ew Jersey GovernorChris Christie, RutgersUniversity President

Robert Barchi, RutgersNew Brunswick Executive VicePresident and ChancellorRichard Edwards, and Schoolof Arts and Sciences ExecutiveDean Richard Falk marked thestart of a new era of scienceinstruction and research asthey joined with state officialsand members of the universitycommunity on June 16 tobreak ground for the newhome of the Department ofChemistry and Chemical Biol-ogy (CCB).

The four-story, 145,000square-foot facility will providecritically needed teaching, laboratory and support spacethat will enable Rutgers to expand and accelerate its innovative research in drug design, alternative energy, bio-materials and nanotechnology.

The $115 million project isfunded largely by the 2012Building Our Future Bond Act.

“With these extraordinarynew facilities, Rutgers Univer-sity is poised to be a nationalleader in terms of scientific in-struction and research,” saidGov. Christie. “Rutgers will be

positioned to compete with andeven surpass its peer institu-tions, making it an even greatermagnet for top students fromNew Jersey and, indeed, fromaround the world. The 2012Building Our Future Bond Actwas the first major capital fund-ing for higher education in NewJersey in decades, and I amproud of my administration’srole in developing it in a biparti-san approach with the Legisla-ture and the wide publicsupport it ultimately received.”

The new classrooms andlabs are key to enhancing the

high quality science educationat Rutgers. More than 5,000Rutgers students take chemistrycourses each semester, andthis number has been increas-ing steadily for years. In addi-tion, the CCB building will allowthe university to build upon itstradition of collaborative re-search with leading academiclabs, government entities andprivate industry in the regionand around the world.

“This remarkable new build-ing befits a premier research

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R U TG E R S , T H E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N EW J E R S E Y • P I S C ATAWAY

Chemistry & Chemical BiologyNews

FALL 2014VOLUME 16

This newsletter is published foralumni and friends by the Department of Chemistry

and Chemical BiologyRutgers, The State University

of New Jersey610 Taylor RoadPiscataway, NJ 08854

For questions or suggestions,please contact:

John Brennan, ChairPhone: 848/445-1554Email: chemchair@rutgers.eduWeb: chem.rutgers.edu

Coordinators: Karen Fowler and Kristin Render

Faculty Liaison: Eric GarfunkelWriter/Editor: Fred Feiner

Governor Christie Helps Rutgers Celebrate NewCCB Building Groundbreaking & Future of Science

Breaking ground for the new CCB building are (from left) graduate studentAllison Faig; Rutgers New Brunswick Executive Vice President and ChancellorRichard Edwards; New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; Rutgers President RobertBarchi; School of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean Richard Falk; and graduatestudent Michael Haibach.

Larry LevantiN

rofessor John Brennanhas recently begun a

three-year appointment asChair of the Department of

Chemistry & Chemical Biology(CCB), succeeding Distin-guished Professor Roger A.Jones. Brennan previouslyserved as Vice Chairman of theUndergraduate Program forCCB and has been a facultymember since 1990.

“It’s an honor to succeedRoger Jones as Chair,” saidBrennan. “Roger served as CCBchair for a total of 15 years dur-ing two separate tenures. Thelast three years have been veryimportant with the planning forthe long awaited new buildingfor the department. The nextthree years will certainly be interesting—I look forward tothe continued growth of ourdepartment as we prepare tomove into a new home in2016.”

Jones, a biophysical and organic chemist, has returned tofull-time faculty status, pursuingresearch interests in nucleic acidsynthetic chemistry. His currentwork is focused on RNA frag-ments designed for crosslinking

Chemistry & Chemical Biology P I S C A T A W A Y

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with HIV-1 reversetranscriptase, and oncyclic dinucleotidesand their analogs.

“It has been aprivilege to serve aschair and I wouldlike to thank our faculty, alumni, stu-dents and manyfriends for their sup-port over the years,”said Jones, a Rutgersfaculty membersince 1977. “We areentering a very excit-ing time for CCBand Rutgers as wecontinue tostrengthen the de-partment’s positionas a leader in educa-tion and research inchemistry. We arevery fortunate tohave John Brennan’sastute knowledge of the depart-ment, university and our field tocarry us forward.”

Brennan is an inorganic andmaterials chemist who came toRutgers from AT&T Bell Labs. Hisresearch interests have focusedon the synthesis and characteri-

zation of lan-thanide mole-cules and clusterswith extraordinarynear infrared(NIR) emissionproperties thathave applicationsin optical fibertechnologies.More recently,he’s been lookingat the chemistryof compoundswith actinide-sul-fur bonds, moti-vated byproblems in actinide waste remediation.

Brennan received his Ph.D.in inorganicchemistry fromthe University ofCalifornia at

Berkeley and a B.S. in chemistryfrom the State University of NewYork at Albany.

Professor Gregory F. Herzog, a faculty member since 1971,has succeeded Brennan as Vice Chair of the UndergraduateProgram.

“We are entering a very exciting time for CCB and Rutgers

as we continue tostrengthen the department’s

position as a leader in education and

research in chemistry.”

Changing of the Guard, Brennan Becomes Chair

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Faculty Build African Partnerships and Foster Collaborations to Advance Development

hemistry Associate Profes-sor Tewodros (Teddy)

Asefa grew up in Ethiopia,but a recent trip to Addis

Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia,and the political capital ofAfrica, was still an eye openingexperience.

“Many African countries areexperiencing rapid populationgrowth, and some of the fastestgrowing economies are also inAfrica,” said Asefa, who returnedto his native country with Rut-gers colleagues for an importantinternational meeting. “There is

tremendous opportunity not justfor Africans, but also for thewhole world, including the U.S.,to engage in the rise and devel-opment of Africa. The continentneeds investment in education,infrastructure, manufacturing

Professor John Brennan

Professor Roger A. Jones

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and human capital to ensuresuccess in the future.”

Encouraging such partner-ships was the focus of the 7thInternational Conference of theAfrica Materials Research Soci-ety, held in the African UnionConference Center in AddisAbaba, and co-chaired by Professor Teketel Yohannes Anshebo of Addis Ababa Uni-versity and Rutgers ChemistryProfessor Eric Garfunkel. Theconference and the academicexchanges have benefited fromthe strong support of the National Science Foundation(NSF) and the Materials Research Society (MRS).

“Scientists and engineerscan play critical roles in the de-velopment process that is takingplace in Africa,” said Garfunkel,who has co-chaired the pasttwo Africa MRS conferences.“Our African counterparts arerequesting more internationalinvolvement as the develop-ment of materials technologieshave tremendous impact in energy, construction, health,transportation, and a variety ofother critical sectors in Africa.Our joint conferences and academic exchanges can bevery rewarding for both sides.”

California Institute of Tech-nology Professor Robert H.Grubbs, Nobel Laureate inChemistry in 2005, was theplenary speaker at the confer-ence, which was attended bysome 300 scientists fromacross Africa and around theworld. Rutgers Chemistry Pro-fessor Kathryn Uhrich also participated, presenting novelresults of her polymer research,as well as leading a discussionon women in science.

“The workshop on womenin science was a first for the society and the conference,”said Uhrich. “It offered an op-portunity for the younger scien-tists to meet, learn about, andinteract with at least a dozen of the world’s most successfulwomen scientists and engi-neers. It was a good start, butwe really just touched the tip of the iceberg. I have stayed incontact with some of theyounger women who partici-pated in the workshop regard-ing graduate school and careeropportunities, so we have somemomentum to build on.”

Rutgers Chemistry graduatestudent Aleksandra Biedron wasone of the young scientists thatattended the conference. “Itwas a great opportunity to meetand talk to young Africans aboutmy research, and to find outwhat we have in common,”said Biedron. “I also enjoyedthe opportunity to interact withother women and discuss thechallenges we face. Ilearned quite a bit abouttopics that are differentfrom my current research,but still in the generalarea of materials chem-istry. I am now consider-ing a possible internshipin Africa so the visit wasbeneficial in that respectas well.”

Rutgers has alreadyhosted over two dozenAfrican scientists and engineers over the pastthree years, includingJohn Obayemi, a doctor-ate student studying atthe new African Universityof Science and Technol-ogy (AUST) in Abuja,Nigeria. Obayemi pre-sented the results of hisresearch experience in

Uhrich's lab at the Africa MRSconference. Rutgers Chemistryhopes to grow their global exchange programs over thenext few years, and expand itfurther by partnering with otherdepartments.

Garfunkel is working withcolleagues at Rutgers andPrinceton to create the PanAfrican Materials Institute(PAMI) with seed funding fromthe World Bank and CarnegieFoundation. The purpose ofPAMI is to develop Africa’s abil-ity to add value to materials andmineral resources.

“PAMI is coordinating thetraining of Africans through shortcourses and graduate programs,supplemented by state-of-the-art distance learning and labora-tory access techniques,”Garfunkel said. “PAMI facultyand students will also engage in interdisciplinary research thatwill help address African needsin health, energy, water, afford-able housing and infrastructure.”

Rutgers Chemistry Professor Eric Garfunkel (far right) co-chaired the recent7th International Conference of the Africa Materials Research Society inEthiopia. Garfunkel is pictured at the international meeting with (from left)Professors Wole Soboyejo of Princeton University and current Africa MRSPresident; Sossina Haile of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech);Robert Grubbs of Caltech, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Mona Marei,former Africa MRS President; and Teketel Yohannes Anshebo of AddisAbaba University and conference co-chair.

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hemistry undergraduatesShiri Nawrocki and Scott

Smart are getting first-handexperience as research scien-

tists through an innovative co-opprogram at the Colgate-Palmo-live Piscataway Technology Center located adjacent to theBusch Campus. In the process,both students are partneringwith chemists on discoveriesthat could significantly influencethe future of consumer products.

“Working at Colgate has trulybeen a once-in-a-lifetime experi-ence for me, and I couldn’t haveasked for a better opportunity,”said Nawrocki. “The knowledge I have gained while working atColgate is beyond anything I ever expected and I’ve onlybeen part of the co-op programfor 9 months. I used to be verynervous in my lab courses atschool, but since I started work-ing at the company, my confi-dence in the lab has significantlyincreased.”

Both Nawrocki and Smarthave already made significantfindings. In her short time at

Colgate, Nawrocki has workedwith a Colgate team to partneron two patent applications.Smart, a rising senior who hasbeen in the company’s co-opprogram for 18 months, recentlypublished his first author coverpaper with other co-authors inthe prestigious journal, Chemi-cal Communications. Nawrockiand Smart work with Long Pan,Ph.D., a Rutgers alumnus andmanager at Colgate.

“Since 2007, I have super-vised about 20 undergrads towork on more than 10 differentprojects,” said Pan, a scientist fo-cusing on fundamental researchto understand how to enhancethe efficacy of personal careproducts. “The students fromRutgers who work with us are actively involved in every step of research and development. Thenew breakthroughs not only helpour company maintain a leadingposition in the market, but alsofoster a training environment forstudents to learn how to createnew ideas and how to turn theseideas into usable products. I trainthe students who work at Col-gate to become independent research scientists.”

Pan noted that Rutgers students at Colgate have beeninvolved in numerous patent applications, invention recordsand many outside publications.Four of the students were hiredfor permanent positions at Colgate and several entereddoctorate programs.

Like most of the studentswho enter the co-op program,Smart had no experience in research. “In my interview, LongPan and other Colgate scientists

asked me if I was interested inlooking at fundamental prob-lems within the field, not justformulations or routine labwork,” recalled Smart. “I saidyes! Since then, the projects Ihave been working on are ofteninitiated by Long although withthe other Colgate scientists, butthen are carried out through myown investigations. Through thisapproach and the continualguidance and support of Longand others at Colgate, I havebeen able to experience whatresearch is. I feel I have maturedas a researcher, as a profes-sional, and as a person, whilebeing able to contribute some-thing worthwhile to Colgate.”

Pan noted that the paper co-authored with Smart “receivedvery high praise during the peerreview phase of publication. Thebroad potential applications ofthis work are remarkable. Scotthas learned a great deal profes-sionally and picked up a widerange of skill sets that will bequite valuable in his future career, wherever he ends up.The next step for this research isto implement the fundamentalwork into practical applications.”

The Colgate co-op programallows students to learn how toconduct research at a consumerproducts company, develop anew product from inception, implement the concept, createprototype products, and finallycommercialize the products. Byengaging the students at everystep of the commercializationprocess from idea generation toproduct creation, Colgate hopesthat the students will become

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Colgate-Palmolive’s Co-op Program Helps StudentsGrow and Develop Research Interests

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Colgate-Palmolive scientist Long Pan, Ph.D., with Rutgers Chem-istry undergraduate students Scott Smart and Shiri Nawrocki,participants in the company’s research co-op program

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Chemistry & Chemical BiologyP I S C A T A W A Y

genuinely interested in theirwork and perhaps become permanent employees.

“I train students one on one,as I believe each student has aunique potential,” Pan said. “Iset very high standards for thestudents, in part by telling themthat they should act as inde-pendent research scientistsrather than as technicians whoare simply doing routine work at a lab. The students are partic-

ipating in creating new ideas, filing patent applications, andpublishing their own work in international journals. In the beginning, many of our under-grads do not believe they arecapable of doing any of theabove. In the end, many ofthese students have patentsand publications.”

The experience has helpedSmart refine his research interests.

“Currently, I am interested inmechanistic inorganic research,”

Smart said. “Theoretical studiesand trying to obtain a more fundamental understanding ofreactions is something that appeals to me, and I believethe breadth of this area wouldmake it worthwhile to study. I would definitely recommendthe Colgate co-op program toother students. I have yet to seeor hear of an opportunity thatprovides a place to grow asmuch as I have at Colgate. Inaddition, it offers one valuableindustry experience.”

licja Cygan was one ofmany Rutgers Univer-sity Chemistry under-graduate students who

received hands on experiencewith research at Rutgersthrough a pilot program fundedby the Aresty Research Center.Cygan, who graduated in May,worked in a lab that focused onthe Hepatitis C virus thanks inpart to the Aresty program.

“I would definitely recom-mend the opportunity to otherstudents who are looking to getinvolved in research and wouldenjoy the opportunity to presenttheir work in a supportive set-ting,” said Cygan. “The biggestbenefit of the program is that astudent can choose any lab inthe chemistry department towork in rather than choose fromspecific projects. This allows forgreat freedom and for the op-portunity to work on a project or in a lab that most interests a particular student.”

Cygan is continuing her research in graduate school,most likely focusing on biologi-cal problems and virology. Shehas just started at Stanford

University, where she will pursue a doctorate in micro-biology and immunology.

“Our goal with the ArestyChemistry Scholars Program hasbeen to get more students involved in research earlier intheir academic careers,” saidJohn Brennan, Rutgers Chem-istry Chair and Professor. “Forchemistry students, the first couple years are very textbookheavy, but we want to get moreundergraduates involved in thelab earlier. The Aresty Center allows us to do that by providingsupport for research endeavors.”

Brennan approached theAresty Center two years ago tosupport the department’s re-search objectives for undergrad-uates. The Aresty ResearchCenter, funded by a generousendowment from Jerome andLorraine Aresty, provides a variety of programs that allow undergraduate students to beinvolved in research throughouttheir Rutgers careers. Studentsin the Chemistry program sim-ply need to express an interestto get started in a lab.

Richa Rana, a senior, first became involved with theAresty program as a researchassistant in the lab of RutgersChemistry Professor KathrynUhrich.

“My two years as a researchassistant have allowed me togain hands-on experience in alaboratory setting that I couldnot have gained through class-room experience alone,” saidRana, who hopes to attend

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Rutgers Aresty Chemistry scholarsRicha Rana, Sarah Goodman and Alicja Cygan.

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“We congratulate ProfessorsKohn and Uhrich on this veryspecial honor,” said Distin-guished Professor Roger A.Jones, former Chemistry Depart-ment Chair. “Joachim andKathryn have been awarded numerous patents for biomed-ical materials and drug deliverythrough their scientific advances.They are not only outstandingresearchers with an excellenthistory of translating their dis-coveries into products, but exceptional mentors for Rutgersstudents.”

Kohn is the founder and di-rector of the New Jersey Centerfor Biomaterials at Rutgers. He isa leader in biomaterials scienceand his laboratory is widelyknown for the development oftyrosine-derived, resorbablepolymers, which are now usedin several FDA-approved med-ical devices. His research fo-cuses on new ways to developbiomaterials for specific applica-tions, particularly tissue engi-neering, regenerative medicineand drug delivery, using combi-

natorial and computa-tional methods.

Kohn led a team ofscientists who discovereda polymer optimized forfully degradable cardio-vascular stents, which isbeing tested in clinical trials. Lux Biosciencesalso used his approachfor the development ofoptimized polymers forophthalmic applications,as did Trident Biomedicalfor orthopedic applica-tions. Kohn holds 58 U.S.patents and has receivedabout $100 million in

utgers Chemistry Pro-fessors Joachim Kohn

and Kathryn Uhrich,renowned polymer scien-

tists, have been named Fellowsof the National Academy of Inventors® (NAI). Deputy U.S.Commissioner for Patents Andrew Faile of the U.S. Patentand Trademark Office (USPTO)inducted the inventors duringthe Annual NAI Conference.

NAI is a non-profit member-ship organization comprised ofU.S. and international universi-ties, and governmental andnon-profit research institutions,with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellowsspanning more than 200 insti-tutions. Election to NAI Fellowstatus is a very high profes-sional distinction accorded toacademic inventors who havedemonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inven-tions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, eco-nomic development and thewelfare of society.

research support from U.S. fed-eral agencies and other sourcessince 1997. He is the Chair ofthe International College of Fel-lows of Biomaterials Science andEngineering, and the recipient ofthe Thomas Alva Edison PatentAward for best patent in medicaltechnology in New Jersey in1999 and 2006.

Uhrich holds over 50 U.S.and international patents withover 20 applications pendingworldwide. She is the scientificfounder of Polymerix Corpora-tion, a specialty pharmaceuticalcompany that developed prod-ucts based on therapeutic polymer technology. Uhrich is involved in several start-ups thatuse her technology, includingBioabsorbable Therapeutics,Xenogenics, Polymer Therapeu-tics and two others currentlycoming to life.

Uhrich’s laboratory designsbiocompatible and biodegrad-able polymers for medical, dental and personal care applica-tions. She has trained over 160junior and senior scientists inpolymer chemistry and gener-ated nearly $30 million in federaland corporate funding. Her hon-ors include the Common Path-ways Award from the New JerseyAssociation for Biomedical Research, the American Chemi-cal Society’s Buck-WhitneyAward, Dow’s Turner Alfrey Visiting Professorship and theThomas Alva Edison PatentAward from the R&D Council ofNew Jersey. Uhrich is a Fellow ofthe American Institute for Med-ical and Biological Engineering, aFellow of the American ChemicalSociety’s (ACS) Polymer Division,and most recently, an ACS Fellow.

Professors Kohn and Uhrich Named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

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Chemistry Professors Joachim Kohn and Kathryn Uhrich

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avid A. Case, Chem-istry Distinguished

Professor, has been selected to receive the

American Chemical Society’s(ACS) 2015 Award for Comput-ers in Chemical and Pharmaceu-tical Research. Case will receive the national honor at a special symposium held to rec-ognize his contributions to sci-

ence at the ACS national meetingin Denver on March 24, 2015.

Case is a theoretical andcomputational chemist with par-ticular interest in molecular dy-namics simulations of proteinsand nucleic acids; electronicstructure calculations of transi-tion-metal complexes that modelactive sites in metalloenzymes;development and application of

methods for nuclear magneticresonance (NMR) structure determination; ligand-protein andligand-nucleic acid docking; andcomputational drug design.

“David Case’s pioneering contributions to the science andmethodology of biomolecularsimulations have guided modern

hemistry ProfessorHelen M. Berman has

been awarded the Ben-jamin Franklin Award for

Open Access in the Life Sci-ences from Bioinformatics.org,also known as The Bioinformat-ics Organization, Inc.

Berman was the founding Director of the Research Collabo-ratory for Structural Bioinformat-ics (RCSB), and has served asthe director of the Protein DataBank (PDB) since it was movedto Rutgers in 1998. She receivedthe Benjamin Franklin award anddelivered a laureate presentationat the Bio-IT World Conferenceand Expo. The honor is a hu-manitarian/bioethics award presented annually by Bioinfor-matics.org to an individual whohas, in his or her practice, pro-moted free and open access tothe materials and methods usedin the life sciences.

“Helen’s leadership of theProtein Data Bank has been invaluable to many scientistsaround the world,” said Distin-guished Professor Roger A.Jones, former Rutgers CCB Chair.

“I can think of few if any peoplewho are more deserving of anaward for open access in the lifesciences. Helen truly embodiesthe spirit of this special honor.”

Berman studied Chemistryat Barnard College before earn-ing a Ph.D. at the University ofPittsburgh. She worked at FoxChase Cancer Center for 20years, researching nucleic acidcrystallography and drug nucleicacid interactions. She moved toRutgers in 1989, expanded herprogram to include the study ofthe structures of collagen andprotein-nucleic acid complexes,and at the same time devel-oped structural databases andontologies.

In the 1970s Berman beganworking with colleagues to establish the PDB archive atBrookhaven National Laboratoryas a place to store and sharedata about the 3D structures ofproteins and nucleic acids. In1998, when the RCSB wonfunding for PDB and moved itto Rutgers, the data bank had9,000 archived structures. ThePDB reached a milestone

100,000 structuresin May.

The PDB archiveis the single world-wide repository ofinformation aboutthe 3D structures oflarge biological molecules, includingproteins and nucleicacids, providing anessential resource ofinformation aboutbiomolecular struc-tures. The moleculesof life that appear inthe PDB come froma very broad array oforganisms, from bacteria andplants to animals and humans.

Bioinformatics.org serves thescientific and educational needsof bioinformatic practitionersand the general public. The organization maintains compu-tational resources to facilitateworldwide communications andcollaborations, and promotesopen access to the materialsand methods required for, andderived from, research, develop-ment and education.

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Chemistry & Chemical BiologyP I S C A T A W A Y

Helen Berman Receives Franklin Award

David Case to Receive National ACS Award forComputers in Research

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Professor Helen M. Berman

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collagen,” said Nunes, a struc-tural biology researcher underthe direction of Rutgers Chem-istry Distinguished ProfessorJean Baum. “Understanding theprocess is extremely importantto platelet adhesion, activationand aggregation, and is a keyprocess in clot formation.”

Collagen-protein interactionis one of the research focuses ofBaum’s lab. Collagen is the mostabundant protein of the humanbody, providing structural in-tegrity and managing multipleinteractions with cells and othermatrix molecules.

“In order to design safer therapeutics to prevent or treatheart diseases it is important tounderstand α2β1-collagen inter-action and to identify the crucialresidues involved in theprocess,” said Baum. “The re-search will allow for the futuredesign of second-generationdrugs highly specific and potent,without secondary effects.”

Baum’s team uses an inte-grated approach based on nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) in conjunction with com-putational, biophysical and bio-logical methods to provideunique structural and dynamicinsight into protein recognitionof collagen and to understandthe molecular basis of collagendiseases arising from mutations.

Nunes’ research utilizes inte-grated molecular biology andNMR to grant insight into thestructure and motion of integrinα2I-domain when unbound andbound to collagen. NMR isunique, providing not only struc-tural, but also dynamic informa-tion of proteins. The study willproduce the α2I-domain, re-

he American Heart Association has awarded

Chemistry Postdoctoral Researcher Ana Monica

Nunes a two-year fellowship to study novel biological inter-actions critical to the develop-ment of improved treatmentsfor hardening of the arteries orathero thrombosis, more gener-ally known as cardiovasculardisease, the leading cause ofdeath in the U.S.

Nunes’ research focuses onthe interaction between bloodvessel wall collagens and theintegrin alpha2-beta1 (α2β1)located on the platelet surface,a process fundamental to clotformation inside blood vessels.The body uses platelets to forma clot to prevent blood lossafter blood vessel injury. The in-

tegrin α2β1 protein is critical inplatelet adhesion, but does notconsistently bind collagens—an interaction that is not fullyunderstood.

“We are studying this inter-action on the molecular level,trying to understand howα2β1integrin chooses to bind

sponsible for the direct bindingto collagen in the parent integrin,and characterize its dynamic be-havior in the presence and ab-sence of collagen peptidemodels. Understanding how in-tegrins select and bind collagenwill grant insight on the processof clot formation.

Nunes received a Ph.D. inBioinorganic Chemistry from theUniversity of Ioannina, Greece;and a B.S. in TechnologicalChemistry and a SpecializationDegree in Biomedical and Inor-ganic Chemistry from the Univer-sity of Lisbon, Portugal. Inaddition to her work at Rutgers,she conducted postdoctoral bio-physics research at the NationalInstitute of Chemical Physics andBiophysics, Estonia.

Nunes research takes placeat the Rutgers Center for Integra-tive Proteomics Research, a rela-tively new facility located on theBusch Campus, dedicated to fos-tering interdisciplinary structure-function studies of complexbiomolecular phenomena. TheCenter houses state-of-the-art in-strumentation for protein NMRspectroscopy, mass spectrome-try, and protein/nucleic acidphysical chemistry, and hardwarefor high performance computing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)estimates that about 600,000people die of heart disease inthe United States every year, oneout of every four deaths, withcoronary heart disease being themost common, killing more than385,000 people annually andalone costing the United Statesmore than $100 billion eachyear in health care services,medications and lost productivity.

Postdoctoral Chemistry Researcher Ana MonicaNunes Receives AHA Fellowship

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Undergraduate Awards

CRODA AWARDSGeneral Chemistry 161–162 & 166 Solid Gems Excellence in General ChemistryIngrid ErazoAmy HuangYu Hsuan LinHector Lisboa

Outstanding Student in Sophomore Chemistry ClassesExcellence in Organic ChemistryJonathan FetherolfYaniv Tivon

Outstanding Student in Junior Organic Chemistry Laboratory Excellence in Organic ChemistryLaboratoryCourtney Yurecko

COURSEWORK AWARDSThe Rufus Kleinhans AwardExcellence in Honors GeneralChemistryNil RawalMaria Vishnyakova

The Roger Sweet AwardExcellence in Organic ChemistryJulia DreifusDiana Torres-Pinzon

The Phyllis Dunbar AwardExcellence in Physical ChemistryXiaoming Liu

ACS Inorganic Division AwardExcellence in Inorganic ChemistryNeil Patel

ACS Analytical Division AwardExcellence in Instrumental AnalysisZahara Bakhtiar

The Hypercube AwardExcellence in Chemical PhysicsWalter Drake

JUNIOR AWARDThe Ning Moeller Award Outstanding Academic Achieve-ment by a Chemistry Major in the Junior YearDavid Rehe

SENIOR AWARDSThe Bruce Garth AwardGeneral Academic Excellence & ResearchSarah Goodman

The Van Dyke AwardAcademic Excellence & Research in ChemistryDeepak Gupta

Sanofi-Aventis AwardExcellence in Synthetic Organic ChemistryNeyra Jemal

Enzon AwardOutstanding Senior ChemistryMajorAaron Levin

CHEMICAL RESOURCESAWARDS BY PAUL KEIMIGChemical Resources Award for Distinction in ResearchNeil PatelRicha RanaChristopher SowaCourtney Yurecko

STUDENT AWARDS

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pharmaceutical chemistry re-search,” said Chemistry Depart-ment Chair and Professor JohnBrennan. “David is among theworld leaders in the fundamen-tal theory and computationalsimulations of bio molecularNMR, electrostatic interactions inproteins and nucleic acids, andelectronic structure aspects ofmetalloenzymes. He is widelyrecognized by thousands of pro-fessionals in the pharmaceuticalchemistry and computationalchemistry communities for hisgroundbreaking work throughouthis career.”

Case is co-developer andcurrently the lead scientist be-hind the powerful Amber suiteof biomolecular simulationcodes used in more than 1,000labs internationally to carry outmolecular dynamics analysis ofproteins, carbohydrates and nu-cleic acids. He has created signif-icant improvements to theAmber software including forcefields, solvation effects, and sampling strategies, which havegreatly accelerated the speed ofdiscovery and increased thevalue of simulations for pharma-ceutical research. Simulationsusing Amber enable analysis ofmany aspects of the structureand dynamics of biomolecules.

Case’s current research proj-ects include: the energetics ofbinding drug candidates to en-zymes; mechanical properties of nucleic acids; conformationalpreferences of polysaccharides;and the determination of solu-tion structures by NMR. He alsois active in the development ofnew energy functions, such asforce fields, and simulationmethods to help make thesecalculations more predictive.

DAVID CASEcontinued from page 7

A member of the editorialboard of Biopolymers since1990, Case has served in similarcapacities for numerous researchjournals. Case’s publicationrecord, which includes nearly300 scientific papers, has one ofthe highest citation records ofany chemist nationally, and

reveals the many collabora-tors who have sought his expertise across diverse fieldsof chemistry.

Case earned a Ph.D. inChemical Physics and an A.M.in Physics at Harvard Univer-sity and a B.S. in Chemistry atMichigan State University.

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Chemical Resources Award forHighest Distinction in ResearchMilos CejkovAlicja CyganJessalyn DevineChristopher KaplanCharles Kreisel

CHEMISTRY MAJORS ELECTEDTO PHI BETA KAPPACasey HamiltonNeyra JemalCharles Kreisel Laura SammonJeffrey Sun

COMPUTATIONAL AWARDBy Kevin J. TheisenChemres Award, Excellence inComputational Chemistry & Informatics Brady Forcier

VAN DYKE UNDERGRADUATEAWARD Excellence in Teaching a Chemistry LabMilos CejkovAlicja CyganSarah GoodmanNeyra JemalCharles KreiselAaron Levin David ReheJonathan Tadros Austin Wenta

CCB UNDERGRADUATE SERVICE AWARD Participation, Outreach & Departmental Service

Chemistry SocietyPresident, Richa RanaVice-President, Rose SoskindTreasurer, Kyle YeungSecretary, Alex BahiaHistorian, Emily FitzgeraldPublic Relations, Katelyn Duchemin

Rutgers Day VolunteersReem AsrafCaroline BezzubikEfua BolouviNeeta ChakraverthyMatthew EmersonSarah IndanoRoss ManjunathBenjamin MatherGeorgia MuchenMarcus RountreeJim SabatiniKatie VanValen

Duff Travel AwardAleksandra BiedronAllison FaigMaria JanowskaPaul JanowskiNandish KhanraNicholas LeaseChangyao LiuMatthew RichersShreyas ShahNicholas StebbinsLibing YuYongliang Zhang

Reid AwardQihan GongLi GuGina MoriartyMatthew RichersBirju ShahYongliang Zhang

Van Dyke Award, Research ExcellenceMaria JanowskaLongle MaShreyas Shah

Krishnamurthy Award for Outstanding Paper or Thesis inSynthetic Organic ChemistryChang Min

Rieman Award for OutstandingAccomplishments as a TAHaoyuan ChenMu ChenJonathan FaigKai WangHonorable Mention:Miaoxin LinAbbas Sanchawala

Chemistry 171 Excellence inTeaching AwardBenjamin DeibertKoustubh DubeBoning Wu

Chemistry Service AwardAllison FaigXiang Gao

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Chemistry & Chemical Biology P I S C A T A W A Y

JANUARY 2014B.A.David DelnegroBrian LewisJennifer Unger

M.S.Lisa JablonskiBin Qian

PH.DLi GuKexuan HuangSoma MandalKieran NortonPrasad SubramaniamPriti Tiwari

MAY 2014B.A.Soraya Abdel-HamidEsther AdesinaSonal AgarwalAnthony AnnamGabriela ArevaloZahra BakhtiarZachary BakhtinSri Balijepalle

Iryna BarbellaGregory BayardAna BrumarelMilos CejkovAlicja GyganAlexander DabrowskiSteven DellavalleJessalyn DevineWalter DrakeYu-Dien FuSarah GoodmanDavid GrodmanDeepak GuptaEmily HinesleyNeyra JemalKyle JordanMinjoo JungInkoo KangChristopher KaplanEunhee KimJae Il KimCharles KreiselByron LeeGisu LeeAaron LevinBin LiJohn Lisowski

Tyler MallmMatthew MielesStephanie MoralesBrian NaumannJade PaoAkata PatelDaniel RiemerKevin SamuelMark SantomauroJonathan TadrosAriane VasilatisDavid VerrillSimon WangGeorge WeiAustin WentaStephen Zieminski

M.S.Elliott GoodzeitDerek Hawkins

PH.D.Mu ChenWenchun FengJason HackenbergNisha MittalBirju ShahKai Wang

DEGREES CONFERREDcontinued from page 9

GRADUATE AWARDS

Chemistry & Chemical BiologyP I S C A T A W A Y

institution,” said President Barchi.“Rutgers ranks first among U.S.universities in federal fundingfor chemistry research. Ourchemistry and chemical biologyfaculty are world leaders in dis-covery and innovation, and ourstudents go on to successfuland distinguished careers in the pharmaceutical, chemicaland health care industries inNew Jersey and beyond. Thechemistry and chemical biologybuilding demonstrates our commitment to continued excellence in science educationand research.”

Core facilities in the CCBbuilding will include a mi-croscopy suite, a chemistryclean room as well as opticalspectroscopy, nuclear magneticresonance spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography laborato-ries. Classrooms will provide thelatest technology to supportteaching and learning. The facil-ity’s modular design and versa-tile infrastructure will allowreconfiguration of labs andclassrooms to respond as tech-nology evolves and the needsof students and faculty change.Common areas are designed topromote collaborations.

“We are investing $2.3 bil-lion in this year’s budget in ourstate colleges and universities,”said Gov. Christie. “This is a significant investment, almost10 percent of the overall statebudget will be put into our statecolleges and universities. …Itpays off, not only economically,but in terms of reputation.”

The Governor went on toquote a statistic, which he saidmakes New Jersey “the fifthsmartest state in America,”based on the fact that 35 per-cent of state residents have afour year degree or better.

“That is the thing that makesNew Jersey competitive,” Gov.Christie said. “…When I talk tobusinesses around the countryand around the world, one ofthe reasons, (in addition) to ourgeographic location, of whybusinesses want to locate hereis because of the educatedworkforce that we have avail-able to them here in this state.”

The new building will be located adjacent to the Wright-Rieman Chemistry building onthe Busch Campus. The firstsection of the current chemistrycomplex was opened in the late1940s and additional wingswere built in the 1960s and1970s. Despite some improve-ments over the years,the building cannotaccommodate thedemands of contem-porary science teach-ing and collaborative,multidisciplinary research.

In the last decade,75 percent of Rut-gers’ peer institutionshave invested in newchemistry facilities.The CCB building willenable Rutgers tobetter compete fortop-notch faculty andthe best and brighteststudents.

The innovative research occurring inside the new CCBbuilding will bematched by the cutting-edge sustain-ability features of the building itself. Besides conformingto State of New Jersey energy man-dates and guidelines,Rutgers seeks toachieve a Leadershipin Energy and Envi-ronmental Design

(LEED) Gold certification for thebuilding by reducing its energyusage. Numerous green fea-tures are designed into the project, including windows thatmaximize natural light andmanage heat gain, advanced airhandling and exhaust systems,construction materials madewith a significant percentage ofrecycled content, and nativevegetation to encourage biodi-versity and reduce the need for irrigation.

The chemistry and chemicalbiology building is slated forcompletion in fall 2016, theyear Rutgers will celebrate its250th anniversary.

GROUNDBREAKINGcontinued from page 1

Chemistry students (from left) Mehwish Khan, Nil Rawal, Julia Hong, SurajShukla and Bharath Kannan try on a hard hat at the groundbreaking.

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Site preparation is moving forward quickly for the new chemistry building, including demolition of the Doolittle complex pictured here in early September.

Department of Chemistry and Chemical BiologyRutgers, The State University of New Jersey610 Taylor RoadPiscataway, NJ 08854

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDNew Brunswick, NJ

Permit No. 157

graduate school and eventuallypursue doctoral studies beforeworking in industry. “In the lab, I have been able to readilyapply what I have learned in theclassroom to my own research.The biggest benefit I havegained from research is theability to think critically in ana-lyzing how to overcome obsta-cles and determining why anexperiment did not go as expected. I would recommendundergraduate research to allstudents—some students real-ize they love research, whileothers realize it is not for them.”

Aresty Director Dr. Brian Ballentine said the center is ex-ploring similar partnerships withother departments in large partdue to the success in Chemistry.

“We know that hands on experience helps students feelmore comfortable in their chosen field of study,” he said.

“Our mission is to encour-age, facilitate, and support faculty-student relationshipsthat promote undergraduateengagement in research,” Bal-lentine added. The mentoringrelationships that faculty estab-lish with students are central.”

Sarah Goodman, who grad-uated in May, is continuing herresearch interests in graduateschool at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Applying to the Aresty program was really the best decision I made in college,”said Goodman. “Being a part ofthe Aresty program was espe-cially helpful during my first yearof research. My peer instructor

taught me how to write an abstract and present a poster. I would definitely recommendAresty to other students, even ifyou think research isn’t for you.You never know until you try.When I first came to college, I never thought I would become this dedicated to a research project, let alonespeak on the topic at two con-ferences, or go to grad school.”

All students in the Arestyprogram present their researchat the Annual UndergraduateResearch Symposium. Studentsin the Aresty Chemistry ScholarsProgram also present their research during the poster session of the Jean Wilson DayMemorial Undergraduate Research Symposium.

ARESTY SCHOLARScontinued from page 5

“We know thathands on experiencehelps students feelmore comfortablein their chosen field

of study.”