News items about Faculty Members
NSF Funds Study to Explore Excited State Dynamics
Professor David Coker has received an award from the Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods Program in the NSF Division of Chemistry to study excited state dynamics in condensed phase systems. Using simulation and electronic structure methods, Professor Coker and his research group are developing accurate quantum mechanical techniques, in particular they are extending their […]
NSF Funds Investigation of Protein Structure and Dynamics
One of the great challenges in biological chemistry is understanding how protein structure informs function. Experimental studies have shown that by encapsulating proteins in surfactant micelles (nanoscale molecular aggregates, such as a droplet in a colloidal system) critical insights can be gained into protein structure, dynamics, and function. Currently, however, no one knows how the […]
Research Collaboration Results in Nature Communications Paper
The research collaboration of Prof. Bjoern Reinhard, BU Chemistry and The BU Photonics Center, and Prof. Suryaram Gummuluru, BU School of Medicine, Microbiology, has resulted in a paper published in Nature Communications (20 June 2014). The paper is entitled “Glycosphingolipid-functionalized nanoparticles recapitulate CD169-dependent HIV-1 uptake and trafficking in dendritic cells.” It reports on the development […]
Commemorating Prof. Emeritus Hartman (1931-2014)
When Prof. Standish C. Hartman (‘Stan’) retired in 2005, the Department of Chemistry held a grand celebration honoring his promotion to Professor Emeritus. A man of quiet dignity, with a dry sense of humor, Stan seemed taken aback by the turnout and tributes. Stan’s modesty prevented him from seeing what everyone else knew: that during […]
Reinhard Research Rates Two Journal Covers
This February, the Reinhard Laboratory’s research made the cover of two peer-reviewed journals: Biomaterials Science and Advanced Functional Materials. The Biomaterials Research paper (Biomater. Sci., 2014, 2, 156), “Nanoconjugation: a materials approach to enhance epidermal growth factor induced apoptosis,” was authored by graduate students, Linxi Wu (4th year), Xinwei Yu (5th year), Amin Feizpour (3rd year), […]
Chemistry Research Addresses Deadly Disease
Dr. Scott Schaus (Associate Professor, Chemistry and School of Medicine pharmacology) and Dr. Lauren Brown (Research Professor) were named among the first eight winners of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Discovery Fast Track Challenge program. GSK’s competition aims to translate academic starting points for new potential medicines. The initial contest attracted 142 entries across 17 therapeutic […]
Reinhard Receives DOE Funding to Develop Optoplasmonic Materials
The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering is funding the Reinhard Laboratory to develop “New Optoplasmonic Materials for Next Generation Energy Systems” (Award No. DE-SCOO10679). The 3-year project addresses key challenges in energy related systems. Current photovoltaic materials offer limited conversion rates across the visible range […]
Elliott Receives NSF Award to Explore Multi-Electron Redox Catalysis
Prof. Sean Elliott and his group have received a 3-year award from the National Science Foundation for their project entitled “Connections Between Redox Chemistry and Catalysis in Multiheme Peroxidases.” While nature excels at the manipulation of redox co-factors to affect dramatic catalytic transformations, we still do not have a molecular understanding of how multi-electron redox […]
NSF Funds Liu Group to Conduct Biosynthetic Study
Prof. Pinghua Liu and his Group pursue highly interdisciplinary research involving organic synthesis, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and enzymology. This combined expertise will be used to conduct their 3-year National Science Foundation Funded project, “Mechanistic Studies of New C-S Bond Formation Chemistries.” Ergothioneine is a unique thiol-imidazole-containing natural amino acid isolated nearly a century ago. Due […]
Ksenia Bravaya Joins Chemistry
The Department of Chemistry is very pleased to announce that Prof. Ksenia Bravaya, a theoretical chemist, has joined our faculty. She comes to Boston University from her postdoctoral position at the University of Southern California (2009-2013), where she did research with Prof. Anna Krylov. Prof. Bravaya received her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Computational Quantum Chemistry […]