Winter 2012 Volume 1 • Issue 1

The Department ofChemistry at theUniversity at Albany hasnever been stronger. Inundergraduate educationwe have witnessed asteady increase in our

major and overall enrollment in record numbers.In graduate education there are now close to 70graduate students conducting innovative researchin a wide variety of scientific areas. Chemistry isnow one of the best funded units on campus. Ourfaculty members publish in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and receive competitiveresearch funding from the National ScienceFoundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health(NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD) andthe National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and others.As a result, exciting research opportunitiesabound for our graduate and undergraduate

students and we are still growing. Last year werecruited two new faculty members in organic and biophysical chemistry from M.I.T andHarvard. This year, we are recruiting two morefaculty members in forensic chemistry, analyticalchemistry or toxicology to strengthen our ForensicChemistry sector, a newly minted area of growth.As you read through this newsletter (and ourdepartment website: www.albany.edu/chemistry,)I hope that you will recognize that we are a fast-growing, vibrant department in a world-classuniversity. Our curricula, faculty research interests,and interdepartmental and multidisciplinaryprograms all demonstrate our long-standingcommitment to the quality of education at both theundergraduate and graduate levels, as well as to thepursuit of rigorous study and creative researchanchored in chemical science.

— Li Niu, Professor & Department Chair

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Energy and Excitement - That’show we view the new edition ofour Chem-E-Newsletter. It isan empowering, Eureka moment -as we discover and highlight themyriad accomplishments of ourfaculty, staff, students anddistinguished alumni. We hopethis newsletter reveals the strengthand dynamism of the Department

of Chemistry as we look ahead towelcoming new colleagues andstudents, and forging newdirections for growth. As you readthis new edition, we invite andchallenge you to send us yourcreative ideas for sharing in future editions - whether it is aninnovative design for the facepage, or stories long forgotten,

or a unique experience youcherish, or simply — suggestionsfor improvement. We lookforward to your comments andparticipation in enriching futureeditions of this newsletter.

— Jayanti Pande, Associate Professor

EDITOR’S NOTE

Professors Li Niu, Lawrence Snyder, Mehmet Yigit and Jayanti Pande, and Senior Staff Assistant to the Chair, Brian Gabriel.

Members of the Advancement and Development Committee

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Isomers with the same atomiccomposition and bond sequencethat are mirror images of eachother are called enantiomers.Enantiomers are not only differentin structure and properties, butalso in function, and can have acompletely different effect on

metabolism. The most popularexample is thalidomide, which wasused as a drug against morningsickness in pregnant women in thelate 1950s. However, there wereseveral complications, such as birth defects that were later

linked to one enantiomer (the S-enantiomer). Since the image inthe mirror could be deceptive, it isthe goal of pharmaceuticalcompanies to synthesizeenantiopure drug molecules for asuccessful therapeutic application.

R-Thalidomide is an enantiomer, whichsuppresses morning sickness; however S enantiomer causes birth defects. The two molecules are mirror images of each other just like deer horns but aredifferent in chemical configuration.

— Mehmet Yigit, Assistant Professor

The department has undertaken a multi-million dollar renovation and upgrade project for the chemistryteaching labs on the first floor, and has already established a state-of-the-art Chemical Biology Lab to servethe popular chemical biology emphasis for our majors. Other labs being renovated are General Chemistry andQuantitative and Instrumental Analysis labs. New equipment for these labs include UV-visspectrophotometers, Raman spectrometers, fluorometers, GC and GC-MS instrument.

— Colin Henck, Undergraduate Laboratory Coordinator

Chem-E-News: “E- is for Enantiomer!”

As part of our B.S. degree programthe department offers a uniqueforensic chemistry track. OurComprehensive ForensicChemistry Emphasis, accreditedsince 2010, is one of seventeenundergraduate forensic programsaccredited by FEPAC (ForensicScience Education ProgramsAccreditation Commission) in theU.S., and one of only five that alsomeets certification by ACS. It hascontributed to recordundergraduate enrollment, (from28 students in 2002-2003 to nearly150 in 2012). Our Forensic

Chemistry Laboratory is one ofthe most well equippedundergraduate instructional

laboratories in the nation,designed with input from New York State Police scientists.

— Jason Shepard, Assistant Professor

The Forensic Program

The Forensic Institute InitiativeAs part of a series of UAlbanystrategic proposals, including theAlbany Impact Plan and theSUNY2020 Plan, our departmenthas established the ForensicTechnology Institute (FTI). The FTI will employ emergingtechnologies to advancescholarship and research at

the graduate and undergraduatelevel. FTI will hire new facultywho develop several cutting-edgetechnologies for forensicapplications, and will providehighly specialized training of the next generation of forensic scientists.

— Igor Lednev, Associate Professor

Classroom Upgrades

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P. Agris published three papers on theimportance of modified nucleosides totRNA’s control of gene expression. Hewas awarded a NYCAP ResearchAlliance grant for sensitive detectionof early phase beta amyloid aggregatesin Alzheimer disease, as well as aTechnology Accelerator Fund grantfrom SUNY RF for development ofnovel antibiotics against a uniquetarget in drug resistant bacteria.

E. Block received the 2012 SterlingB. Hendricks Memorial LecturerAward of the USDA, and was afeatured speaker at the 2012 TorontoGarlic Festival, and a PlenaryLecturer at a natural productssymposium in Aveiro, Portugal. HisProceedings of the National Academy ofSciences (PNAS) paper featured inC&EN, Nature Chemistry, and LeMonde (Paris), was the subject of aninterview on WNYT Channel 13Albany. In honor of his 70th birthdayin 2012, a “Festschrift” double issueof the Journal of Sulfur Chemistry hasbeen published, with anautobiographical article by Block, andpapers dedicated to him from formercoworkers and colleagues, and areview of his book, Garlic and OtherAlliums: the Lore and the Science.

J. Delano co-chaired two NASApanels, received the 2011 Citizen of theUniversity Award, and wasappointed Associate Dean for theCollege of Arts and Sciences. Hiswork on RNA catalysis is funded bythe NASA Astrobiology program.

E. Dikarev received grants from NSFand the Petroleum Research Fund.His paper on molecular precursor forlithium ion battery cathode washighlighted in JACS Spotlights. Acompound, synthesized in his groupwas featured in the textbook InorganicChemistry, 4ed. by C. E. Housecroftand A. G. Sharpe.

I. Lednev served as an advisorymember at the White HouseSubcommittee on Forensic Science,renewed his NIJ grant ondevelopment of new forensic tools, as well as the NSF grant to study hisrecent findings on the spontaneousrefolding of amyloid fibrils.

L. Niu received a new patent issuedby USPTO on the discovery ofconformation-selective RNAaptamers against AMPA glutamatereceptors. He also received a newgrant from The Muscular Dystrophy Association for testingRNA drugs made in his lab in ALSanimal models.

J. Pande published three papers (coverarticle in PNAS), with commentariesin PNAS and C&ENews (Science &Technology section). She received asupplement to her NIH grant, andgave an invited talk at the IUPAC2011 conference in Puerto Rico.

M. Petrukhina published a paper in Science (2011, 333, 1008), andedited a book, “Fragments of Fullerenesand Carbon Nanotubes: DesignedSynthesis, Unusual Reactions, andCoordination Chemistry,” John Wiley & Sons, 2012, pp 413.

J. Shepard published six peer-reviewed articles, in RapidCommunication in Mass Spectrometry, J.American Society of Mass Spectrometry,Analytical Chemistry and ChemistrySociety Reviews. He also gave threeinvited talks.

L. Snyder exhibited the “GrapheneQuilt” in 2011 at the March meetingof the American Physical Society inDallas, TX, and at the Mid-AtlanticQuilt Festival XXII in Hampton, VA.

C. Theimer published two papers in peer-reviewed journals,Journal of Molecular Biology, RNAand a book chapter entitled “NMRstudies of protein-RNA complexes” forthe Methods in Molecular Biologybook series.

J. Welch organized a 4-daySymposium in honor of Prof. Donald J. Burton at the NationalACS meeting in 2011. He wasappointed to the faculty of theGraduate School for FluorineChemistry at the Free University ofBerlin and Humboldt University in2012. Dr. Welch served on theInternational Advisory Board of the20th International Symposium onFluorine Chemistry in Japan and on the International AdvisoryBoard of the 3rd InternationalSymposium on OrganofluorineCompounds in Biomedical, Materials and Agricultural Sciencesheld in Spain.

Faculty Accomplishments during 2011-2012

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Dr. Yigit received his Ph.D.from the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign in 2008,where he studied biomedicalapplications of aptamerfunctionalized magneticnanoparticles with Prof. Yi Lu.He did his postdoctoral workwith Dr. Moore and Dr.Medarova at Harvard Medical

School on image-guided therapy with siRNA-derivatizedmagnetic nanoparticles. Mehmet is interested in usingdifferent types of nanoparticles for biomedical imaging,cancer therapeutics and biosensing applications. Mehmetjoined the department in fall 2012.

Dr. Royzen did his graduatework at New York Universitywith Prof. James Canary. Hisgraduate studies focused on thedevelopment of fluorescentsensors for live cell imaging oftransition metal ions.Subsequently, he spent two and ahalf years at the University of

Delaware, where he co-developed new bio-orthogonalligation chemistry with Prof. Joseph Fox. After a briefstint at Merck & Co. he joined Prof. Lippard’s group atMIT, as an NIH postdoctoral fellow. Max is currentlyinterested in developing fluorescent probes for imaging ofimportant bio-molecules and bio-processes in live cells,with particular interest in studying RNA in all of its forms.Max will arrive in spring 2013.

New Faculty Appointments

Thirty years of teaching and research in the Chemistry Department at the University at Albany have taught methat many very talented persons are among undergraduate and graduate students who enter our institution. Thesepersons have often emerged from families of limited financial resources. To me, giving to the University and its studentsis one of the most effective ways I can think of to promote the lives of these young people, and the future of ourcountry. I am sure that many persons share this opinion with me. Almost five decades ago, I was fortunate to buy a largefarm in Broome County. About five years ago, large deposits of natural gas were discovered to lie about a mile below thesurface in the Marcellus shale. The newly developed fracking technology makes possible the extraction of that gas. Thepotential royalties from natural gas produced at my farm provide an opportunity for me to support the ChemistryDepartment and the UAlbany through my will into the period after my death.

At the University at Albany Foundation four expendable funds have been set up to receive gas royalty funds.“The Chemistry Department Scholar Awards” will provide awards for undergraduate chemistry majors. Whereoutstanding students might otherwise have to work during their academic year, the award may free them to engage inresearch or intensify their studies of chemistry and the larger body of knowledge. “The Chemistry DepartmentFellowships” will provide fellowships for students matriculated in the graduate program. “The Lawrence C. SnyderProfessorship” will be used to establish a professorship for chemistry faculty. The Lawrence C. Snyder Professor musthave previously served at least one year as Chair of the Chemistry Department, and he/she must teach at least one lowerdivision course during each academic year that this appointment is held. “The Lawrence C. Snyder ChemistryDepartment Fund” shall provide support for the programs and initiatives of the Chemistry Department.

— Lawrence Snyder, O’Leary Professor

We warmly welcome Dr. Mehmet Yigit and Dr. Maksim Royzen as newly appointed AssistantProfessors in our department.

Setting Up Bequests to the Chemistry Department and the University at Albany

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Vitali Sikirzhytski and DmitryKurouski from the Lednev labdefended their Ph.D theses havingpublished 15 and 18 peer-reviewedpapers respectively.

Jeff Hebert and Ashley Seo from the Niu lab received their M.S.degrees and are currently employed at Albany Molecular ResearchInstitute (AMRI) and Access Bio(Newark, NJ), respectively.

Priya Banerjee from the Pande labwas given the “Best Ph.D thesis of2012” award by the College of Artsand Sciences. He is currently apostdoctoral fellow at Scripps, LaJolla, CA, with Prof. Ashok Denis. Vurghun Ahmadov received theM.S. degree and joined AMRI. Cindy Yeung, a Master’s studentreceived the summer fellowship fromthe Fight for Sight Foundation.

Fei Liu and Nakesha Smith from the Theimer lab, graduated withPh.D degrees. Fei is currently apostdoctoral fellow at Yale Universityin Dr. Anna Marie Pyle’s lab andNakesha is currently employed at theCollege of Nanoscale and Engineeringas an Outreach Coordinator.

Linbin Zhong from the Welch lab,won the best poster prize at the 20thWinter Fluorine Conference of theACS, held in St. Petersburg, FL in2011. Beatriz Bolivar gave aninvited talk at the inaugural KeystoneConference on Sirtuins inMetabolism, Aging and Disease inLake Tahoe in 2012. She is arecipient of the Lawrence and MarieShore fellowship (2012).

Christopher Wells from the Snyderand Welch labs was given the “BestPh.D thesis of 2011” award by theCollege of Arts and Sciences.

AwardsChemistry Department Scholar Awards:Teresa Regis, Michael Ferguson, Jeremy Monheim and Jonelle White.

Chemistry Faculty Award: Gregg Castellucci, Carolyn Frantz,Donald DeRosa and Rachael Hartz.

CRC Press Freshman Award: Jonelle White and Samuel Reichler

Derk V. Tieszen Award:Sarah Clickner, Cristina Dubceac, Erick Harr and Nishtha Modi

Arthur O. Long Teaching Award:Mohammad Qneibi and Sarah Spisak

2012 Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence: Donald DeRosa and Nishtha Modi

Class of 1952 Scholarship: Nishtha Modi

Chemistry Graduate Travel Award:Beatriz Bolivar Acosta, Justin Bueno,Rebecca Rose, Dzmitry Kurouski, Mohamma Qneibi, Ashton Lesiak and Sarah Spisak

Student Awards and Accomplishments During 2011-2012

The Department Welcomes the New Fall 2012 Graduate Students. From left to right: M. Rana, R. Shcherbakov, B. McIntire, H. Haixian, E. Callow, W. Redick, K. Doty, K. Jasper, J. Giffen, A. Antonucci, Z. Chang, C. Salami and W. Wen.

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A Biographical Sketch

Vicki H. Grassian received her B.S.degree in Chemistry from ourdepartment in 1981. She fondlyremembers her time as chemistrymajor at the University at Albany andthe many opportunities she had tointeract with the faculty. Her favoriteteacher was Professor Bernard J.Laurenzi. Professor Laurenzi’sphysical chemistry course inspired herto go to graduate school in physicalchemistry at the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley. She regards hereducation at the University of Albanyas key to her success in graduateschool and beyond and is grateful forthe excellent education she received.

Professor Grassian is currently the F.Wendell Miller Professor ofChemistry at the University of Iowa.Professor Grassian’s current researchinterests are in the areas ofenvironmental molecular surface

science, heterogeneous atmosphericchemistry, climate impact ofatmospheric aerosols, andenvironmental and health aspects ofnanoscience and nanotechnology. Shehas been a pioneer in laboratorystudies of the reactivity andphysicochemical properties of mineraldust aerosol. These studies providethe fundamental basis needed tobetter understand the global impactsof mineral dust in the atmosphere.Her research has shown theimportance and multiple roles thatadsorbed water can play on the structure and chemistry of oxide andcarbonate surfaces, two importantcomponents of mineral dust aerosol,with trace atmospheric gases. Herresearch on environmentalapplications and implications of metaland metal oxide nanoparticles utilizesmolecular-based tools to provideinsights into the surface reactivity ofthese materials. At the University ofIowa, Professor Grassian hasmentored over one hundred studentsin her laboratory including twenty-one students who have received theirPhDs under her guidance. She haspublished over 210 peer-reviewedpublications and 15 book chapters.She has edited three books. The twomost recent books includeEnvironmental Catalysis published in2005 by CRC press and Nanoscienceand Nanotechnology: Environmental andHealth Impacts published in 2008 byJohn Wiley and Sons.

In 2003, Professor Grassian receivedan US-National Science FoundationCreativity Award and in 2005, she waselected as a Fellow of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement ofScience. More recently, she wasnamed a Fellow of both the RoyalSociety of Chemistry and theAmerican Vacuum Society in 2010and, in 2011, became a Fellow of theAmerican Chemical Society. InSeptember 2011, she was named the2012 recipient of the National ACSAward for Creative Advances in Environmental Science andTechnology for her original andcreative contributions inunderstanding mineral dust aerosolproperties through laboratory studiesand their impact on atmosphericchemistry and climate.

Vicki Grassian currently lives in IowaCity, Iowa with her husband, MarkYoung, and two daughters, Alexandraand Samantha. She enjoys spendingher free time with her family andtaking walks with her dog Sniggles.

(http://www.facebook.com/AmericanChemicalSociety). We congratulateher on her achievements! For moreinformation about heraccomplishments, please log onto ourdepartmental website.

Alumni NewsVicki H. Grassian, F. Wendell Miller Professor of Chemistry

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Our Staff

Our Faculty Paul Agris, Professor & Director, RNA Institute

Eric Block, Carla Rizzo Delray Distinguished Professor

John Delano, Distinguished Teaching Professor

Evgeny Dikarev, Associate Professor

Dan Fabris, Professor

Igor Lednev, Associate ProfessorDirector, Forensics Institute

Rabi Musah, Associate Professor

Li Niu, Professor and Chair

Jayanti Pande, Associate Professor

Marina Petrukhina, Professor

Maksim Royzen, Assistant Professor

Charles Scholes, Professor

Alexander Shekhtman, Associate ProfessorDirector, Graduate Studies

Jason Shepard, Assistant Professor

Lawrence Snyder, O’Leary Professor

Carla Theimer, Assistant Professor

Paul Toscano, Associate ProfessorChair, Undergraduate Studies

John Welch, Professor

Mehmet Yigit, Assistant Professor

Brian A. Gabriel, Senior Staff

Colin Henck, Undergraduate Laboratory Coordinator

David Burz, Instructional Support Specialist

Lan Huynh, Instructional Support Technician

Amy Sussdorff, Senior Laboratory Technician

Michele Janishak, Department Secretary

We are excited to share with you the rendering of a proposedE-TECH building at University at Albany. The stateUniversity at Albany has proposed a $165 million EmergingTechnology and Entreneurship Complex. The new 225,000-square-foot center, which would be located on the west sideof campus near the Life Sciences building, would houseexpanded programs in Atmosphere and EnvironmentalSciences, biomedical and biotechnology studies, forensicscience and cybersecurity, and advanced data and analytics.

Spring 2012 Commencement. From left to right: J. Pande,M. Petrukhina, R. Musah, C. Theimer, A. Shekhtman, J. Delano, C. Scholes, E. Block and P. Toscano.

University at Albany scientists are advancing knowledgeacross a broad spectrum of research in the life sciences withspecial emphasis on cutting edge investigation into thestructure and function of biologically active molecules.Founded on the philosophy that scientific discovery is amultidisciplinary, collaborative and highly interactiveenterprise, the Life Science Research Initiative is based on adynamic approach to scientific discovery and education.

YES! I/We support the mission of learning and discovery at UAlbany.GIFT DESIGNATION:❍ Department of Chemistry ❍ Graduate Student Support❍ Tiezen Scholarship Fund ❍ College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Fund for Excellence❍ Arthur O. Long Fund ❍ Henry Kuivila Lectureship

PARTICIPATE. DESIGNATE. MAKE A DIFFERENCE!❍ Enclosed is a check in the amount of $_________, made payable to UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY FOUNDATION.

❍ Please charge $__________ to my VISA / MASTERCARD / AMERICAN EXPRESS / DISCOVER (circle one).

Account Number: ______________________________________ Expiration Date:______________

Name as it appears on the card: ____________________________________________________

Signature ________________________________________________Date:______________PLEASE MAIL YOUR CHECK OR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION ALONG WITH THIS FORM, TO:Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Building, Room 121, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222

INFORMATION UPDATE: (please allow us to update our records)

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Address: ________________________________________________________________

Spouse/Partner: ____________________________Employer:___________________________For more information on giving to the College of Arts & Sciences, call (518) 442-4651

Department of Chemistry, CH1211400 Washington AvenueAlbany, New York 12222-0001

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We’d Like to Hear From You!Comments and submissions tothe newsletter should beemailed to Brian A. Gabriel at:

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University at Albany, CH121

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