twoColumn twoLeft
Recent News & Events in Chemistry and Biochemistry
2023 News and Events
-
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
- Congratulations to our 2023 Johnson & Johnson Vision Sponsored Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Cohort:
-
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.”
2022 News and Events
-
Fall
- Prof. Szymon Ciesielski was awarded a College of Arts & Sciences Research Enhancement Plan Award for his proposal, "The role of DNAJB1 co-chaperone protein in human neurodegenerative diseases." Congratulations Prof. Ciesielski!
- Dr. Sam Xia, Analytical Instrumentation Facility Manager, was awarded a UNF SPOT Award!
- An exciting day for our department as we hosted a Ribbon Cutting and Research Symposium to formally open our renovated space and to honor our 2022 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Summer Research Fellows. These fellows were part of our inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
- https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2022/sep/12/unf-johnson-and-johnson-vision-partner-for-research/
- https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2022/09/12/unf-unveils-new-chemistry-wing.html
- https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/09/09/unf-announces-new-chemistry-wing-to-improve-teaching-and-research/
- UNF Chemistry launches a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry
- Welcome to the new members of our Chemistry family:
- Dr. Will Jones – Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry
- Dr. Arthur Omran – Lecturer of Chemistry
- Dr. Emily Rigsby – Visiting Laboratory Lecturer
- Sarah Nix – Laboratory Manager
- Congratulation to Profs. Bryan Knuckley and Corey Causey for publishing “A peptoid-based inhibitor of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) induces apoptosis and autophagy in cancer cells” in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
- Congratulations to Prof. Hannah Malcolm on receiving tenure and being promoted to Associate Professor.
-
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.
2021 News and Events
-
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
- Congratulations to Prof. Amy Lane for being awarded a National Science Foundation grant for $324,000 to support her research on harnessing the biochemical potential of unique ocean microorganisms.
- Congratulations to Prof. Stuart Chalk for having his project “IUPAC Recommendation Term Processing System” funded by the IUPAC for $15,000.
- Congratulations to Prof. Josh Melko for being awarded the American Chemical Society Congressional Fellowship!
- Congratulations to Prof. Stuart Chalk for publishing the article “FAIR Enough?” in Spectroscopy Europe.
- Congratulations to Prof. Amy Lane for publishing “Bioinspired Brønsted Acid-Promoted Regioselective Tryptophan Isoprenylations” in ACS Omega.
- Congratulations to Prof. Amy Lane for publishing “Review of Molecular Evolutionary Models in Drug Discovery” in the Journal of Natural Products.