UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Awards Research and academic recognition for outstanding accomplishments Page 3-5 UCLA-Argentina International experience for our graduate students and faculty Page 7 Our Generous Donors Atsuko & Akira Fujimoto, Audree Fowler, and Roger Macomber Page 8 Sigman Lecture The 2009 Sigman Memorial Lecture recap and photos Page 11 Developing a New Prostate Cancer Drug By focusing on a key hormone receptor associated with prostate cancer, UCLA professor Michael E. Jung and co- workers, in collaboration with oncologist Charles L. Sawyers and his group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, have rationally designed a small molecule that provides the basis for a new prostate cancer treatment with a novel mechanism. Jung discussed the project at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in Philadelphia last summer, explaining that there are three types of prostate cancer. Nonmetastatic prostate cancer is typically not very aggressive and often remains untreated. The second type — hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer — is an aggressive cancer that responds to treatments that reduce male hormone levels, such as surgical castration and prescription of antiandrogens. Surgical castration and antiandrogens “make the tumor growth go down, at least for a time,” said Jung. “But after one to three years, about 60 percent of patients develop a third type of prostate cancer, which is also metastatic but can no longer be treated with antiandrogens.” This type is called hormone-refractory, castration-refractory or castration-resistant prostate cancer. Jung and co-workers decided to pursue a medication against this third type of prostate cancer by targeting the androgen receptor, which Sawyers’ group had previously identied as a promising drug target. Their goal was to nd small organic molecules that bind to the androgen receptor and that exhibit potent receptor blocking ability (antagonism), as well as little or no tendency to activate the receptor (agonism). Synthetic and design efforts led to a lead compound, RD162, which had notable drug properties and retained potent androgen receptor antagonism in hormone-refractory cells. A trial in live mice with hormone-refractory prostate cancer showed that RD162 “knocked down the tumors,” Jung said. “We were hitting hormone-refractory cells.” The tests showed, surprisingly, that the agent was also effective against hormone-sensitive cells. (continued, p. 14) In This Issue Page ............... Chair’s Message 2 ........................... Awards 3-5 .................... Happenings 6-7 ............. Giving & Donors 8-9 ........ Seaborg Symposium 10 ................ Sigman Lecture 11 .............. Winstein Lecture 12 ......... Faculty Research 13-14 .............. In Memoriam 14-15 ..................... Graduation 16 Spring 2009 Volume 29 - Number 2 Department of Celebrating the Life of Sylvia Winstein (p. 14) (Saul and Sylvia Winstein pictured) “MDV3100 reduced tumors to a third or fourth of their original sizes.” Mike Jung and Dong Won Yoo

description

UCLA Department of Chemistry's Spring 2009 Newsletter.

Transcript of UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

Page 1: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

Awards

Research and academic

recognition for outstanding

accomplishments

Page 3-5

UCLA-Argentina

International experience for our

graduate students and faculty

Page 7

Our Generous Donors

Atsuko & Akira Fujimoto,

Audree Fowler, and Roger

Macomber

Page 8

Sigman Lecture

The 2009 Sigman Memorial

Lecture recap and photos

Page 11

Developing a New Prostate Cancer DrugBy focusing on a key hormone receptor associated with prostate cancer, UCLA professor Michael E. Jung and co-workers, in collaboration with oncologist Charles L. Sawyers and his group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, have rationally designed a small molecule that provides the basis for a new prostate cancer treatment with a novel mechanism.

Jung discussed the project at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in Philadelphia last summer, explaining that there are three types of prostate cancer. Nonmetastatic prostate cancer is typically not very aggressive and often remains untreated. The second type

— hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer — is an aggressive cancer that responds to treatments that reduce male hormone levels, such as surgical castration and prescription of antiandrogens. Surgical castration and antiandrogens “make the tumor growth go down, at least for a time,” said Jung. “But after one to three years, about 60 percent of patients develop a third type of prostate cancer, which is also metastatic but can no longer be treated with antiandrogens.” This type is called hormone-refractory, castration-refractory or castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Jung and co-workers decided to pursue a medication against this third type of prostate cancer by targeting the androgen receptor, which Sawyers’ group had previously identied as a promising drug target. Their goal was to nd small organic molecules that bind to the androgen receptor and that exhibit potent receptor blocking ability (antagonism), as well as little or no tendency to activate the receptor (agonism).

Synthetic and design efforts led to a lead compound, RD162, which had notable drug properties and retained potent androgen receptor antagonism in hormone-refractory cells. A trial in live mice with hormone-refractory prostate cancer showed that RD162 “knocked down the tumors,” Jung said. “We were hitting hormone-refractory cells.” The tests showed, surprisingly, that the agent was also effective against hormone-sensitive cells. (continued, p. 14)

In This Issue Page

...............Chair’s Message! 2

...........................Awards" 3-5

....................Happenings" 6-7

.............Giving & Donors" 8-9

........Seaborg Symposium" 10

................Sigman Lecture" 11

..............Winstein Lecture" 12

.........Faculty Research" 13-14

..............In Memoriam" 14-15

.....................Graduation" 16

Spring 2009Volume 29 - Number 2

Department of

Celebrating the Life of Sylvia Winstein (p. 14)

(Saul and Sylvia Winstein pictured)

“MDV3100 reduced tumors to a third or fourth of their original sizes.”

Mike Jung and Dong Won Yoo

Page 2: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

U C L A C h e m i s t r y & B i o c h e m i s t r y - S p r i n g 2 0 0 9

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Sheri Sangji, 1985-2009This space is usually used to highlight the accomplishments of

our faculty, staff, and students and to bring your attention to

upcoming events in the department. Indeed, there are many such

items to mention, which I will touch on later, but rst, I must

discuss an event that overshadows any news about our

accomplishments, that being the death of Sheharbano (Sheri)

Sangji, a staff research associate in our department.

Sheri’s death resulted from a tragic accident that occurred while

she was carrying out her research duties in the Molecular

Sciences Building on December 29, 2008. While Sheri was

drawing an aliquot of t-butyl-lithium solution into a syringe, the

plunger came out, allowing reagent to escape. This highly

reactive compound ignites spontaneously in air, and as a result,

Sheri’s gloves and sweatshirt caught re. Despite heroic efforts by

the two co-workers with her that day, Sheri suffered second and

third degree burns over 40 percent of her body. After an 18-day

battle against infection and other complications resulting from the

burns, Sheri died on January 16, 2009, at the Grossman Burn

Center in Sherman Oaks. A memorial service held at the Islamic

Center of Southern California on January 19 was attended by

approximately 50 of Sheri’s colleagues from the department, as

well as Dean Joseph Rudnick. Sheri was buried later that week in

Toronto, where her parents reside.

Sheri, 23 years old at the time of her death, graduated from

Pomona College in 2008 with a degree in chemistry. As an

undergraduate, she carried out research in the laboratory of Dan

O’Leary, a graduate alumnus of our department who received his

Ph.D. under the mentorship of Frank Anet. Sheri and Dan co-

authored papers in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and

Organic Letters. Some of her undergraduate research focused on

the use of ring closing metathesis reaction in the synthesis of 310-

helical peptides. After several months working in industry as a

synthetic chemist, Sheri decided that she preferred the intellectual

stimulation of an academic lab and, in October 2008, joined our

organic chemistry division to contribute to exciting research

efforts in the synthesis of natural and designed compounds with

potential to ght such human maladies as cancer and obesity.

Sheri was a brilliant student who planned to enter law school in

the fall.

On January 23, Dean Rudnick and I sent a letter to the campus

community discussing Sheri’s tragic death that included the

following comments:

Words are inadequate to describe the sadness we feel at losing

such an intelligent and generous young woman. Our thoughts

and prayers are with Sheri’s family and friends as they have

been since this terrible accident occurred. In Sheri’s memory,

we commit ourselves to!a thorough!review of safety!protocols

and an immediate inspection of laboratories in the Molecular

Sciences Building, as!well as other labs utilized by the

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.!

The department is deciding on the best way to memorialize

Sheri, and your suggestions are welcome.

Honors and EventsAs detailed on p. 3-4, a number of our faculty, including Jim

Bowie, Paula Diaconescu, Xiangfeng Duan, David Eisenberg,

Tom Mason, Joan Valentine, and Omar Yaghi, have received

important extramural awards and honors since the last edition of

the newsletter. In addition, one of our emeriti, Fred Hawthorne,

was awarded the Priestley Medal, the highest honor conferred by

the American Chemical Society.

The department bestowed further honors of our own (also

detailed on p. 5) upon our faculty, staff, and students at the 2008

Department Awards Ceremony, which took place on November 3,

2008. We were delighted to have UCLA alumni Ralph and

Charlene Bauer, who are generous and loyal supporters of the

department, in attendance at this ceremony. Ralph, who received

his B.S. in chemistry from UCLA in 1952 and then went on to

earn his Ph.D. in 1958 in our department working under the

mentorship of Nobel laureate Don Cram, conferred the Ralph &

Charlene Bauer Graduate Student Research Award upon Marisa

Monreal. His presentation included an inspiring speech on the

importance of his UCLA education in allowing him, as the son of

immigrants, to achieve the American dream.

Lastly, we would also like to invite everyone to the 2009

Department Graduation Ceremony, which will be held on

Saturday, June 13, at 5 p.m. in the Court of Sciences.

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2009 Priestley Medal Award

M. Frederick Hawthorne,

B.S.’49 (Pomona), Ph.D.’53

(Cram), Professor Emeritus

from UCLA since 2006,

received the 2009 Priestley

Medal at the American

Chemical Society March

meeting. The Priestley Medal,

recognizing distinguished

service to the eld of

chemistry, is the highest

honor the ACS can bestow.

Fred, who returned to UCLA

in 1969 as professor of

inorganic chemistry, is best known for his work in boron

chemistry, including the synthesis of the icosahedral ion B12H122-.

He is now director of the International Institute of Nano and

Molecular Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Sloan Research FellowshipThe Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded Paula Diaconescu,

assistant professor of inorganic chemistry, with a 2009 Sloan

Research Fellowship. The fellowships are awarded to

“exceptional young researchers” based on their “outstanding

promise of making fundamental contributions to new

knowledge.” Her research involves the design and synthesis of

complexes with specic geometric and electronic properties.

Dickson Award and Royal Society of ChemistryCharles M. Knobler, Professor Emeritus of

physical chemistry, was selected as one of

six UCLA emeriti for the 2009 Dickson

Emeritus Professor Award, given for

outstanding performance in scholarship,

teaching, and service after retirement. He

was also elected as a fellow of the Royal

Society of Chemistry in January 2009.

Richard C. Tolman Medal Joan S. Valentine, professor of

biochemistry, has won this year’s

Richard C. Tolman Medal in

recognition of her outstanding

contributions to chemistry. The Medal

is awarded each year by the Southern

California Section of the American

Chemical Society. The Tolman Medal

was presented to Professor Valentine at

the Southern California Section of the

ACS award dinner in May, held at the

UCLA Faculty Center.

American Physical Society Thomas G. Mason has been elected as a fellow of the American

Physical Society, through the Division of Condensed Matter

Physics, “for pioneering the approach of microrheology of

complex uids based on the thermal diffusion of probe colloids.”

Jim Bowie Honored by AAASJames U. Bowie, professor of biochemistry, has been

elected a Fellow of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science for his role in devising techniques to

determine protein structure. Jim was one of only three UCLA

Faculty to receive this honor in 2008. The AAAS fellows were

honored at the AAAS annual Meeting in Chicago on February

14, 2009.

Professional Development AwardLaurence Lavelle and Eric

Scerri have been awarded

UCLA Professional

Development Awards.

Laurence Lavelle will use

the award for curriculum

development during the

2008-2009 academic year.

Eric Scerri’s award will be

used to fund his attendance

at a science education

meeting in Cartagena,

Columbia, where he will be

organizing a symposium on

the periodic table and its

applications in science and

science teaching.

Joan S. Valentine

M. Frederick Hawthorne

University of Missouri, Columbia - Director of the International

Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine

UCLA Chemistry & BiochemistryProfessor Emeritus

Charles M. Knobler

SPRING 2009 NEWSLETTER FACULTY, STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS

Editorial BoardMiguel Garcia-Garibay, Heather

Maynard, Al Courey

Direction & DesignStephen S. Naczinski

Editing & ProductionJin Lee, Tami Fertig

College Policy & RelationsDevelopment: Steve Ramirez, Erica

Marentes; Silvia Busch

ContributorsSteven Clarke, David Eisenberg, Robin

Garrell, Ken Houk, Mike Jung, Laurence Lavelle, Charles Knobler, Eric

Scerri, Robert Scott, Todd Yeates, Cynthia Allen, Lissett Bastidas, Mandy Bell, Judith Forman, David Imai, Penny Jennings, Shamar Jones, Bo Tendis,

Carolee Winstein

UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

607 Charles E. Young Drive EastLos Angeles, California 90095-1569

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Harvey International Prize in Human HealthProfessor David Eisenberg received the 2008 Harvey International Prize in Human Health in March at the

Technion in Haifa, Israel. This award was set up by Leo M. Harvey, an immigrant businessman who settled in the

Los Angeles area in 1910 to work as a tool maker with the Hot Point Electric Company.!In 1914, he started his own

shop with two workers, called the Harvey Machine Company, in downtown Los Angeles.!By 1920, the company

had more than 300 employees, and eventually morphed into Harvey Aluminum Company. In different years, the

Harvey Prize is awarded in various elds. Previous awardees include Claude Shannon, Seymour Benzer, Freeman

Dyson, Paul Lauterbur, Sidney Brenner, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Benoit Mandelbrot, Mikhail Gorbachev, Harry

Gray, and Wolfgang Baumeister.

ACS Award and Miller Research ProfessorshipOmar Yaghi is the recipient of the 2009 ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials. The ACS proudly recognizes his contributions to the

development of the eld of research in polymer and materials science. He has also been awarded a 2009 Visiting Miller Research

Professorship, a program designed to bring scientists to the UC Berkeley campus for collaborative research interactions.

NIH New Innovator AwardXiangfeng Duan, assistant professor of inorganic chemistry,!was awarded with the 2008 National Institutes of Health (NIH) New

Innovator Award. This program, which is in its second year of existence, supports high-impact research by young investigators.

Xiangfeng’s award is to support his studies into the development of minimally invasive neural nanoprobes to monitor and manipulate

neural activity.

Alumna Honored for Contributions to BiotechnologyKatherine Kantardjieff, Ph.D.’88 (Eisenberg), has been honored with the Andreoli Faculty Service

Award, the highest honor for faculty given by the California State University Program for

Education in Research and Biology. Dr. Kantardjieff is currently a professor of physical chemistry

at Cal State Fullerton.

Charles and Sue Young Graduate and Undergraduate Student AwardsBenny Ng, graduate student in Sarah Tolbert’s lab, and Kevin Roy, one of four undergraduate

departmental scholars and a member of Guillaume Chanfreau’s lab, were awarded with the

Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate and Undergraduate Student Award (respectively), at the College Awards Dinner on April 27,

2009. The award is given once a year to three graduate students and four undergraduate students “for exemplary academic achievement,

research, and university citizenship.”

First Annual Audree Fowler FellowshipThe rst awards for the Audree Fowler (B.S.’56, Ph.D.’63 in Biochemistry) Fellowship were

presented in October 2008 at the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute (MBI) Lake

Arrowhead Retreat. Neil King (Todd Yeates Group) and Nathan Joh (Jim Bowie Group)

were awarded with the fellowships.

The Audree V. Fowler Graduate Fellowship in Protein Science serves as a tting testament to Fowler’s

commitment and dedication to her research and to UCLA.

UCLA Mortar Board Awards Joe RangelJoe Rangel, a machinist for UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Department, was awarded

by the Agathai Chapter of the Mortar Board at UCLA, with the Tip of the Hat Award.

The Award recognizes Joe’s hard work and dedication to working for UCLA.

David S. Eisenberg

Katherine A. Kantardjieff

Nathan Joh (left) presented with the Fowler Fellowship by Reid Johnson

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Chemistry & Biochemistry Departmental Awards CeremonyNovember 3, 2008

Undergraduate AwardsStone Prize for Excellence in General Chemistry

Tadeh Vartanian

Graduate AwardsExcellence in First Year Academics and Research

Tadashi KawashimaWilliam MorrisKyle QuasdorfLufeng Zou

Excellence in TeachingSteevens AlconcelEric BroderickRobyn HodgkinsMeghan JohnsonGert KissYuen LauLaura SchelhasMitsuharu SuzukiAimee TerauchiCourtney ThomasJoann UmOscar Villalta

Excellence in Research Ralph & Charlene Bauer Award

Marisa Monreal

George Gregory Award William Glover

Majeti-Alapati FellowshipAmy Hayden

John M. Jordan Memorial AwardShakir Sayani

Ernest F. Hare, Jr., Memorial ScholarshipHenry Tran

John Stauffer FellowshipSarah Angelos

Faculty Awards Hanson-Dow Award (For Excellence in Teaching)

Steven Kim

Herbert Newby McCoy Awards (For Contribution to

Scientic Discovery in Chemistry & Biochemistry) Tim Deming

Saeed Khan

Thomas MasonAward recipients Meghan Johnson

and Courtney Thomas

Mike Jung presenting Steven Kim with the Hanson-Dow Award

Charlene and Ralph Bauer

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TV Spot: Fighting Air PollutionClean energy could save our planet. And when it arrives, Omar Yaghi will

be one of the scientists who make it possible. Yaghi, UCLA professor of

inorganic chemistry, is the creator of Metal Organic Frameworks, or

MOFs, a kind of crystalline sponge that can store amazing quantities of

natural gas, hydrogen or CO2 in very small spaces. He’s also the inventor

of “reticular chemistry,” or the stitching together of molecules into

extended structures. Yaghi explains, “If we were just to take the

automobiles now using natural gas, like the buses in L.A. or sedans in Italy

or taxis in Southeast Asia, if you stuff the tank with MOF, you can drive

twice as long or twice as far.” Yaghi was featured presenting these ideas on

the “Here. Now. UCLA” commercials currently running on TV.

Chemist to Head UCLA Faculty SenateRobin Garrell, professor of organic chemistry, has been elected Chair of the Faculty Senate for the 2009-2010 academic year. !Professor

Garrell is a spectroscopist and surface scientist who has worked with Professor Joe Loo to make major advances in the development of

microuidic devices for mass spectrometric analysis.!She was recently the Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee of the UCLA

College. !

JACS of All Trades This past January, Professor Miguel Garcia-Garibay took on a great responsibility: He became an associate editor

for the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), the highest-ranking chemistry journal in the world. The

weekly publication, which was established by the ACS in 1879, receives upwards of 10,000 submissions every year.

Each manuscript is assigned to one of 22 associate editors, who must decide the fate of the paper based on peer

review and their own expertise. Only about a third of all submissions — the ones reporting the most cutting-edge

research with the broadest appeal — get published in the journal.

The job requires a tremendous amount of dedication — Miguel spends several hours a day reading through

manuscripts — but it’s all very rewarding. Every day, he says, he is “exposed to groundbreaking science as it is

happening.” Almost as thrilling? Being selected for the highly regarded position by editor-in-chief Peter Stang. “Associate editors should

be among the leaders in their discipline and be recognized as such by the scientic community,” says Miguel. “I feel honored to be

chosen.”

Table TalkThe chemistry department has long been dependent on UCLA’s Court of

Sciences lecture halls, otherwise known as CS76, CS50 and CS24. After many

decades of heavy use, these halls are now undergoing major renovations. The

department, for its part, has contributed new periodic tables.

Many years before UCLA Facilities put the Court of Sciences on their

renovation list, several of the department faculty members wanted to update the

periodic table in the agship Kenneth N. Trueblood Lecture Hall (CS50). It

wasn’t until 2005, however, that Laurence Lavelle was asked to take on the

“periodic table project,” which required signicant customization since the wall

space available did not match the width-to-height ratio of available periodic

tables. More importantly, the font sizes, thickness, and spacing had to be

customized to maximize viewing in these large lecture halls.

The previous periodic tables stopped at element 105, making them severely

outdated, and, perhaps most importantly, missing element 106, Seaborgium (Sg), named in honor of the Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg,

who was a chemistry major undergraduate at UCLA. It is now present for a new generation of UCLA undergraduates to see.

After hundreds of hours of work, Laurence showed an early version to approximately 20 faculty members in 2007. Several versions and

a year later, it was ready for nal printing. The department appreciates Laurence’s volunteering to design these informative and colorful

periodic tables, and overseeing their installation. In addition, many thanks to Steve Hardinger for overseeing the lecture hall renovations,

and to Gigi Marr and the many helpful people involved at UCLA Facilities.

The new periodic table on display during a lecture by Laurence Lavelle

The Yaghi ad is currently airing on TV stations, and also at

www.spotlight.ucla.edu/here-now-stories/omar-yaghi/.

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Exciting International Experience for Graduate Students and Faculty In March, graduate students and faculty of the UCLA

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry headed down to South

America to participate in the U.S.-Argentina Workshop on

Nanomaterials. The meeting from March 15-17, 2009 was a

stimulating forum for U.S. and Argentinean faculty, industrial, and

student researchers to come together and share top-notch science

in the general area of nanomaterials. The setting was in the

beautiful Patagonia mountain region of Argentina in the

Amancay Hotel in Bariloche.

In an exciting turn of events, the workshop was selected as the

rst Bilateral Cooperation on Nanotechnology by the respective

countries. As a result, Mr. James Perez of the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires and Dr. Chris Cannizzaro of the U.S. State Department were

both in attendance. On July 10, 2008, a Joint Statement on Increasing Cooperation in Nanotechnology was signed by U.S. Assistant

Secretary of State Tom Shannon and Argentina’s Minister for Science, Technology and

Productive Innovation, Lino Barañao. Both countries have existing scientic programs and

are committed to promote this cooperation on nanotechnology through interactions in the

frame of joint projects.

Concomitant with the workshop, several

UCLA faculty participated in bilateral

roundtable discussions and helped identify

steps to promote and further

nanotechnology cooperation between the

two countries. A school was also held for the

students, with lectures on

bionanotechnology and discourses on the

cultures of the respective countries.

UCLA Associate Professor Heather Maynard rst proposed the idea for the workshop

as part of her National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award. She and Assistant

Professor Lia Pietrasanta of the Universidad de Buenos Aires co-organized the event.

Funding from the U.S. was provided by the NSF through the International Center for

Materials Research (ICMR) and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Maynard said, “We had hoped that this workshop would

lead to the proliferation of tangible goals for joint research at the frontier of chemistry and materials science and strengthen cooperation

and networking between the two countries. The workshop met and far exceeded our expectations.”

The New Organic Division!This is the new Organic Division at the steps of Royce Hall. !

Along with the “veterans,” there is the new Cram Chair,

Patrick Harran, and two newly tenured professors, Heather

Maynard and Ohyun Kwon, and a new assistant professor,

Neil Garg.

Top Row (Left to Right): Neil Garg, Craig Merlic,Yves Rubin,

Tim Deming; Bottom Row (Left to Right): Heather Maynard,

Patrick Harran, Mike Jung, Miguel Garcia-Garibay, Ohyun

Kwon, Robin Garrell, and Ken Houk.

Chris Kolodziej, Eric Schopf, Heather Maynard and Alison Oostendorp

Jeff Zink, Meghan Johnson and Miguel Garcia-Garibay

The U.S.-Argentina Workshop Group

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Roger MacomberDr. Roger S. Macomber has

arranged to provide an

unrestricted bequest of $100,000

to the department. When the

department receives these

generous discretionary funds, the

chair will use the new resources to

address the greatest needs and

highest priorities, such as support

for outstanding students or

innovative research.

Dr. Macomber received his B.S.

in chemistry from UCLA and

then, in 1968, became the

youngest person, at age 23, to

earn a chemistry Ph.D. here.

(This record has since been

broken.) After graduation, he

spent most of his career as a

professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati and later

at Pepperdine University, and authored numerous books,

monographs, and scientic articles. He stated recently, “I really

owe a debt of gratitude to the Chemistry & Biochemistry

Department. My education launched me into a wonderful career

of 30 years as a professor, and I always remember my marvelous

days at UCLA.”

We are grateful to Dr. Macomber for his generous support of

the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.

Fujimotos Endow the Roberts A. Smith Graduate Student AwardThe Department of

Chemistry & Biochemistry is

pleased to announce that

alumna Atsuko Fujimoto and

her husband, Akira Fujimoto,

have created the Roberts A.

Smith Graduate Student Award for the Study of Biochemistry

with a generous endowment of $50,000.

Dr. Fujimoto earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in the department in

1963 and then an MD from the Geffen School of Medicine in

1969. She said, “My studies at UCLA would not have been

possible without the nancial support I received from the

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. It is my turn to help

young, aspiring students.” She chose to honor Professor Emeritus

Smith because, she said, “his constant encouragement and

assurance helped me advance toward the degree.”

Professor Smith has been a pioneer in the study of

phosphorus-nitrogen bonds in proteins and the

mechanisms of antiviral agents and

methionine and folic acid metabolism in

normal and malignant cells.

Dr. Fujimoto currently is chief of the

Genetics Division at Los Angeles County/

USC Medical Center. Her husband, a 1960

graduate of UCLA’s Anderson School, is

president of Jastam USA Inc., an importer of

electrical and electronic

equipment and parts. In

addition to this gift, the

couple are regular supporters

of the department, the

Chemistry Advisory Council

Fund, the Glenn T. Seaborg

Medal Dinner, and the

Seaborg Endowment.

We thank the Fujimotos for

their commitment and

generosity.

Biochemistry Division Raises Funds in Honor of Distinguished Faculty EmeritiIt is hard to imagine a chemistry department without

biochemists, but a generation ago, biochemistry was not taken

seriously by most chemists. However, at UCLA, a few insightful

pioneers within our department — Dan Atkinson, Paul Boyer,

Richard Dickerson, Roberts Smith, Verne Shumaker and

Charlie West — persevered and assembled what is now

considered one of the top biochemistry divisions in the world.

These revolutionary professors helped create a new eld, and in

the process, two became members of the National Academy of

Sciences, one built a major pharmaceutical company, and one

brought a Nobel Prize to UCLA. All made major discoveries and

all enhanced the lives of their colleagues and students.

To honor their contributions, we are raising discretionary

biochemistry research funds in their honor. Our long-term goal is

to establish chairs in each of their names.

We are proud to honor their important contributions to

science, teaching and the department through these fundraising

efforts and invite you to join us by donating to the “Biochemistry

Discretionary Fund in Honor of Emeriti Faculty” (Biochem

Dsct/Emeriti Fac #618870) using the envelope included in the

newsletter.

Additionally, if you would like information about funding a chair in honor of

a specic professor, please contact Steve Ramirez, director of development for

the Physical Sciences Division, at (310) 794-9045.

Atsuko Fujimoto (center) in 1963

at UCLA Graduation

Roger S. Macomber, an avid

cyclist, during a competition

(circa 1995)

Akira & Atsuko Fujimoto

Roberts Smith

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SEABORGIUM (Over $999)Allergan Inc.Amgen Inc.Bristol-Myers Squibb Cannon Survivor’s TrustCarter, Robert & MaeChen, Tei-Fu & Oi-LinClark, Andrew J.Crawford, Thomas C.Creek, Jefferson & JaneEli Lilly and CompanyFujimoto, Atsuko & AkiraGabriel, Philip & RonaldGelbart, Nina R. & WilliamGoh, Ma C. J.Inami, Harry & KayInternational

Technologies, Inc.Knobler, Charles & CarolynLau, RonaldMoore, Stephen & DarcieMorimoto, Bruce & JoyMuscular Dystrophy

Association of AmericaNagumo, Mark & Dote,

JanisSaisho, Kenji & GloriaSekera, Michael & SharonStrathearn, Gary & OlgaThe Albert Parvin

FoundationThe Clorox CompanyThe Rathmann Family

FoundationThe Sheldon Lewis FundThe Raymond & Dorothy

Wilson TrustTsay, Jim & BarbaraWiredja, Heru & Waty

PLATINUM ($500 - $999)Bermingham-McDonogh,

Olivia M.Gresser, Michael &

HanneloreJung, Chu Wah & VictoriaKivelson, Margaret G.Kollmeyer, Willy & BarbaraMurashige, Kate A.Scott, Robert & ElizabethSiebert, Eleanor &

RaymondSitler, Susan & DavidSmith, Roberts & AdelaStavros, Kimiko & HarrySweet, JackTimberlake, William &

KarenTsai, Shih-Wa

GOLD ($250 - $499)Berman, Rod S.Caballero, Ross & RochelleClarke, Catherine F. & StevenFellows, Bruce & SylviaGarrell, Robin L.Gin, CarolynHanda, PaulHolzer, Margaret E.

Houk, Kendall N.Ieng, Maly & Castro, SheryllKatz, Marion & HowardKeller, Walter G.Kim, June Y. Lin, Yung-YaLo, Frederick & Chan, PollyMarsi, Marianne & LewisMarvin, Dean & LeeMcMahon, Robert & AngelaMitchell, Dennis K.Nasi, KouroshReisler, Emil & HannaRussell, Arlene A.Schwartz, Richard S.Smith, Judith L.West, Charles & CarolWilliams, Michael G.Williamson, Arthur G.

SILVER ($100 - $249)!Amponsah, DavidBabajanian, MasisBarnes, Larry & SandraBerengian, Anderee R.Biale, John & ElenaBingham, Carleton D.Birely, John H.Bise, Ryan T.Bishara, Anne-Marie &

IshakBlock, Thomas E.Bloomeld, Jordan & DorisBocarsly, Andrew B.Bogy Pringle, Rebecca L.Boyd, Steven A.Brady, John F.Brinkerhoff, Ana L.Cappiello, Camille & DougChang, Evelyn & Ching-J.Chapman, Susan P.Clement, NorikoDiaconescu, Paula L.Eisenberg, David & LucyFachini II, Roger & WendyFelker, Peter & PattiFung-Tomc, Joan C.Gabrielian, Sylva & LeonGeorgiadis, Taxiarchis M.Goyne, Thomas & CherylGralla, Edith & JayGreer, Alexander & EdytaGrifn, T. ScottHanson, John & LoisHarran, PatrickHays, Auda K.Ho, Siew P. & Lam, PatrickHoel, Elvin & DonnaHuang, Tung-ShiuhJergenson, Dale & PhyllisJiang, De-EnKaesz, Herbert & Joan Kaner,

Richard & SaraKoehler, CarlaKrane, Sonja & Abramo,

GrahamKwan, Janice & ReginaldKwon, OhyunLeitereg, Theodore &

MarianneLouie, Jeffrey & Corry

Margerum, Suzanne & Lawrence

Martinson, Harold & SaraMason, Thomas G.Maverick, Emily & AndrewMaynard, Heather D. &

Bass, A.S.Millar, Michelle D.Menon, NeetaMiyada, Don & SetsukoMork, H. Craig & LindaMurai, James & DorisNakagawa, YumiOgawa, YasushiOhara, Pamela C.Okita, Richard T.Pham, Hoa B.Pinto, Joseph D. & LindaRavetto, Jeffrey J.Reyes Jr., ReynaldoRoberts, John & EdithRosman, Edwin & AnidaRowen, Scott & RanaRussell, Christopher T.Schwartz, Kenneth E.Singler, Robert & JudithSpielmann, Peter H.Spring, Denise J.Steelink, Cornelius I.Steichen, Dale & Sandy

Strouse, Charles & JaneThe Greiner Family TrustTsai, MarkValencia, MariaVera Sanchez, RaulVenerable II, Grant D.Weisman, Gary & DonnaYokobata, Kathy E.Yokokawa, Hiroshi P.Zehnder, Dean & Biddle,

AndreaZiegler, Stanley & Frances

COPPER ($1 -$99)!Abelt, Chris, & Mooring,

AnneAglipay, Ralph J. A.Alconcel, Steevens N. S.Blumstein, Nancy A.Bouchard, LouisBoyer, Paul & LydaBuckner, Clay E.Cappiello, Stephanie LCarter, Ann W.Castillo, Romeo & JulieChang, Shang-Poa Y.Chauhan, SonamChen, EricClubb, RobertCohlberg, Jeffrey A.Delphey, Craig E.Dreyfuss, Beth W.Falk Sr., Carl & FlorenceFricke, Oscar & JulieGarcia-Garibay, Miguel &

BeatrizGarcia, Jose & MariaGelfand, Cheryl A.Gillan, Edward G.

Glick, Betty J.Goodman, Leon & MarilynGoto, Joy J.Graves, Sara M.Grover, GregoryGunaydin, HakanGuo, FengHanin, IsraelHarn, Lucy C.Hayes, Richard A.Hellberg, Lars H.Hodgkins, Robyn E.Hoffenberg, HowardHui, ZheHurley, James F.Hwang, Maggie & RongJung, Michael E.Kabehie, SanazKaganove, Steven N.Kelly-Quintos, Casie A.Kim, Jennie J.Kim, Soo HongLaw Ofce of Howard L.

HoffenbergLay, AnnaLee, Dennis H.Lee, Kinbo J.Lin, YushiuLowe III, John A.Ly, Dean & JulieLy, LeslieMacDonald, David J.MacPhail, Richard A.Martin, Lenore M.Mehta, UchitaMg, Kyaw KyawMuranaka, Neil J.Neuhauser, Daniel & RachelNgo, ChilanNguyen, Cara N.Nguyen, Dung T.Nguyen, Lam T.Oldham, Susan B.Osborne, UrsulaOta, Irene M.Palais, RobertPatel, Krina M.Pickwoad, RichardPiersol, ChristopherQuan, Norman & BrendaRoberts, Andrew G.Rodriguez, Marc A.Shen, Dong-MingSinclair, James & SaraThe Leitereg Living TrustTolbert, SarahTrinh Pharm.D., CatherineValdez, Nikkole Gaile B.Villa, Reymundo A.Wade, Charles & BettyWeakliem, Paul & CherylWeiss, ShimonWhiteker, Roy & JeanWhitelegge, Julian P.Wilking, James & ConnieWilson, SamuelWu, Chin-HuaXie, Gui D.Yu, Kuen W.

These gifts were received from June 1, 2008 to February 15, 2009.

Page 10: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Seaborg Symposium & Medal Presentation was held on November 1, 2008, in CNSI Auditorium and the Covel Commons.

Joan S. Valentine, the 2008 Seaborg Medalist, is a biological inorganic chemist and

biochemist. She has been a faculty member of the UCLA Department of Chemistry

& Biochemistry since 1980. She is also currently the editor-in-chief of Accounts of

Chemical Research.

Joan Valentine displaying

the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal

will be presented to Mostafa A. El-Sayed, UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech Julius

Brown Chair and Regents Professor, and Director, Laser Dynamics Laboratory. The symposium and medal dinner will

be held on November 14, 2009. The theme of the symposium will be “Advanced Materials and Nano-Technology.” In

addition to Professor El-Sayed, speakers will include Professors A. Paul Alvisatos (Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory at UC Berkeley), Professor Paul Barbara (Director of the Center for Nano & Molecular Science and

Technology at University of Texas, Austin), Professor Zhong Lin Wang (Director of the Center for Nanostructure

Characterization, Georgia Tech), and Professor Ahmed Zewail (Arthur Amos Noyes Lab of Chemical Physics, CalTech).

For information on the Seaborg events, please contact Cynthia Allen at [email protected] or phone (310) 267-5123.

Scott Waugh, Bill Gelbart, Al Courey, and Lyda and Paul Boyer

Harold Martinson, Xiangfeng Duan,

Joan Valentine, Yi Lu, and Edith Gralla

Photos by William Short

Joan Valentine and Judith Smith

David and Lucy Eisenberg and Harry B. Gray

Page 11: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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2009 David S. Sigman Memorial LectureOn January 22, 2009,

JoAnne Stubbe,

Novartis Professor of

Chemistry and

Professor of Biology at

the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology,

was honored as the

Seventh Annual David

S. Sigman Memorial

Lecturer at UCLA. She

presented a talk titled

“Ironing Out

Ribonucleotide

Reductase.” Her talk was followed by a reception and poster

session highlighting the work of UCLA graduate students and

postdoctoral fellows in the eld of chemical biology, in particular

this year the research being conducted by graduate student

trainees from the Chemistry-Biology Interface Training

Program.

JoAnne Stubbe received her undergraduate education in

chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and carried out her

Ph.D. studies in chemistry at the University of California,

Berkeley. She did a brief postdoc in chemistry at UCLA with

Jules Rebek, where she worked on the total synthesis of LSD

starting from tryptophan. Her rst job was in the Chemistry

Department at Williams College, focused on undergraduate

education. She soon realized that she wanted to carry out

research with graduate students, and took a leave of absence

from Williams to work with Robert Abeles at Brandeis University,

where she fell in love with enzymes and became fascinated with

how they work. She moved from Brandeis to Yale University

Medical School in the

Department of

Pharmacology, then to

the University of

Wisconsin in Madison

in Biochemistry. In

1987 she moved to her

current position at

MIT.

Prof. Stubbe’s lab

unraveled the complex

free radical mechanism

of ribonucleotide

reduction catalyzed by ribonucleotide reductases and the

importance of stable and transient protein and nucleotide free

radicals in catalysis. She also worked on the mechanism of free

radical mediated degradation of DNA by the antitumor

antibiotic bleomycins, where her interests extensively overlapped

with those of David Sigman. Prof. Stubbe is a member of the

National Academy of Sciences and was the recent recipient of

the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemistry.

The David S. Sigman Memorial Fund, established in 2002,

honors individuals for their signicant contributions to chemical

biology. David Sigman was a faculty member in Chemistry and

Biochemistry, and in the Department of Biological Chemistry in

the UCLA School of Medicine. His discovery of chemical

nucleases stands as an important contribution to the eld of

enzymology. Born in New York City in 1939, he graduated

magna cum laude from Oberlin College in 1960 with his B.S. in

chemistry. Prof. Sigman received his Ph.D. in 1965 from

Harvard. After postdoctoral work, he served briey as an

instructor at Harvard before joining the UCLA faculty in 1968.

His research bridged the elds of organic chemistry,

biochemistry, and molecular biology. As one of the founding

members of the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute, he served as

its associate director from 1994-2001. David Sigman died in

2001 at the age of 62.

Contributions to help assure the future of the lecture series can be made by sending your donation in the enclosed donation envelope. (Please write “Sigman” on the envelope.)

Chemistry-Biology Interface TrainingProgram: Sigman Lecture Poster SessionThe Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program is an NIH-

and UCLA-supported program to train graduate students in a

variety of chemical and biological programs using state-of-the-art

chemical techniques to solve problems in biology. Trainees are

supported for three years and participate in a variety of activities

including an internship in another laboratory.! The program was

started by David Sigman in 1994.! He was succeeded as director

by Joan Valentine and then by Ken Houk.! Fifteen trainees

presented posters on their research at this year’s Sigman

Symposium.

JoAnne Stubbe and Howard Chang (Eisenberg Lab)

Sam Hasson (Koehler Lab) and Ken Houk

Marian Sigman, Sebeeha Merchant and JoAnne Stubbe

Page 12: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Sixth Annual Winstein LectureThe Organic Division hosted the Sixth Annual Winstein Lecture

on March 12, 2009. The Saul Winstein Lecture has become an

annual UCLA event, sponsored by the Winstein family and

UCLA through the

Winstein Chair.

Saul Winstein was

the greatest physical

organic chemist of

his generation. The

lecture pays tribute

to his achievements

by honoring

outstanding physical

organic chemists,

many who have

strong ties to UCLA.

This year, Maurice Brookhart from the University of North

Carolina - Chapel Hill was the Winstein Lecturer. Brookhart’s

lecture was titled, “Catalytic Transformations Based on Carbon-

Hydrogen Bond Activation Reactions of Late Transition Metal

Complexes.”

Saul Winstein was an undergraduate at UCLA, receiving his

degree in 1934. After his Ph.D. at Caltech, NRC postdoc at

Harvard and one year as instructor at IIT, he returned to UCLA

as an instructor in 1941. During his 28-year career at UCLA, he

created many of the concepts that guide our understanding of

reactions in solution. Members of the Winstein family continue

to be major supporters of activities in our department, and we

were thankful that Sylvia Winstein was able to attended the

reception held before the lecture in the Winstein Commons.

Professor Brookhart attended Johns Hopkins University in

Baltimore where he received an A.B. degree in chemistry in

1964. He carried out his doctoral work in physical organic

chemistry at UCLA under the direction of Saul Winstein. After

nishing his Ph.D. degree in 1968, he spent six months as a

National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at UCLA with

Winstein and Frank Anet, followed by a year of study at

Southampton University as a NATO postdoctoral fellow.

Brookhart joined the University of North Carolina faculty in

1969 and is currently the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of

Chemistry. Brookhart served as associate editor of Organometallics

(1990-96), received the 1992 American Chemical Society (ACS)

Award in Organometallic Chemistry, the 1994 ACS Cope

Scholar Award, and the 2003 ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry.

He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

in 1996, the National Academy of Sciences in 2001, and received

the North Carolina Award in Science in 2008.

The lecture was preceded by a reception in the Winstein

Commons, and after the lecture in the CNSI auditorium, there

was a reception for Professor Brookhart and all those attending

the lecture.

Contributions to help assure the future of the lecture series can be made by sending your donation in the enclosed donation envelope. (Please write “Winstein” on the envelope.)

Andrea J. Liu Presents Kivelson LectureThe seventh Kivelson Lecture was given

on March 2, 2009, by Andrea J. Liu,

Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn

Professor in the Natural Sciences in the

department of physics and astronomy at

the University of Pennsylvania. Liu,

whose eld is theoretical condensed

matter physics, spoke on “Jamming and the Glass Transition”,

work that she started during her 10 years in the physical

chemistry faculty at UCLA. Liu received her Ph.D. from Cornell

in 1989, and, after

several years as a

postdoc rst at Exxon

and then at UC Santa

Barbara, joined our

department in 1994,

leaving for Penn — to

our great regret — in

2004.

(continued, top of p. 13)

Ken Houk, Maurice Brookhart, J.D. Roberts and Mike Jung

Herb Kaesz, Maurice Brookhart and Miguel Garcia-Garibay

Andrea J. Liu

Andrea Liu and Juli Feigon

Page 13: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Breathing Life Into An Old IdeaA new paper in JACS by Stephen Kent at

the University of Chicago, highlighted in

an accompanying C&E News article, is

breathing new life into an old idea.

About 13 years ago a graduate student in

the Yeates laboratory, Stephanie Wukovitz,

provided a mathematical answer to a long-

standing puzzle concerning why proteins

tend to crystallize in just a few strongly

favored kinds of symmetric arrangements.

The mathematical analysis further

predicted that proteins would be much

easier to crystallize if they could be

prepared synthetically in both

enantiomeric hands. The difculty has

been in synthesizing racemic mixtures of

proteins of reasonably interesting size.

In the last decade, Kent has been

pushing that eld forward by developing

novel synthetic methods. His recent work

shows that, in multiple cases, small

proteins that had resisted crystallization by

other approaches can be crystallized from

synthetic racemic mixtures, as had been

predicted. Those successes suggest that

racemic crystallization might eventually

become a routine strategy for overcoming

the difcult challenges of protein

crystallization.

Initial funding for the Kivelson Lectures was

established in 2002, to honor Daniel who,

though several years past his retirement, was

still as active as ever pursuing his creative and

exciting researches in the area of liquid state

dynamics and the theory of the glass transition.

The idea was to bring friends and

collaborators of Daniel’s to the department on

an annual basis who he would be particularly

eager to see and from whose expertise his

colleagues in the department could regularly

benet. Unfortunately, Daniel became seriously

ill just months before the rst lecture (January

6, 2003), and was unable to attend; he passed

away weeks later, on January 23, 2003.

Next year’s (2010) Kivelson Lecturer will be Tom Keyes, professor of theoretical and

computational biochemistry at Boston University, Ph.D’71 (Kivelson). We are already

looking forward to his visit!

Contributions to help assure the future of the lecture series can be made by sending your donation in the enclosed donation envelope. (Please write “Kivelson” on the envelope)

Unraveling the Mysteries of Chemical ReactivityKen Houk, distinguished

professor of chemistry at

UCLA, is already known for

developing theoretical models

to understand what controls

reactivity and selectivity. His

frontier molecular orbital

theory of cycloaddition

regioselectivity has been in

general use for more than 30

years. Now his research

group has developed a more

complete model, the

distortion/interaction model,

to account for differences in reactivity of different types of 1,3-dipoles, a useful class of

reactants. First developed with former graduate student Daniel Ess, the distortion/

interaction model has been extended to a number of other cycloaddition reactions by

current co-workers Lai Xu, Amy Hayden, Franziska Schoenebeck, and Elizabeth Krenske

(pictured), who have applied this to explain reactivity of many 1,3-dipolar systems. Dr.

Schoenebeck and former Houk group members Yeimy Garcia and Claude Legault have

also shown how this model explains regioselectivity of palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling

reactions. The work has been published in a series of papers in the Journal of the

American Chemical Society.

Lai Xu, Amy Hayden, Ken Houk, Franziska Shoenebeck and Elizabeth Krenske

A crystal containing biological (cyan) and non-biological (yellow)

enantiomers of a protein molecule

Sabeeha Merchant and Margaret Kivelson at the Kivelson Reception

Page 14: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Cancer Drug (continued from p. 1)

The chemists licensed their patents to San Francisco-based Medivation. “They didn’t take RD162,” he said. “They took another

compound, an analog of RD162. They called it MDV3100, and that is the compound they decided to move forward” into

pharmacokinetics, toxicology and animals tests.

Medivation’s animal trials showed that MDV3100 reduced tumors to a third or fourth of their original sizes. Jung himself doesn’t

understand why the drug acts as effectively as it does. “The mechanism we have says it should be cytotoxic, but instead appears to be

apoptotic,” he said. “All it’s supposed to be doing is stop binding to the androgen receptor. But there’s something else going on, and

we’re studying the system like crazy to nd out.”

Human trials of MDV3100 began in July 2007. “In October 2007, there was a Prostate Cancer Foundation meeting, and eight or 10

people I never met asked me for samples of MDV3100,” Jung said. “Word was sneaking out that it was looking good.”

In an ongoing 90-patient Phase I and II clinical trial of MDV3100, early results suggest encouraging antitumor activity. If results

continue to be positive, Medivation says it will seek Food & Drug Administration approval for a Phase III trial. (It’s worth noting that

another androgen receptor blocker called BMS-641988, developed by oncology chemist Mark E. Salvati’s group, is also in clinical trials

for hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer.)

While Taxotere and Novantrone are already approved medications for treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer, they are not

androgen-receptor antagonists. “They have marginal benet, signicant toxicity, and work by killing cells nonspecically,” says Sawyers.

“MDV3100 is novel because it has minimal side effects,” and it is targeted at the condition that specically drives hormone-refractory

metastatic prostate cancer: increased levels of androgen receptor.

Notably, funding for Jung’s research on prostate cancer drug candidates didn't come from the National Institutes of Health, but from

the Prostate Cancer Foundation founded by Michael Milken. “Milken was treated for prostate cancer and has since remained cancer-

free,” said Jung. “He decided to raise money for prostate cancer research. Without him, we wouldn't have had the money for this project,

so Michael Milken is to be thanked for this.”

Sylvia WinsteinOn Friday, March 27, the Department lost a great friend and

benefactor, Sylvia Levin Winstein, aged 93. Sylvia came to

UCLA as an undergraduate in psychology nearly 80 years ago

and, except for a brief respite, never left. It was at UCLA that

she met Saul Winstein, an undergraduate chemistry major, who

after receiving his master’s degree in 1935, went on to Caltech

for his doctoral studies. He and Sylvia were married in 1937,

and they returned to UCLA in 1941, when Saul accepted a

position as instructor. With Saul’s untimely death in 1969,

Sylvia’s ties to the department and the university became even

stronger. She was instrumental in establishing the Winstein Chair

in Organic Chemistry and the Winstein Awards given annually to graduate students, until recently presenting

the awards at the departmental graduation ceremonies. She served for many years on the Chemistry Advisory Council.

Her commitments to UCLA extended beyond our department and include her work with Aesculapians, the School of Medicine

support group, Design for Sharing, which brings elementary and high-school students to campus for

concerts, and the Grunwald Center for Graphic Arts. In 1980 she took over the management of the

annual Emeriti Arts and Crafts exhibit, which ourished and is now named in her honor. Despite

suffering a debilitating stroke several years ago, she continued to participate in departmental

activities; just two weeks before her death she had been present for the annual Winstein Lecture.

In 2002 Sylvia donated her Westwood house to the university as a gift annuity. This permitted her

to continue to live in the house and to receive some retirement income. Now, when UCLA receives

the house, the proceeds from its sale will add substantially to the funds supporting the Saul Winstein

Chair and the Winstein fellowships. The gift will also be used to establish a Sylvia Winstein Fund

to benet the UCLA Emeriti Association’s art programs.

Sylvia Winstein presenting the Winstein Scholarship (circa 1970)

Carolee and Sylvia Winstein at the 2006 Graduation Ceremony

Sylvia Winstein (circa 1950)

Page 15: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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Robert Bau

B.S.’64 (U. of Hong Kong),

Ph.D.’68 (Kaesz), professor of

chemistry at the University of

Southern California, died

December 28, 2008, aged 67.

After a year as a postdoc at Harvard, he

joined the USC faculty in 1969. Bau was a

distinguished researcher in the eld of x-ray

and neutron diffraction crystallography and

was president of the American

Crystallographic Association in 2006.

Hans Frederick BauerB.S.’56, Ph.D.’62 (Drinkard), died

February 6, 2009, aged 76. Before

returning to UCLA for graduate

work, he served for the Navy, in

the Pacic. After receiving his

Ph.D., Bauer had an extensive research

career including working with Occidental

Petroleum and with the Department of

Energy.

Stanley J. CristolB.S.’37 (Northwestern), Ph.D.’43

(Young), Joseph Sewell Professor of

Chemistry at the University of

Colorado, died January 23, 2008,

aged 91. One of the rst doctoral

students in chemistry at UCLA, he did

research with Bill Young on the

stereochemistry of iodide-ion-promoted

elimination of dibromides. After

postdoctoral work with Roger Adams at the

University of Illinois, he joined the faculty

at Colorado in 1946, retiring in 1986.

Cristol contributed to many areas of

physical organic chemistry, including

solvolysis reactions, free-radical chemistry,

small-ring chemistry, and polycyclic

chemistry. He was elected to the National

Academy of Sciences in 1972 and in the

same year received the James Flack Norris

Award in physical organic chemistry. In

1994, the University of Colorado renamed

its chemistry and biochemistry building

after Cristol.

Mark S. Delaney

B.S.’75 (Cal State Fullerton),

Ph.D.’80 (Hawthorne), associate

professor of chemistry, McNeese

State University, Louisiana, died

April 4, 2008, aged 55. Delaney

worked seven years at Dow Chemical

(1980-87) before joining the faculty at

McNeese in 1987. Although he considered

himself an organometallic chemist, most of

the projects he investigated had some

connection to polymer chemistry. His most

recent research interests included anionic

and cationic polymerizations,

halatopolymers, gas permeability through

polymer membranes, and thermal

characterization of polymers.

Loraine Geissman

Widow of Professor Theodore

Geissman, died February 28,

2008, aged 93.

Jay C. Kochi B.S.’49, Ph.D.’52 (Iowa State),

died August 9, 2008, aged 81.

Kochi was Welch Professor of

Chemistry at the University of

Houston and had a distinguished

career in organic chemistry. He received the

James Flack Norris Award in physical

organic chemistry from the American

Chemical Society 1981 and was elected to

the National Academy of Sciences in 1982.

Before joining the Department of

Chemistry at UH in 1984, Kochi worked as

an instructor at Harvard, a chemist at the

Shell Development Company, a faculty

member at Case University, and Earl

Blough Professor of Chemistry at Indiana

University.

B(rian) Patrick Sullivan

B.S.’71 (UC Irvine), M.S.’86

(UCLA), Ph.D.’89 (North

Carolina, Chapel Hill), professor

of chemistry, University of

Wyoming, died August 10, 2008,

aged 58. His eld was inorganic

photochemistry, specializing in the

development and applications of

polypyridyl complexes of ruthenium,

osmium, and rhenium. Most recently, in

collaboration with workers at the Pacic

Northwest Regional Laboratory, Sullivan

reported new highly oxidizing excited states

of rhenium and technetium.

Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji

B.S.’08 (Pamona), a research

assistant in the Patrick Harran

laboratory, died January 10, 2009,

aged 23, as a result of injuries

sustained in a laboratory re. She

had been at UCLA only three months and

intended to start law school in the fall. (See

also the Chair’s message on p.2)

Sami Talhouk

Lecturer in chemistry from 1979

to 1988, died September 2, 2008,

aged 81. Dr. Talhouk, a Druse in

Lebanon, obtained his

undergraduate degree from the

American University of Beirut. Coming to

the United States in 1952, he obtained his

M.S. from Southern Methodist University

and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from

Ohio State University. Talhouk returned to

Lebanon to lecture at the Lebanese

University’s Faculty of Science, but, when

the Lebanese civil war forced closure of

that university, he returned to the United

States, teaching rst at Penn State, and then

at UCLA. His last teaching position was in

the Department of Chemistry at California

State University Northridge.

Irving D. Webb

M.A.’42, Ph.D.’44 (Young), died

March 26, 2008, aged 87. After

serving in the Navy during World

War II, he worked as a research

chemist with DuPont. In the early

1950’s he accepted a position with Unocal,

spending the rest of his career there, rst in

Yorba Linda, California, and later in Los

Angeles. He retired in 1980.

Page 16: UCLA Chemistry Spring 2009 Newsletter

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C H E M I S T R Y & B I O C H E M I S T R Y

607 Charles E. Young Drive EastLos Angeles, California 90095-1569

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2009 Graduation The UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Department would like to invite everyone to join us in celebrating the achievements of our

new graduates. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with our faculty and your fellow Bruins! We hope to see you there!

Now More Than EverHelp Keep Us Great!

During these challenging economic

times, your generous gifts mean

more to us than ever and helps

ensure that the department

remains at the forefront of

scientic advancement.

C a l l S t e v e R a m i r e z

D i r e c t o r o f D e v e l o p m e n t

( 3 1 0 ) 7 9 4 - 9 0 4 5

Join Us at the 2009 Commencement Ceremony

Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 5 p.m.

the Court of Sciences