UCLA Chemistry Newsletter 2013

7/21/2019 UCLA Chemistry Newsletter 2013

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In The Super Supercapacitor, a three-minute videomade by award-winning director Brian Golden Davis as anentry into the 2012 Focus Forward Filmmaker Competitionthat has now gone viral, Maher El-Kady, a Ph.D. candidatein Professor Richard Kaners group, can be seen throwing ahandful of batteries into the battery recycling bin, in favorof running everyday gadgets with a superior replacementthe graphene supercapacitor. Graphene supercapacitors arenot only biodegradable, but are also able to charge anddischarge about 100 to 1000 times faster than the averagealkaline battery. Think of electric carsthe higher the capacity of the

battery, the farther you can go on a single charge, and thehigher the power, the faster you can run your car, El-Kadysaid. This is what you want in the end, so we ended upmaking a supercapacitor that has twice as much energydensity as commercial supercapacitors, and twenty times asmuch power. The look of enthusiasm on El-Kadys face when he says,Lets talk about the future, during an interview in Davisfilm, is parallel to the large number of potential applicationsthat have been linked to graphene supercapacitors, and togreener energy prospects, including flexible technology and

improved hybrid vehicles. Although Kaners group is nthe first to build graphene supercapacitors, the teamscalable, environmentally friendly method is the most likto be commercially reproduced at this time. El-Kady wone of two recipients of the 2012 Herbert Newby McCAward, which honors the most significant research of year, for his research with Kaner that piqued the interestscientific journals, major news outlets, industprofessionals, and Davis, a film director with Los Angelbased company DocRiot. Davis was one of about 100 people who contacted Kafollowing the March 2012 publication of an article

Science, which described how graphite pieces atransformed into graphite oxide, and, finally, into grapheusing common LightScribe software designed for printtext and images on CDs and DVDs, thus providing active material in supercapacitors. Davis read an artiabout Kaner and El-Kadys research and wished to turn thdiscovery into a human interest film, entering it into Focus Forward competition, which offered up to $200,0in prizes to the best cinematographic features showcasipioneering research capable of world change.

I had done film work for Kia (continued on p. 13)

Department of

In This Issue PaChairs Message................

Awards...........................2

Happenings......................

Seaborg Symposium........7

Distinguished Lectures......8

Alumni & Friends...........10-

Research......................13-1

In Memoriam....................1

Calendar..........................1

Spring 2013

Volume 32 - NumberGraduate Student Maher El-Kady Puts the

Super in The Super Supercapacitor


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Dear Alumni & Friends,

Even as this newsletter goes intoproduction, news keeps coming of faculty,student, and postdoctoral fellow awards. Infact, if you visit our Web site frequently, youwill see that news items have a rather limitedlifetime on our home page, as more newsrapidly moves on to the fore.

We highlight, here, the transformativediscoveries of Ric Kaner and Maher El-Kady(see p. 1), but you will also find recentresearch by Jim Gimzewski, Sarah Tolbert,Carla Koehler, and Sabeeha Merchant, and

their students, which has been widely covered in the press, on ourWeb site. Juli Feigons elucidation of the entire telomerase enzymecomplex, in collaboration with Professor Hong Zhou, is anotherremarkable achievement (see our Web site).

The creativity and productivity of our department members isremarkable. The breadth of our research, with chemistry,biochemistry and molecular biology extending far into the physical,biological and medical sciences, is unique. Furthermore, ourdepartment gives just as much importance to top-notch, innovativeteaching and to community outreach. Soon you will hear about a drive to improve the equipment in ourundergraduate teaching labs, and plans to create instructional spacefor academic activities beyond the classroom. We will need yourhelp increasing our students academic experiences even further.

Next time you visit Young Hall, you will discover severaldisplays in the hallways, highlighting various aspects of thedepartment and its members. Notably, these displays are a donationfrom the Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE) student group, which alsosponsors the AXE Glenn T. Seaborg Faculty award, which was

presented to Margot Quinlan this year. You will also not be surprisedto learn that our department had the most popular booth during BruinDay this year (see p. 6). The excitement conveyed by our ACSstudent affiliates and AXE undergraduates will yield anotherfreshmen bumper crop!

In these pages, you will also read an interview with Ray and DotWilson, where Ray traces their generosity to his experiences as anundergraduate in our department (see p. 12). We are also pleased toshare with you some highlights of recent named lectures, in whichwe honored the memory and legacy of department members (see pp.8-9).

We also have a number of exciting events coming up. Amongthese, we are thrilled to present our Alumni Awards to Doctors Judithand Julie Swain, B.S. 1970. They will deliver our commencement

address on June 15.We are delighted that Prof. Ken Houk will be the 2013 SeaborgAward Medalist, and we are eager to announce the DistinguishedLecturer Seminar Series as a quarterly event for all members of thedepartment, alumni, and friends to celebrate the breadth of sciencethat brings us together. We are looking forward to Prof. FrancesArnolds Inaugural Lecture, to be held on November 6, 2013.

I invite you to read this newsletter and keep an eye on our Website: www.chemistry.ucla.edu. As always, I look forward to thankingyou in person for your support hasta pronto!

Raphael Levine Receives 2012 Israel ChemicSociety Gold Medal

Professor Raphael Levine waawarded the 2012 Israel ChemicSociety (ICS) Gold Medal for hifundamental contributions forunderstanding chemical reactivion the molecular-scale, with spereference to the role of energy anfor discovering that the methodsthermodynamics can be applied nonequilibrium few-atom system The award ceremony took plaat the opening ceremony of the 7annual meeting of the ICS in TeAviv on February 12.

The ICS was founded in 1933 and aims at advancing pure

and applied chemistry at the national and international levelsThe ISC Gold Medal is the highest honor awarded annuallysince 2002 to chemists by the organization.

Professor David Eisenberg Wins the SeniorScientist Accomplishment Award from theInternational Society of Computational Biolo

The International Society ofComputational Biology (ISCB) waward Professor David Eisenber

with the Senior ScientistAccomplishment Award at the 2Annual Intelligent Systems forMolecular Biology Conference,which takes place with the 12thEuropean Conference onComputational Biology (ISMB/ECCB 2013) in Berlin, GermanyJuly 19-23, for his contributions the field of computational biologthrough research, education, andservice.

As part of the conference,Eisenberg will deliver a keynote address, discussing his rece

work in protein interactions by X-ray crystallography,bioinformatics, and biochemistry, with an emphasis on amylforming proteins. ISCB, formed in 1997, is a global community of over 300scientists committed to increasing the scientific understandinof living systems through computation. The ISCB hosts annumeetings, including the ISMB, the world's largestbioinformatics conference.

Chair Miguel Garcia-Garibay Photo Credit: Reed Hutch

-

Raphael Levine

CHAIR S ME SSAGE/AWARDS

David Eisenberg

Chair Miguel Garcia-Garibay


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Richard Kaner Selected as the Recipient of the115th Faculty Research Lectureship, Awarded bythe UCLA Academic Senate

The UCLA Academic Senate selectedProfessor Richard Kaner as the recipient ofthe 115th Faculty Research Lectureship forhis outstanding record of accomplishment,placing him among the universitys mostdistinguished scholars.

As a recipient of the 115th FacultyResearch Lectureship, Kaner will give apublic lecture on the topic of his choice inFall 2013, to be followed by a receptionheld in his honor. Every year, the Academic Senateawards lectureships to two faculty

members, one from the natural sciences and one from thehumanities, social disciplines, or creative arts, with the purpose ofacknowledging faculty achievements and giving the campus andcommunity the chance to learn about them from the perspectivesof the faculty honored. The first Faculty Research Lecture wasgiven in 1925, and the lectureship series was expanded to includetwo a year in 1986. Faculty Research Lectureships are presentedbiannually, in the Fall and Spring quarters.

Past recipients of Faculty Research Lectureships within theDepartment of Chemistry & Biochemistry include William G.Young (1947), Saul Winstein (1955), Donald J. Cram (1970), PaulD. Boyer (1982), David Eisenberg (1989), Mostafa A. El-Sayed(1991), M. Frederick Hawthorne (1995), Kendall N. Houk (1998),and Steven G. Clarke (2009).

Neil Garg Receives S.T. Li Prize forAchievements in Science and Technology

The S.T. Li Foundation awarded

Professor Neil Garg the 2012-2014Li Prize for Achievements inScience and Technology.

The award is given to adistinguished scholar in a scientificor technological field at a publicuniversity and is delivered as anunrestricted research grant. Theaward honors Professor Shu-tian Li(1900-1988) for whom the S.T. Liprize is named after.

Miguel Garcia-Garibay Wins 2012 Inter-American Photochemical Society Award inPhotochemistry

Professor Miguel Garcia-Garibaywon the 2012 Inter-AmericanPhotochemical Society (I-APS) AwarPhotochemistry.

This award was established in 198to recognize outstanding contributionthe advancement of the photochemicaand photophysical sciences, recognizachievements made during the past 10years of the nominee's career. He wasrecognized for his research on excitedstate processes and reactivity in the sostate. The award was presented toGarcia-Garibay at the I-APS meetingSarasota, Florida, in January 2013.

Paul Weiss and Co-workers Receive $1 millionW.M. Keck Foundation Grant

Professor and CNSI Director PaulWeiss, Professor and Director ofComputational and Applied Mathemaat UCLA Andrea Bertozzi, Professor oPsychiatry and Director of the UCLASemel NeuroImaging Training PrograMark Cohen, and Professor StanleyOsher, who teaches mathematics,computer science and electrical

engineering, were awarded a two-year$1 million W.M. Keck Foundation grato fund their research in practical usescompressive sensing, a process in

which mathematical algorithms are used to increase the accuracof health and science related pictures and data sets. Our goal is to leverage mathematical advances to transformthe way imaging and related data are acquired, analyzed, andunderstood, Weiss said. The result will be richer, moremeaningful data through significant changes in how experimentare currently conducted and analyzed. In so doing, we hope toadvance the science of imaging. Practical uses of compressive sensing may include detectinepilepsy and improving brain-imaging, both of which will befurther examined by the researchers. Keck Foundation grants fuinnovative research in the areas of science, engineering, andmedicine.

SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTERFACULTY, STAFF & CONTRIBUTORSEditorial BoardMiguel Garcia-Garibay, Heather Maynard, Shahla RaissiEditing & ProductionKady Bell-Garcia, Jin LeeCollege Development & Alumni RelationsKerri Yoder, Erica Marentes, SilviaOrvietani BuschContributorsMandy Bell, Thomas Cahoon, Carol Canedo, Maher El-Kady, MiguelGarcia-Garibay, Neil Garg, David Gingrich, Adam Goetz, Kendall Houk, ReedHutchinson, David Imai, Penny Jennings, Richard Kaner, Genevieve Lee, MargaretMacDonald, Timothy Mahlanza, Denise Mantonya, Heather Maynard, RobertMcMahon, Craig Merlic, Yves Rubin, Melissa Woehrstein, and Lufeng Zou

UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, California 90095-1569

Neil Garg

Miguel Garcia-Garibay

Paul Weiss

AWARDS

Richard Kaner

*More faculty and student awards can be viewed on our Web sitewww.chemistry.ucla.edu.
http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/


4/16

Heather Maynard Selected as 2013 Fellow ofthe Division on Polymer Chemistry

Professor Heather Maynard was one of

six individuals chosen as a 2013 Fellow ofthe Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLYFellow) by the Division of PolymerChemistry, of the American ChemicalSociety. She was recognized for hercontributions made to the academic fieldand profession of polymer science. All POLY Fellows were awardedplaques during the Spring ACS NationalMeeting, during the Division of PolymerChemistry/Division of PolymericMaterials: Science and Engineering Award

Reception on April 10. The Division of Polymer Chemistry wasfounded in 1951 and is the second largest division of ACS,following the Division of Organic Chemistry.

Shimon Weiss Wins Humboldt Research Award

Professor Shimon Weiss received aHumboldt Research Award for his lifetimeachievements in research. As a recipient of a Humboldt ResearchAward, Weiss will have the opportunity tocollaborate on research projects of hischoice with likeminded experts at auniversity in Germany for one year. The Humboldt Research Awardrecognizes researchers who have made

significant contributions to their fields andare expected to continue to do so,considering their full academic careers to

date. The foundation maintains a network of 25,000 HumboldtFoundation alumni worldwide, known as the Humboldtians.

Anastassia Alexandrova Awarded a 2013 AlfredP. Sloan Research Fellowship

Professor Anastassia Alexandrova wasone of 126 nationwide early-careerscientists and scholars to receive a 2013Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship.

The fellowship selection was based onProfessor Alexandrova's independentresearch accomplishments andcontributions to the field of chemistry. Sloan Research Fellowships, whichrecognize exceptional early-careerscientists and scholars in science,mathematics, economics, and computer

science, are awarded for two years and include a $50,000 researchstipend. Sloan research fellows are nominated by their peers andselected by a distinguished panel of senior scholars. Theyrepresent the next generation of leaders in the natural sciences,economics, and mathematics.

Jorge Torres Named 2013 Cottrell Scholar byResearch Corporation for Science Advancemen

Professor Jorge Torres was named onof thirteen 2013 Cottrell Scholars by th

Research Corporation for ScienceAdvancement (RCSA), recognizing hiscientific contributions to research andhis commitment to undergraduateeducation. Cottrell Scholar Awards are awardeto exceptional early-career educators inthe physical sciences and related fieldsand only about 10 percent of applicant

pass the rigorous peer-review process.Professor Torres proposed project

was centered on compounds that inhibit cell division. This studwill have an immediate impact on the field of cell biology byproviding critical tools which can be used to dissect and increas

our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms required forcell division, Torres said. Cottrell Scholars also become members of the Cottrell SchoCollaborative, a network of educators who meet annually todiscuss techniques for increasing the number of undergraduatescience majors. RCSA was founded in 1912, and is a privatefoundation that aids basic research in the physical sciences(astronomy, chemistry, physics, and related fields) at U.S. colleand universities.

James Liao Elected to National Academy ofEngineering

Professor James Liao was elected tthe National Academy of Engineering(NAE) for his advances in metabolicengineering of microorganisms toproduce fuels and chemicals. Election to the National Academy oEngineering is one of the highest honobestowed upon engineers. Those electas members represent exceptionalcontributions to engineering researchpractice, or education, including, wherappropriate, significant contributions tthe engineering literature, and to the

pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, makinmajor advancements in traditional fields of engineering, ordeveloping/implementing innovative approaches to engineeringeducation.

James Liao

Anastassia Alexandrova

Shimon Weiss

Jorge TorresHeather Maynard

AWARDS


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2012 Departmental Awards Ceremony

The department recognized the efforts of our accomplished students and faculty at theannualDepartmental Awards Ceremony, held on November 19, 2012.

Several faculty members and administrative officers/deans were able to attend the

ceremony to present awards to the students being honored. Dean Joseph Rudnick presentethe Herbert Newby McCoy Award, and Associate Dean of the Graduate Division, CarlosGrijalva, presented the Excellence in Second Year Academics and Research and the HansoDow Teaching Assistant Awards. Professor Roberts Smith was also on hand to present hisnamed research award with Professor Catherine Clarke. The award recipients are listedbelow.Hosmer Stone Prize for Excellence in General Chemistry:Justin OndryBruce Merrifield Undergraduate Research Award:Jason ChangChristopher Foote Fellows:Adam Goetz, Elizabeth Noey, Stephen Ramgren, AmandaSilbersteinExcellence in Second Year Academics and Research:Noah Nathel, Cuiwen He, Xin HongZhao LiHanson-Dow Teaching Assistant Awards:Devin Brandt, Jonathan Brosmer, ElizabethGuenther, Alexander Huters, Argyris Kahros, Juneyoung Lee, Jeremy Oria, Stephanie Qu

Courtney Roberts, Shane Stone, Evan Styduhar, Brianna Upton, Lisa WangRalph & Charlene Bauer Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry:Yue (Jessica) WangGeorge Gregory Award for Research in Physical Chemistry:Mauricio Comas-GarciaJohn Stauffer Fellowship for Outstanding Research in theDepartment of Chemistry & Biochemistry:Alexander HutersMajeti-Alapati Fellowship for Research in Organic Chemistry:Thi (Kathy) NguyenSamson H. Cheng Biochemistry Teaching Award:Michael ThompsonJohn M. Jordan Memorial Award for Research in Biochemistry:Alexander PatanananRoberts A. Smith Award for Research in Biochemistry:Letian XieErnest F. Hare, Jr., Memorial Scholarship for Research:Reza MalmircheginiHanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching:Sarah TolbertHerbert Newby McCoy Award:Maher El-Kady (student award), Jorge Torres (faculty aw

Audree Fowler Fellows in Protein Science In 2008, an endowment from Dr. Audree Fowler (B.S. in chemistry, 1956 and Ph.D. in biochemistry, 1963)established the Audree Fowler Fellows in Protein Science for Ph.D. students in the Molecular BiologyInterdepartmental Ph.D. Program, Biological Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Two students fromDepartment of Chemistry & Biochemistry were recipients of 2012 Audrey Fowler Fellowships:Letian Xie (Clarke lab) and Anni Zhao (Eisenberg lab).

If you are interested in permanently endowing an award in honor of someone special in your life, please contacKerri Yoder, Director of Development for the Division of Physical Sciences, at (310) 794-9045 or by e-mail [email protected].

Hanson Dow Awardee Sarah Tolbert

with Michael Jung

Herbert Newby McCoy Awardees with Dean Joseph Rudnick:

From Left to Right: Maher El-Kady, Jorge Torres

Excellence in Second Year Academics and

Research Awardees with Associate Dean

of the Graduate Division Carlos Grijalva:

Cuiwen He, Noah Fine Nathel, Xin Hong,

and Zhao Li

Christopher Foote Fellows with Professor

Kendall Houk: Stephen Ramgren,

Amanda Silberstein, Adam Goetz,

and Elizabeth Noey

Departmental Awards Photo Credit: Alfie

AWARDS
mailto:[email protected]?subject=mailto:[email protected]?subject=mailto:[email protected]?subject=mailto:[email protected]?subject=


6/16

2013 UCLA Bruin Day

On April 13th, The Department of Chemistry &Biochemistry welcomed thousands of future Bruinand their families for UCLAs annual Bruin Dayevent. The event provides an opportunity forprospective students to visit UCLA and to find outmore about academics and life on campus. The department event was hosted by DeniseMantonya, Tim Mahlanza, and Mary Stirchak fromthe Undergraduate Student Affairs Office, whileundergraduates from Alpha Chi Sigma and theStudent Affiliates of the American Chemical Sociewere also on hand to greet the visitors.

Chair Miguel Garcia-Garibay and Professor NeGarg were also present to meet the students andfamilies, and Professor Garg gave a mock lecture fhis Fiat Lux course, titled Chemicals: Friends orFoes? Families took home fun souvenirs includinpens, flyers, and Chemistry & Biochemistry beachballs.

Heather Maynard and Co-workers Develop NewTherapeutics for Accelerating Wound Healing

Professor Heather Maynard, graduate

students Thi Nguyen and Caitlin Decker,

former postdocs Sung-Hye Kim andDarice Wong, and Professor Joseph Loohave developed new bio-mimickingtherapeutics that can be used to quickenthe wound healing process. A signaling molecule known as basicfibroblast growth factor, or bFGF, issecreted by our cells to activate healingprocesses, as well as embryonicdevelopment, tissue regeneration, boneregeneration, the development and

maintenance of the nervous system, and stem cell renewal. It haspotential applications in medicine for stimulating or quickeningthese processes, but has previously been too unstable for use

outside of the body.The researchers discovered how to stabilize bFGF, synthesizing

a polymer that mimics the structure of heparin, a naturallyoccurring complex sugar found on the surface of our cells, andattaching it to bFGF, thus rendering it a more suitable candidate formedical applications.

This stable bFGFpolymer conjugate may also be useful indiseases other than wound healingfor example, vocal chordrepair, cardiac repair and bone regeneration, Maynard said. Moregenerally, we think that this idea of making polymers that mimicnatural stabilizers is useful in a wide range of fields.

The research was published February 17 in the online edition ofNature Chemistryand appeared in the March 2013 edition of theournal.

Judith and Julie Swain to Receive Alumni Awarat Graduation

Doctors and alumnae Judith andJulie Swain will accept the secondannual UCLA Chemistry &

Biochemistry Alumni Awards and walso give speeches at the departmentgraduation ceremony on June 15.

Dr. Julie Swain, who received herB.S. degree in chemistry at UCLA in1970, before earning her M.D. fromBaylor College of Medicine, currentlyserves as a cardiovascular surgeon at Food and Drug Administration. She apreviously served as the acting DeputAssociate Administrator of the OfficeBiological and Physical Research atNASA Headquarters, managing theInternational Space Station research

program and other science researchprograms in biology, biotechnology,biomedical research and the physicalsciences.

Dr. Judith L. Swain, who receivedher B.S. degree in chemistry at UCLin 1970, before earning her M.D. froUC San Diego, currently serves as thExecutive Director of the SingaporeInstitute for Clinical Sciences within

A*STAR, and as the Lien Ying Chow Professor of Medicine at National University of Singapore. She previously served as theDean for Translational Medicine and the Founding Director of t

College of Integrated Life Sciences (COILS) at UC San Diego.

Judith Swain

Julie Swain

Professor Neil Garg, Chair Miguel Garcia-Garibay (left), and Undergraduate Student

Affairs Officer Denise Mantonya (right) with undergraduates from Alpha Chi Sigma

and the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society

H A P P E N I N G S

Heather Maynard


7/16

2012 Seaborg Symposium & Dinner

The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, UCLAs Johnsson Comprehensive CancerCenter, and UCLAs David Geffen School of Medicine co-sponsored the 2012 Glenn T. SeaborgSymposium & Medal Presentation, titled Can Scientists Make the World a Better Place Throug

Discovery, Dissemination, and Application of Knowledge?, held on December 7, 2012 at CNSThe 2012 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal was awarded to Harold Varmus, M.D., the 1989 Nobel Laurein Physiology or Medicine (with Michael Bishop) and Director of the National Cancer Institute

Discovery is the thing that still drives me and drives my colleagues, but also how do wedisseminate, store, and use our knowledge, and how do we apply it to the real life problems faceby the people who pay for that research in this country and in other places in the world, especiain the developing world? Varmus asked during his introductory speech. Professor Levi Garraway, M.D, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute of Harvand MIT, Professor Michael Eisen, Ph.D., Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University ofCalifornia Berkeley, and Professor Prabhat Jha, M.D., Ph.D., Centre for Global Health Research

University of Toronto, served as the symposium speakers,representing what Varmus called next generation scientists.Garraway presented on the topic of Discovery of ScientificKnowledge, giving a speech titled, The Cancer Genome in Biolo

and Therapy, Eisen presentedon the topic of Dissemination ofScientific Knowledge, givinga speech titled, Building a PublicLibrary of Science, and Jha presented on the topic of ApplicatioScientific Knowledge, giving a speech titled, Advancing SciencImprove Health of the Global Poor. Varmus also presented on thetopic of How the National Cancer Institute is Trying to Make theWorld a Better Place. A poster session was also held as part of the Seaborg Symposiuand Dean Joseph Rudnick presented award certificates at the evenbanquet and award ceremony. The graduate student winners wereRonik Khachatoorian (1st place), Michael Lake (2nd place), andAlexander Patananan (3rd place). The undergraduate student winnwere Thuy Tran (1st place), Jaideep Dudani (2nd place), and TayloWhitaker (3rd place).

Glenn T. Seaborg, a UCLA chemistry alumnus, was one of themost influential chemists of the 20th century. He was the recipientthe 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and characterization of ten transuranium elements and had the distinction of havelement 106, Seaborgium, named after him during his lifetime. ThDepartment of Chemistry & Biochemistry has awarded the Glenn Seaborg medal to an internationally renowned scientist to honorgroundbreaking advances in chemistry or biochemistry, ortransformational contributions to science policy, since 1987. ViewSeaborg presentations at www.seaborg.ucla.edu/seaborg2012.htm

Top Left: Chair Miguel Garcia-Garibay, Levi Garraway, Prabhat Jha,

Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, A. Eugene Robinson,

JCCC Director Judith Gasson, Harold Varmus, David Eisenberg,

Michael Eisen, William Gelbart, and Albert Courey

Top Right: Chair Miguel Garcia Garibay and his wife,

Beatriz Ruiz Silva

Bottom Left: Charles West, Atsuko Fujimoto, Roberts Smith,

Adela Smith, and Audree Fowler

Bottom Right: Charlene and Ralph Bauer

Seaborg Photo Credit: Penny Jenni

Harold Varmus and Director of

UCLAs Johnsson Comprehensive

Cancer Center Judith Gasson

2013 Glenn T. Seaborg Medalist

The 2013 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal will be awarded to Professor Kendall Houk. Houk received A.B., M.S.,and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard, working with R. B. Woodward as a graduate student in the area of experimentatests of orbital symmetry selection rules. He has taught at Louisiana State University, the University ofPittsburgh, and UCLA since 1986. From 1988-1990, he was Director of the Chemistry Division of the NationaScience Foundation. He was chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from 1991-1994, andbecame the Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry in 2009. Professor Houk is an authority on theoretical and computational organic chemistry. Beginning as anexperimental organic chemist, he is now on the forefront of the applications of computation and theory, workito understand and predict chemical and biological reactivity. He collaborates prodigiously with chemists all ovthe world, has published nearly 900 articles, and has given named lectures throughout the United States. Amohis honors are the von Humboldt Foundation U.S. Senior Scientist Award, Arthur C. Cope (continued on p. 8)

Kendall Houk Kendall Houk Photo Credit: Reed Hutchins

S E A B O R G S Y M P O S I U M
http://www.seaborg.ucla.edu/http://www.seaborg.ucla.edu/http://www.seaborg.ucla.edu/http://www.seaborg.ucla.edu/


8/16

David S. Sigman Memorial Lecture & SymposiumThe 2013 David S.

Sigman Memorial Lecture& Symposium honoredProfessor BaldomeroToto Olivera and washeld on January 17 atCNSI. Olivera is theDistinguished Professor Of

Biology at the HowardHughes Medical Instituteat the University of Utah,and is a National Academyof Sciences member.

His research lecture,titled Investigating the

Cellular Complexity of the Nervous System, focused on thevenoms of predatory cone snails. A large number of peptideneurotoxins (conopeptides) are present in these venoms and theircharacterization led Oliveras research group to a broadinvolvement with molecular neuroscience. Several of thesepeptides reached human clinical trials and one (Prialt) wasapproved for the treatment of intractable pain.

The lecture was followed by a reception and poster session inthe CNSI Foyer.

The Molecular Biology Institute, with generous contributionsfrom family and friends, established the David. S. SigmanMemorial Fund in 2002. The fund ensures that the SigmanLectureship will continue in perpetuity to honor individuals fortheir significant contributions to chemical biology. Sigman was aninternationally renowned UCLA professor, with joint appointmentsin the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and theDepartment of Biological Chemistry, who discovered chemical

nucleases and illuminated the molecular mechanisms by whichenzymes catalyze biological reactions. He was one of the foundmembers of UCLAs Molecular Biology Institute, serving as itsassociate director from 1994-2001. He died November 11, 2001the age of 62, after a two-and-a-half-year battle with brain cance

Scott Lecture Professor Daan Frenkel, fromthe University of Cambridge,England, presented the Fall Scottlecture, held on November 5, 20Frenkels lecture, titled, TheUnexpected Side of Entropy,centered on the topic of the role entropy as an ordering force, theimportance of entropy in the selfassembly of DNA-functionalizedcolloids, and its possible relevanfor targeted drug delivery.

The Scott Lecture honorsProfessor Emeritus Bob Scott, anwas established in 2004. TheInaugural Dorothy Wilson Lectuheld to honor Scott, featuredlectures by Professor BenjaminWidom (Cornell University) andAnneke Sengers (National Instituof Standards and Technology).

Daniel Kivelson Lecture

Professor Itai Cohen (Department Physics, Cornell University) presentedAn Homage to Dan at the annualKivelson Lecture, held on January 28

Cohen began his lecture by discusshis undergraduate experience inProfessor Daniel Kivelsons group,sharing personal anecdotes.

I am very proud to have been asketo give this lecture in honor of DanKivelson, Cohen said. During myundergraduate years at UCLA, Iworked in Dans lab, and, through thiexperience, became hooked on scienc

Cohen also discussed his groups current work on linking

structure with mechanics in soft squishy materials, using theirnewly developed Confocal Rheoscope to simultaneously measuchanges in the mechanical behavior and structural organization materials, ranging from shear thinning and thickening colloidalsuspensions to various strain stiffening biological tissues. The Kivelson Lecture series was established in 2003 to honoDaniel Kivelson, who was an active faculty member even after retirement, pursuing research in the area of liquid state dynamicand the theory of the glass transition. The inaugural lecture washeld on January 23, 2003.

Daan Frenkel and

Robert Scott

Baldomero Toto Olivera is

presented with the David S.

Sigman Memorial Lectureship

Award

Itai Cohen

2013 Seaborg Medalist (continued from p. 7)

Scholar, James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry,Computers in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Award, theTolman Medal, and the Arthur C. Cope Award, all from theAmerican Chemical Society. He was awarded the Schrdinger

Medal of the WATOC, the Faculty Research Lectureship at UCLA,he Bruylants Chair from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in

Belgium, the Dr. rer. nat. h. c. from the University of Essen,Germany, an Erskine Fellowship in New Zealand, a Lady DavisFellow at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, a JSPS Fellowship in Japanand the Robert Robinson Award of the UK Royal Society ofChemistry. He was also elected to the American Academy of Artsand Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum MolecularSciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has beennamed as Fellow of the AAAS, WATOC, ACS, and RSC.

Houk has served on the boards of a variety of funding agenciesand journals, including NIH Study Sections and the PRF AdvisoryBoard. He was Chair of the Chemistry Section of the AAAS, and isnow a Senior Editor ofAccounts of Chemical Research. He was

Director of the UCLA Chemistry-Biology Interface TrainingProgram from 1999 until 2011, and is a member of the UCLAMolecular Biology Institute and California NanoSystems Institute.

S E A B O R G / D I S T I N G UI S H E D L E C T U R E S


9/16

Norma Stoddart Prize Lecture

The second annual Norma Stoddart Prize Lecture was presented bDr. Sarah M. Bronner (formerly of the Garg Group, currently apostdoctoral scholar with the Department of Chemistry at the Califor

Institute of Technology) on February 27, 2013. It was titled Indolynas Electrophilic Indole Surrogates: Fundamental Reactivity andSynthetic Applications. The Norma Stoddart Prize for Exemplary Citizenship and Excellein Graduate Research was established by an endowment at UCLA frthe Stoddart Family Trust. Norma Stoddart was the wife of FraserStoddart, Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry (1997-2003) andFred Kavli Chair of NanoSystems Sciences (2003-2007) while he wathe director of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), and afaculty member of UCLA.

Norma was a caring and loving mother to Fiona McCubbin and Alison Stoddart-Ho, both of whom were chemistry majors at ImperialCollege London (ICL) and Cambridge University, respectively, going on to obtain their Ph.D. degrees in chemistry (Fiona at ICL and Alisoat Durham University). Norma was also a chemistry major at Edinburgh University, where she subsequently obtained a Ph.D. degree inbiochemistry within the Medical School. She was an active participant in many activities organized by the Department of Chemistry &

Biochemistry at UCLA from 1997 until the time of her passing in 2004.The Norma Stoddart Prize honors graduate students who best represent the outstanding science, service and humanity that Norma broug

o UCLA. Recipients receive a $5,000 award and a commemorative plaque.

Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series Coming in Fall 2013

We are delighted to invite you to join us for the inaugural UCLA Departmeof Chemistry & Biochemistry Distinguished Lecturer Series. The lecture seriewill be geared toward students, faculty, friends, and alumni whose interests ranfrom systems biology and complex molecule synthesis to nanomaterials andchemical theory.

The Fall Quarter lecture will be presented by Professor Frances H. Arnold, Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering andBiochemistry at California Institute of Technology, and will be held on Novem6, 2013.

Arnold is an internationally recognized scientist and engineer. She earned hB.S. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 19and her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California,Berkeley. She has received many awards, including the 2011 Draper Prize and2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. Arnold also has the distincthonor of being elected to all three National Academies in the United States.

Left: Fraser Stoddart and Sarah Bronner

Right: Kendall Houk, Heather Maynard, Fraser Stoddart, Sarah

Bronner, Neil Garg, and Miguel Garcia-Garibay

Norma Stoddart Prize Lecture Photo Credit: Steevens Alconc

Supporting our Seminar Series Your help is needed to support our world-renowned departmental seminar series! Each division has an outstanding seminar program.Lecturers from all over the globe visit the department and share their cutting-edge research. Students, post-docs, and faculty have theopportunity to meet and exchange ideas with famous academic and industrial researchers. This is not only crucial to their education, butalso to their future careers, as the seminar series allows them to make vital contacts.

Your funds will support these exciting and critical lectures, allowing the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to maintain itscompetitive edge and reputation for academic excellence. Your gift, however large or modest, is greatly appreciated. To make your contribution, visithttps://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChem.If you are interested in permanently endowing a seminarseries in honor of someone special in your life, please contact Kerri Yoder, Director of Development for the Division of PhysicalSciences, at (310) 794-9045 or by e-mail at [email protected] more information.

*For more information about events, please visit www.chem.ucla.edu or contact the Chairs Office at 310-825-3958.

D I S T I N G U I S H E D L E C T U R E S

Frances H. Arnold being awarded the National Medal of

Technology and Innovation Award by President Obama

Frances H. Arnold Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Commerce blog
http://www.chem.ucla.edu/mailto:[email protected]?subject=https://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttp://www.chem.ucla.edu/mailto:[email protected]?subject=http://www.chem.ucla.edu/mailto:[email protected]?subject=https://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttps://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttps://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttps://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttp://www.chem.ucla.edu/http://www.chem.ucla.edu/mailto:[email protected]?subject=mailto:[email protected]?subject=https://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChemhttps://giving.ucla.edu/ChemAndBioChem


10/16

Alumnus Robert McMahon Presents theInaugural Orville L. Chapman Lecture

Professor RobertMcMahon, from the

University ofWisconsin-Madison,joined Orville L.Chapmans group as aPh.D. candidate in1980, and, despite thefact that he remindeddepartmental staff ofRobert Sheridan,another favoredgraduate student, hesaid he developed his

own relationship with The Big O that majorly impacted hisacademic career. Chapman allowed his students independence in

pursuing their research interests and emphasized the importance ofcommunicating their findings through well-written articles,leaving a lasting impression on McMahon. He shared memories ofChapman at the Inaugural Orville L. Chapman Lecture, which washeld on February 28, 2013. I consider this to be one of the most significant honors Ivehad professionally, because Professor Chapman was so importantto my graduate experience, my education, the way I think aboutscience, the way I run my research group, and the way I treat mygraduate students, McMahon said. McMahon received a bachelors degree in chemistry from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1980, and a Ph.D.in organic chemistry from UCLA in 1985, studying mechanismsof carbene rearrangements with Chapman. After researching

excited-state electron transfer as a postdoctoral research associatewith Professor Mark S. Wrighton at the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, McMahon joined the faculty at the University ofWisconsin-Madison in 1988, where he now serves as the HelfaerProfessor of Chemistry and as Vice Chair of his department.

McMahons lecture, titled Mechanistic Organic Chemistry ofHarsh Reaction Environments, was an extension of his work withChapman, as his group was studying carbenes when theydiscovered the presence of some of these molecules in space. Hisgroups research is now focused on an emerging field of scienceknown as astrochemistry, in which the origins of organicmolecules and matter in interstellar space and Earth are studied.

There are 150 different organic molecules that have beendetected in space, and these molecules are hundreds of light years

away, so the idea that people have that space is empty is not right,McMahon said. Its really a fundamental scientific problem, inthe sense that it underpins profound questions about the origin oflife. McMahon said Chapman was the most extraordinarily creativeperson he has ever known, demonstrated in his ability to conjureup chemical possibilities and make them realities. Chapman taughtorganic chemistry at UCLA for 30 years, also serving as AssociateDean for Educational Innovation for 10 years, and was widelyrecognized as a leader in various scientific fields, including

photochemistry, matrix isolation spectroscopy, reactionintermediates, polymers, and materials design. He received hisbachelors degree in chemistry and English from VirginiaPolytechnic Institute, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in1957, before joining the chemistry faculty at Iowa StateUniversity. In 1974, Chapman was elected to the NationalAcademy of Sciences and transferred to UCLA, where heinvestigated organic reactive intermediates, such as carbenes,nitrenes, and propadienones.

Chapmans ideas concerning novel molecule, C60, developed1980, when McMahon wasworking as a graduate student ingroup, and, in 1981, he initiatedefforts directed at C60s chemicasynthesis, pioneering contributioto materials chemistry. It was amanifestation of this manstremendous creativity that he had

envisioned this, and not just C60but also other related fullerene tystructures, like C70 and C84,McMahon said.

During his career, Chapmanreceived many awards, including

the Pure Chemistry Award and the Arthur C. Cope Medal from American Chemical Society. In collaboration with Arlene Russea senior lecturer, he also led the UCLA Science Challenge, whicProfessor Kendall Houk said was a case-study based approachrevamping lower-division science education using technology.1995, he received the ComputerWorld Smithsonian InstituteAward for the best use of computers in education and academiaChapman and Russell also developed Calibrated Peer ReviewTM

(CPR), a computer network set up to track submissions and peereviews of student work.McMahon said this effort was another demonstration of

Chapmans creativity and his combined love of chemistry andEnglish. It was a very sophisticated and forward looking use otechnology to try and help students learn to write without theinstructor having to read each individual sample, McMahon sa McMahon also said Chapman demonstrated great pride in hiresearch group, a feeling that was mutual, treating his students aextensions of his family. He even regularly invited them toThanksgiving dinner, hosted by Chapman and his wife, Susan,who attended the lecture. I remember him saying, Well cookturkey thats roughly the size of the oven, McMahon said,recalling one such Thanksgiving dinner. He really loved being

the center of things, helping people to have a good time. At the inaugural lecture, McMahon said Chapman wasremembered by many as a kind and gregarious person, whoserved as a mentor to students and faculty alike. Houk echoedthese sentiments in his introductory speech.

All of us who knew Orville had wonderful personalexperiences of his kindnesses and consideration, Houk said. Wtake this occasion to honor the life and memory of OrvilleChapman for his contributions to science, to education, and to athe people whom he enriched at UCLA.

Robert McMahon and

Susan Chapman

Cha man Lecture Photo Credit: Lufen

Orville Chapman

A L U M N I & F R I E N D S


11/16

OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS

SEABORGIUM ($5000+)3M CompanyAlpha Chi Sigma FraternityAmgen Inc.AnonymousCalifornia Community

Foundation - Ralph &Shirley ShapiroDon, DennisFortney, Andrew D.Gelbart Family TrustGilead Sciences, Inc.Hoffmann-La Roche Inc.Jim & Barbara Tsay FoundationJohn P. McTague

Revocable TrustKnobler, Charles M. &

Carolyn B.Maxwell TechnologiesPfizer, Inc.Schumaker, Verne N.Shell Oil Company FoundationThe Albert Parvin Foundation

The Procter and Gamble CompanyThe Wilson Trust Wilson,

Raymond A. & Dorothy A.

PLATINUM ($2500-4999)Alnylam US, Inc.Bristol-Myers Squibb

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Baird, Richard L.Bensimon, David & DanieleCarter, Robert C. & Mae R.Craig, Angela YachiyoCrawford, Thomas C. &

Sally A.Creek, Jefferson L.Diederich, Francois N. & GeorgineDote, Janis L. & Nagumo, MarkFang, JiyuFelker, Peter M. & Patti C.Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund - Dr. & Mrs. Sheldon Lewis FundGenentech, Inc.Goh, M. CynthiaGribble, Gordon W.Houk, Kendall N. &

Garrell, Robin L.Inami, Harry & KazukoInstitut de Recherches ServierIsis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Jordan, Ann S.Kollmeyer, Willy D. &

Barbara D.Lo, FrederickLuminit LLCMarott, Janet E.Merck Company FoundationMerlic, Craig

Minority Opportunities inResearch (MORE) Programs

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12/16

Chemistry grabbed hold ofRaymond A. Wilson (class of43) as a teenager, and neverlet go. Born in Boyle Heights

and raised in Inglewood,Wilson recalled having abent for the sciences, and inhigh school he took all thescience courses that wereoffered. He enrolled at UCLAin 1939 and never waveredfrom his decision to major inchemistry. In his first two years as aBruin, Wilson was a memberof the UCLA RallyCommittee. He helpedorganize the massive card

tricks at football games anddecorate the goal posts in blueand gold.

However, when the U.S.entered the war in 1941, many such extracurricular activities werecurtailed. Around that time, Wilson began working in theChemistry Department to help pay for his tuition and his smallrented room near campus. Although he graduated nearly seventy years ago, he hasenduring memories of several UCLA chemistry professors whoprofoundly affected his life. Among them were Professors CharlesD. Coryell and James D. McCullough, who team-taught anintroductory chemistry course.

The two of them really convinced me I was in the right place,that chemistry was the right subject for me, Wilson said. And there was Prof. James B. Ramsey, who taught physicalchemistry.

He was very demanding and gave us pop quizzes once ortwice a week, Wilson recalled. You always did your homeworkin that classor else.

Wilson graded papers for pioneering organic chemist SaulWinstein, and worked as an assistant to Professor William R.

Crowell, a professor of quantitative analysis. A particular eventstands out in Wilsons memory.

One evening during a rare war-related blackout, a light bulbthat maintained a constant-temperature bath for experiments ke

flashing on and off. Thinking it might be a code transmission ofsome sort, the authorities swiftly arrived and unplugged the bulcausing all of the experiments to fail. To prevent a repeat of thismishap, Wilson was immediately assigned to find an alternativeheat source for the constant-temperature bath.

Wilson credits his UCLA education for giving him an excellstart to an immensely satisfying 40-year career with Shell OilCompany.

Looking back, he noted, Im tickled pink that I got such agreat education, which helped me get a good job straight out ofcollege.

After he retired, Wilson decided to start giving back to UCLAIn the 1990s, Wilson and his wife, Dorothy (Dot), donated apiece of real estate to the Chemistry Department, to help fund th

new Chemistry building. During a visit to see the nearlycompleted building, they were so impressed by Professor RichaKaner (their tour guide) that they decided to donate funds tosupport his researchand have done so ever since. Wilsons next major gift came in 2001, when he named UCLas the beneficiary of a large IRA and established the Ray andDorothy Wilson Endowment in Chemistry, which supportsvisiting professors and student fellowships in the Department.Over the years, the Shell Oil matching gift program has addedgenerously to the endowment. Through their generosity, Dot and Ray Wilson have built asolid legacy in the Department that is also a lasting tribute to thechemistry professors who, seventy years ago, had such a profouimpact on a bright young chemistry student. The generous support of our donors keeps UCLA at the

forefront of innovation and discovery. If you would like to inquiabout ways to give to the Department of Chemistry and

Biochemistry, please contact Kerri Yoder, Director ofDevelopment for the Division of Physical Sciences, at (310)794-9045 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Why We Donate: Raymond & Dorothy Wilson

Raymond and Dorothy Wilson

BruinWorksis an online networking site exclusively for UCLA alumni. It allows alumni to connect professionally and personalto a network of nearly 400,000 UCLA alumni. BruinWorksis a UCLA graduate's most valuable resource. BruinWorksenables you toNetwork with other UCLA alumni from our departmentSearch for jobs, rsums and other alumniPost a job or your own rsumAccess a comprehensive UCLA alumni directoryExplore a global calendar of UCLA eventsJoin interest and geographic alumni groups

Sign up for BruinWorks: Go to www.bruinworks.com and click on Log in. First-time users will be directed to sign up to establishan account. If you already have an account, you can log in with your e-mail address and password.

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13/16

Motorson their hybrid cars, and everyone there basically expressedhat the key to hybrid vehicles was developing a new type of

battery, Davis said. Since battery technology develops veryslowly, I was super excited to read about Ric and Maher's work. I

didn't think, and don't think, even now, that people realize how biga discovery a new energy storage device is.

Although The Super Supercapacitor did not win the grandprize in the competition, it ranked as the second most viewed filmof 95 finalists, was viewed by over 1 million people on Web sitessuch as Reddit, Vimeo, YouTube, and Upworthy, and wasranslated into Portuguese, serving as a promotional vehicle for

possibilities to come.It's not exactly Gangnam Style numbers, but for a three-

minute documentary on a science subject, it should be consideredvery successful, Davis said.

Following publication of Kaner and El-Kadys Sciencearticle, aeading supercapacitor company also offered them a contract andarge donation to fund further research on supercapacitors, for

potential applications in transportation and energy grid storage.If you go to China, the new buses run on carbon-based

supercapacitors, and the reason they do that is a supercapacitor canbe charged and discharged relatively quickly, Kaner said,describing one such application. While people are getting on andoff at a bus stop, you can charge your bus, and instead of having anentire grid system, you just make the bus stop the charging station.As long as theres a bus stop every 10 to 20 miles, where the buscan be recharged, its very happy to go along, and you need veryittle infrastructure.

El-Kady and Kaner have made several more breakthroughs overhe past year. Although their graphene supercapacitors can already

be charged 1000 times faster than batteries, El-Kady is working onfurther boosting their capacity by making a supercapacitor-batteryhybrid that requires limited charging time to store a large amountof power.

If you specially design the supercapacitor-battery hybrid, youcan get the best attributes of the two, El-Kady said.

They also developed mini versions of their supercapacitors,called micro-supercapacitors, which is especially important sincehe current portable electronics trend has spurred the

miniaturization of various technologies. Standard micro-fabricationechniques have enabled on-chip micro-supercapacitors, but the

devices are expensive and are produced in a labor-intensiveprocess, thereby limiting their commercial applications. Using thenexpensive LightScribe technique, El-Kady was able to make

more than 100 micro-supercapacitors on a single DVD disc in lesshan 30 minutes, a terrific feat that may lead to direct power sourcentegration into computer processing chips. This research was

published inNature Communicationson February 12, 2013.Its something that I believe is a very important step forward

owards the commercialization of graphene microsupercapacitors,El-Kady said.

Kaner said El-Kadys educational background played a crucialrole in the discovery that graphene was ideal for buildingsupercapacitors, enabling him to take the lead in the continuationof their research, and making him more than deserving of theMcCoy award.

This would not have come about unless Maher came with hmasters degree in electrochemistry, and, literally, after measurithe speed of electron transfer on graphene, realized that this wagood application, Kaner said. I have some background inelectrochemistrymy Ph.D. was on making the first batteries ouconducting polymersbut I hadnt actually done muchelectrochemistry since Id been here, so it was refreshing to seehim come, and he definitely deserves whatever accolades comeway. El-Kady has always pushed himself to succeed. An almostmiddle child of a family of nine children, five boys and four girEl-Kady grew up in Egypt and was strongly encouraged to pursan education by his parents, both of whom lacked the opportuniavailable to him.

My mother didnt get an education and my father didnt geteducation either, although he later learned how to read and writsome words, El-Kady said. They made sacrifices so I couldpursue what I love to do. I would like to take this opportunity toremember my father who passed away when I was about to joinUCLA. Without his help, I wouldnt be here today. I would alsolike to thank my mother, who gave me a lot of support during mschool studies to do something, to be an effective member ofsociety. Even though she didnt know exactly what that could bshe was giving me the support to get a nice education, because I would eventually know my way and do better than they did. El-Kady said science became a career path at an early age, ahas looked up to Ahmed Zewail, the 1999 Nobel Laureate inchemistry, since he was 12, and was first fascinated by his sixtheighth grade science teachers lab experiments. Fulfilling hisparents aspirations, he received his bachelors of science inchemistry from Cairo University, in 2004, ranking as the topstudent in his department and gaining a position as a professor aCairo University, to commence upon the completion of his

doctorate. His collaboration with Kaner, who he admired for hiswork in conducting polymers, began while he was working on hmasters thesis, as his committee selected Kaner as an externalreviewer. Soon after completing his masters in physical chemisin 2009, El-Kady received a graduate fellowship to earn hisdoctorate in the United States, choosing to join Kaners group. Hintended to study conducting polymers, but became interested igraphene, a newer material discovered in 2004. Ric started at the time when conducting polymers wereactually the golden material, but, after 40 years, most of theirinteresting applications had been done already, El-Kady said.Current research has taught us that graphene is the new starmaterial of our time. Measurements showed that graphene is onthe strongest materials known to man, conducts electricity bette

than copper, and is completely flexible. Most interestingly,graphene has extrememly high surface area. For example, you ccover an entire football field with less than one gram of graphenThese interesting properties suggested that graphene could be ufor a variety of applications. However, the question was if we cmake a useful device out of graphene, and before that, we needeto ask a more important questioncould we make graphene usian inexpensive and scalable process?

Kaner originally set out to find a scalablemethod for makinggraphene, as the one made famous by 2010 Nobel Laureates AnGeim and Konstantin Novoselov was difficult (continued on p.

The Super Supercapacitor (continued from p. 1)

R E S E A R C H


14/16

The Super Supercapacitor (continued from p. 14Research Highlight: Pyridynes

Many commercially available drugs containorganic molecules known as heterocycles, andone of the most common heterocycles prevalent

in drugs is called the pyridine ring. Over 100medications on the market today includepyridine rings, such as Lunesta, commonly usedto treat insomnia, Actos, commonly used to treatType II diabetes, Nexium, commonly used totreat acid reflux, and Singulair, commonly usedto treat asthma. By making compounds calledpyridynes, Professor Neil Gargand Adam

Goetz, a Ph.D. candidate in Gargs laboratory, introduced a new toolto allow chemists to construct various molecular structures that canpotentially aid in future drug discovery. This research was publishedonline inNature Chemistryon November 25. You need basic chemistry to be able to access potential drugs, andwe think this is a very useful tool that drug companies will be able to

use to make new chemicals that they have not been able to makebefore, Garg said. Pyridine rings consist of six atoms that can be numbered forclassification purposes. Garg and Goetz wanted to introduce newarrangements of atoms, or substituents, on pyridine rings in acontrolled process, in order to form new molecular structures to aidchemists in drug discovery. They aimed at producing 3,4-pyridynes,in which the third and fourth atoms in a pyridine ring are attached toone another by a very reactive triple bond. The high reactivity of thepyridyne allows for many possible chemical reactions, Garg said. Although chemists have been producing these types of pyridynesfor over 30 years, Garg and Goetz recognized some limitations intheir methods, as they were not user-friendly, not often used in drugdiscovery, and were more likely to result in two, rather than one,

product, which is not helpful to those trying to make very specificcompounds. To simplify the process, Garg and Goetz preparedpyridyne precursors, which are stable chemicals that can be storedin bottles. Pyridyne precursors can be put into chemical reactions tobe converted into pyridynes. They can then be used to quickly reactwith another ingredient, which can be chosen by the researcher, toform a new product. Since the last ingredient will vary in differentreactions, according to a chemists preference, many new substitutedpyridines can be made. Garg and Goetz are currently focused on making their pyridyneprecursors commercially available. A leading chemical supplier hasalready purchased three compounds to test market viability, the firststep toward drug companies widely using pyridynes in drugdiscovery.

Theres a popular quote by one of the former directors of theNational Institutes of Health, and he said that the No. 1 stumblingblock in drug discovery is synthetic organic chemistry, Garg said. Ithink a lot of industrial researchers agree. Were good at syntheticorganic chemistry, but we will always need new ways to buildmolecules, and new ways to build molecules that have never beenmade before. Our pyridyne chemistry is a contribution along thoselines.

*This is the first article in our Research Highlights series. Please look forfuture Research Highlights online at www.chemistry.ucla.edu.

to reproduce. Geim and Novoselovs method used tape to peellayers from a piece of graphite until one layer, graphene, resultKaners method instead involved chemical exfoliation of graph

sheets from graphite oxide, documented in the most-cited articlNature Nanotechnology, and El-Kady said he wanted to take thfinding to the next step.

My goal at that time was to make a graphene supercapacitothat could store more energy than commercially availablesupercapacitors and also provide more power, El-Kady said. However, researchers have faced the common challenge thathe single layers of graphene stick together, reducing its surfacearea. To produce graphene sheets that remained separate oncecombined into supercapacitors, El-Kady, Veronica Strong, aformer graduate student, Sergey Dubin, another Ph.D. candidatKaners group, and Kaner decided to use a laser to convertgraphite oxide into graphene, settling on the laser inside aLightScribe drive, because it was inexpensive and accessible. A

few years earlier, they discovered that graphite oxide could coninto graphene when exposed to intense light, and the LightScribmethod provided control over the speedy conversion process. We looked at the microscopic structure of graphene and fothat the graphene sheets were separated nicely and were highlyconductive, El-Kady said. So I thought this was the material we were after for making an ideal battery or supercapacitor. El-Kady hurried to build a supercapacitor, running to RadioShack to buy several LEDs, ordering electrolytes, and using 10year-old electrolytes found in the lab for the time being. Once tsupercapacitor was ready, El-Kady charged it and attached it toLED. Amazingly enough, it worked, El-Kady said. It lit up LED for several minutes, and I was so excited about it, so I calVeronica (Strong) and said, Here is the interesting application

were after.I was convinced that it would be very important, because

youre always wondering whether scientists can discover awonderful battery that you can have in your cell phone for sevedays instead of one, El-Kady added. The second thing is thatcan make it completely flexible. Flexible technology suitable for roll-up displays has recentlygained popularity among researchers. While batteries could breand lose conductivity if bent, graphene supercapacitors can be bin several directions and maintain conductivity, paving the wayapplications in military equipment and flat screen, bendabledisplays, such as the Samsung Youm Flexible OLED Displays,which were presented at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show(CES).

Kaner said El-Kadys discovery prompted him to recall his odays as a student, when his graduate advisor, Nobel Laureate AMacDiarmid, would make him demonstrate his findings beforetrusting that he had produced significant results.

He didnt believe anything until he could actually see or toit, so it just reminded me of when my advisor used to say, Ok,say this battery works? I want to see how it works, Kaner sai After graduating in June, El-Kady said he plans to return toEgypt in time for Eid al-Fitr, the festival that follows Ramadancelebrate the end of a month of fasting with(continued on p. 15

Nexium

Pyridyne Ring

R E S E A R C H


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his family. Determined to apply his valuableeducation to instruction at Cairo University, El-Kady also said he intended to teach his studentsvarious lab demonstrations. He even used hisMcCoy award to stock up on textbooks, eitherunavailable or too expensive in Egypt, which hesaid would provide necessary updates to thecurrent curriculum. El-Kady will teach in Egyptfor a year, before attempting to secure a post-doctoral position in the United States.

Although he is still interested in graphene, hesaid he plans on finding applications for morerecent discoveries, such as water splitting, whichmay lead to clean energy sources. He met NobelLaureate Sir Harold Kroto at the Lindau NobelLaureates Meeting in Germany, in 2009, and,while at the meeting, was featured in anothershort film, titled Nanotechnology: Use andMisuse, in which he discussed similar researchinterests with Kroto. He walked away with alesson he continues to utilize todayembrace thescientific method, leaving others opinionsbehind.

(Kroto) liked the dogma in science that weshould not be affected by previous thoughts aboutthings, El-Kady said. I think thats veryimportant. It was inspiring, because scientists hada dogma about graphene; they thought that anytwo-dimensional crystal should not exist innature, and thats actually why graphene was

discovered very late. People considered it anunstable form of carbon that shouldn't exist, butthe guys who won the Nobel Prize put an end tothese thoughtsgraphene is stableand it was likea shock to the scientific community.

Similarily, Kaner has urged his research groupto move forward in innovation, rather than findingone solution to a problem and considering itsolved, something that El-Kady said he wished toinstill in his students.

You can make a high surface material, andstop and say, Well this is a high surface material,and it will make a very nice battery, but then youneed to prove that you made this material, and

that it will perform better than others in themarket or in previous literature, El-Kady said.So thats why Ric is always encouraging us tofind applications; were always after applicationsthat society is interested in, and if you talk aboutthem, theyll get excited.

The photo featured on p. 1 is a still from BrianGolden Davis The Super Supercapacitor. Theshort film can be viewed at: http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011.

Norma Bernstein Norma Olivier Bernstein, wife of Richard BarryBernstein (a founding father of the field of chemical

reaction dynamics, and professor of chemistry at UCLfrom 1983-1990), passed away on August 30, 2012. Bin Pella, Iowa of Dutch immigrants, Norma pursued acareer in nursing and was an operating room supervisowhen she met her husband of 42 years. Her life wasdedicated to supporting Richard's research and career,including helping him in his role as editor of Chemica

Physical Letters, and raising their four children, all of whom survive her (NeMinda, Beth and Julie).

Richard (Dick) Gillespie Richard (Dick) Gillespie, an alumnus and long-timestaff member in the department, passed away on January 2013, at the age of 90. Dick started working in our solutiopreparation lab in 1951, while also finishing up his B.S.,which he earned in 1953. He became head of the FreshmaStoreroom, overseeing all chemistry undergraduatelaboratory solutions, while he also studied part-time withProfessor Ken Trueblood to earn an M.S. in X-ray

crystallography, which he completed in 1958. Rather than pursuing a doctoraDick embraced his passion for instrumentation, and was the department'smainstay in its instrumentation facility from 1955 until his retirement in 1982

Joan PeterJoan Carol Peter, wife of James B. Peter (a postdoctor

scholar in Paul Boyer's group, School of Medicine facultmember, and 2001 Seaborg Medalist) passed away on

November 6, 2012, at age 78. Born and raised in OmahaNebraska, Joan and Jim were married for 53 yearsfrom1955 until his death in 2009. In 1963, Joan and Jim movto Santa Monica, where they raised their seven children.They later had 13 grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren. Throughout her life, Joan excelled in her

main roles as mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and alsovolunteered with various organizations, such as Meals on Wheels. Jim and JoPeter also generously endowed the Paul D. Boyer chair in Biochemistry andMolecular Biology.

George Rathmann George B. Rathmann, the first chief executive ofAmgen, 1995 Seaborg Medalist, and a friend of the

department, passed away at his home in Palo Alto,California on April 23, 2012. He was 84. Rathmann wwidely known as one of the fathers of the biotechnologindustry, leading Amgen in the development of two madrugs; Epogen, to treat anemia, and Neupogen, which

prevents cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy fromgetting infections. He worked for 20 years at 3M beforebecoming head of research and development for thediagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories in 1975,

where he stayed until he was recruited to run Amgen. He worked with WinstSalser, who started Amgen, at UCLA in the seventies. He is survived by hiswife, Joy; his daughters, Margaret Rathmann, Laura Jean Rathmann and SallKadifa; his son, Richard; and 13 grandchildren.

R E S E A R C H / I N M E M O R I A M

Joan Peter

Dick Gilles ie

Norma and Richard

Bernstein

The Super Supercapacitor(continued from p. 14)

In Memoriam

George

Rathmann
http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011http://vimeo.com/focusforwardfilms/semifinalists/51873011


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Department Graduation Ceremony and

Awarding of Alumni Awards to Drs. Judithand Julie SwainJune 15, 2013 (Reception at 4:00 p.m., Ceremony at5:00 p.m., Court of Sciences)

Hawthorne Lecture, Presented by ProfessorPhilip Power, University of California, DavisOctober 9, 2013 (Contact Inorganic Divisional Officefor time and location information: 310-825-4208)

Seaborg Symposium & Medal AwardBanquet, Honoring Professor KendallHouk October 26, 2013(CNSI Auditorium, 12:00-5:45p.m., Covel Commons, 6:30-8:30 p.m.) (see p. 7-8)

Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series,

Presented by Professor Frances H. Arnold,California Institute of Technology

November 6, 2013 (4:00 p.m., Contact Jin Lee forlocation information: [email protected])

Departmental Awards CeremonyNovember 18, 2013 (Court of Sciences, Room 24, 4:00p.m.)

115th Faculty Research Lectureship,Presented by Professor Richard Kaner

Time and location information to be announced.

15

June

6

Nov.

2013Upcoming Eventsin the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistr

9

Oct.

18

Nov.

26

Oct.

TBA

Fall

*More lectures and events can be viewed on our calendar on our Web site at www.chemistry.ucla.edu.

SEABORG2013October 26, 2013

Registration Available in Fall 2013

www.seaborg.ucla.edu

Professor Kendall HoukSaul Winstein Chair, Organic Chemistry
http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/

UCLA Chemistry Newsletter 2013

Documents

Transcript of UCLA Chemistry Newsletter 2013