Fourteen students recognized at 22nd annual GSRS

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/28/2023) – The 22nd Annual Chemistry Graduate Student Research Symposium (GSRS) was hosted on June 1st, 2023. Each year, the GSRS gives University of Minnesota Chemistry graduate students the opportunity to present a research highlight to their peers, mentors, and a panel of judges. This year more than 40 students presented their research in this day-long event and were judged on effective communication of the research, strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and how well they highlighted important safety aspects of their work. Fourteen students were awarded for their distinctive presentations:

Paul and Gerda Gassman Award

• Brylon Denman 
  • Adviser: Courtney Roberts
  • Inducing Regioselectivity in Metal-Bound Aryne Reactions Via Catalyst Control
• Michael Harris
  • Adviser: Ian Tonks
  • Catalyst Design and Selectivity in Ti-catalyzed Alkyne Carboamination Reactions
• Partha Karmakar
  • Adviser: Ian Tonks
  • Titanium Catalyzed 1,2-Diamination of Alkynes using 1,1-Disubstituted Hydrazines
• Chris Seong
  • Adviser: Courtney Roberts
  • Mechanistic Inquiry into Decarboxylative and Desulfonylative C(sp3) Trifluoromethylation

Chemistry Student Travel Award

• Emily Ness
  • Advisers: Christopher Ellison, Mahesh Mahanthappa
  • A Serendipitous Double Gyroid: Self-Assembly Behavior of Architecturally Unique Core- Shell Block Bottlebrush Copolymers
• Murphi Williams
  • Adviser: Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran
  • Anti-tubercular activity of redox-specific heme-tethering nitriles
• Polly Lynch
  • Adviser: Renee Frontiera
  • Exploring Charge Transport Dynamics Using Spatially Offset Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy
• Nora Vail
  • Adviser: William C.K. Pomerantz
  • Design and Evaluation of Small Molecule Inhibitors of BET Proteins for the Treatment of Alcoholic Hepatitis
• Kris Elbein
  • Adviser: Edgar Arriaga
  • Simultaneous Transcript and Protein Quantification in Single Cells to Improve Characterization of Cellular Senescence
• Maya Butler
  • Adviser: Edgar Arriaga
  • Nanoparticle Based Detection of Low Abundant Targets using Mass Cytometry

Honorable Mention

• Elizabeth Apiche
  • Adviser: Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran
  • How hydrogen- bonding in DosS and DosT heme sensors control their function
• Bidisha Sarkar
  • Adviser: Gunda Georg
  • Developing Potent and Selective CDK11 Degraders Using PROTAC Technology for Anti-cancer Therapy
• Madeline Honig
  • Adviser: Phillipe Bühlmann
  • Ion-Selective Electrodes: Selectivity Coefficients for the Upper Limit of Detection
• Alexander Umanzor
  • Adviser: Courtney Roberts
  • Ligand Controlled Regioselective Aryne Complex Difunctionalization

We appreciate all of the Department of Chemistry community members who made this year's symposium possible and attended the event. Thank you our guest judges: Audrey Meyer, PhD (Boston Scientific; Haynes Group '13), Simon Shannon, PhD (3M; Barany Group '03), Becky Eggimann, PhD (Wheaton College; Siepmann Group '06), Tina Wade, MS (North Hennepin Community College; Carr Group '88), and Piril Ertem, PhD (Claros Technologies).