).

Sponsored by American Chemical Society, the Summer School hosted 55 participants from US, Canada and several countries in South America. Participants attended sessions throughout the day with topics ranging from green chemistry, ionic liquids to life-cycle assessment and policy-making. They were also offered workshops on grant proposal writing, entrepreneurship, and career planning.

To encourage interactions among participants, the program included group projects. “We had to analyze the life cycle of an organic synthesis and make a group presentation on it as part of our program.” Federico-Perez said. “I enjoyed working with people from different institutions and backgrounds on it. It was though, a labor-intensive task to be accomplished on a short deadline. However, we acquired some valuable working knowledge on the subject by participating on this hands-on exercise. ”

Green chemistry is a field that started as a result of a long discussion on how to make a more effective use of available resources. The term and field have become more widespread in the past 25 years. “The opportunity to observe how the principles of sustainability are incorporated on chemical research was a real benefit I obtained from this summer school.” Federico-Perez commented. “The ACS Summer School was a valuable experience to communicate the current trends on this field. This event has become an exceptional tool to foster a new generation of professionals with a different view on the application of chemistry.”

Federico-Perez’s endeavor into green chemistry did not stop when the Summer School ended. He was excited about NESSE, an organization established after the 2013 Summer School to provide a platform in order to create a community of next generation sustainable scientists connected globally.

“NESSE has members from all over the world, and organizes activities that range from maintaining a blog for communication of events in the field, hosting career workshops on green chemistry, and promoting the development of sustainable science groups.” Federico-Perez said.

As part of their agenda, NESSE participated in organizing the 2015 ISGC. They put out a call for volunteers to serve on 2017 ISGC committee, to which Federico-Perez responded and was selected along with another participant from this year’s Summer School.

“A big part of our current tasks is the communication of the event.” Federico-Perez explained the priority of the ISGC committee. “ISGC 2017 is the perfect inter-disciplinary platform to exchange the most recent advancements in the field, meet experts in public and private sectors, and network with the growing community of green chemistry. Over 800 attendees are expected to share their knowledge in multiple parallel sessions. The call for abstracts is open, and the submission deadline is October 31^st.”

Follow the link to find out more about 2017 ISGC.

Related article: Roberto Federico-Perez Received Eastman Travel Award