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Recent News & Events in Chemistry and Biochemistry

  • Summer
    • Congratulations to our 2023 Johnson & Johnson Vision Sponsored Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Cohort:
      • Amanda Jessel
      • Hana Kabil
      • Skyeler Klinge
      • Tania McCormack
      • Cassidy Nguyen
      • Gustavo Perez
      • Jordan Tucker
      • Cameron Young
  • Spring
    • Congratulations to Melissa Bush for being promoted to University Lab Lecturer!
    • Congratulations to Prof. Bryan Knuckley for being promoted to Full Professor!
    • Congratulations to Prof. Szymon Ciesielski for being named UNF Undergraduate Mentor of the Year!
    • The UNF Department of Chemistry has been renamed to the UNF Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry!
    • Prof. Amy Lane (PI) along with Prof. Terri Ellis (Co-PI; UNF Biology) and Prof. Judy Ochrietor (Senior Key Personnel) are awarded an Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) for more than $1,000,000 to help promote student success across UNF’s biology, chemistry, and physics undergraduate student population.
    • UNF Chemistry student, Zachary Burkhead was awarded a spot for the Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) Workshop! The American Chemical Society only sponsors two students nationwide from a pool of both undergrads and grad students. Zach will go to Washington DC for three days in March to learn about the federal policy-making process, network with policy professionals, and collaborate with other students engaged with science policy.
    • Prof. Josh Melko has returned from his sabbatical as an ACS Congressional Fellow.
    • Prof. Stuart Chalk received the UNF Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award!
    • Melissa Bush received the UNF Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award! 
    • Prof. Brynna Jones was awarded a UNF Shared Research Instrumentation Grant (SRIG) for $101,750 entitled "Acquisition of a 3D Digital Image Correlation System for Science and Engineering Research.”
  • Fall
  • Summer
    • Congratulations to Prof. Amy Lane for being awarded the Terry Presidential Professorship.
    • UNF Chemistry launches a Summer Undergraduate Research Program sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
    • Congratulations to our 2022 Johnson & Johnson Vision Sponsored Student Interns:Elise Ballash, Zachary Burkhead, Isabella Cioffi, Brooklyn Dailey, Brandon Guerin, Amanda Jessel, Seth Shearer, Caroline Teeter, Natacha Tirado, and Jordan Tucker.
  • Spring
    • UNF Chemistry launches a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (starting Fall 2022)
    • Congratulations to Prof. Stuart Chalk for being selected as the UNF Distinguished Professor Runner Up.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Melissa Bush on being awarded a UNF Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
    • Congratulations to each of those groups on having their UNF Shared Research Instrumentation proposals selected for funding.
      • Congratulations to Profs. Mike Lufaso and Eirin Sullivan for their proposal “Acquisition of a UV-Vis Spectrometer with Integrating Sphere,” at the amount of $47,021!
      • Congratulations to Prof. TJ Mullen (Co-PI) along with Profs. Greg Wurtz, Maitri Warusawithana, and Dan Santavicaa (PI) for their proposal “Acquisition of a Reactive Ion Etcher (RIE) for Materials Research at UNF,” being funded at the amount of $95,130!
      • Congratulations to Prof. Szymon Ciesielski (PI) with Co-PI’s Profs. Hannah Malcolm, Amy Lane, and Bryan Knuckley for their proposal “iBright Imaging System – essential research instrumentation for the Chemistry Department,” at the amount of $34,000!
      • Congratulations to Prof. Art Omran on his latest publication “Oxidative Phosphorus Chemistry Perturbed by Minerals” published in Life as part of a special issue on The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Systems Chemistry Perspective.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Ken Laali on his recent retirement and being selected as Emeritus Faculty.
    • Congratulations to The American Chemical Society of University of North Florida Student Chapter on receiving funding to support the attendance of your student members at the Spring 2022 ACS Meeting.
  • Fall
    • Congratulations to Prof. Ken Laali for his new Patent on curcuminoids Curcuminoid-Inspired Synthetic Compounds as Anti-Tumor Agents, US Patent 11,117,907 B2
    • Congratulations to Prof. Brynna Jones for publishing “Toward absolute viability measurements for bacteria” in the Journal of Biophotonics.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Arthur Omran for publishing “Phosphine Generation Pathways on Rocky Planets” in Astrobiology.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Ken Laali for being named Associate Editor for Frontiers in Chemistry/Organic Chemistry and Editorial Board Member for Molecules/Organic Section.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Barnali Mondal for receiving an American Chemical Society Short Lab Skills Course Grant ($3000) to create and teach a course on the development of hands-on lab skills.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Eirin Sullivan for receiving a UNF College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council Faculty Fellowship.
    • Congratulations to Prof. TJ Mullen for receiving a UNF College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council Faculty Fellowship.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Eirin Sullivan for publishing "Leishmania tarentolae novel responses to Bi3+-doped strontium aluminum oxyfluorides" in Heliyon.
    • Presidential Professor Prof. Ken Laali has published four new research papers in organic synthesis.  See his extensive list of research papers on his ORCID page.
    • Welcome to the new members of our Chemistry family!
      • Dr. Szymon Ciesielski – Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
      • Dr. Arthur Omran – Visiting Assistant Professor
      • Dr. Dewayne Black – Adjunct Faculty
  • Summer
    • Congratulations to Prof. Amy Lane for being promoted to Professor of Chemistry.
    • Congratulations to Prof. Stuart Chalk for having his project “KnowLedger Semantic Integration Platform” funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for $42,125.
  • Spring