Past Seminars & Events

Professor Andre K. Isaacs
Department of Chemistry
College of the Holy Cross
Abstract

From Imposter to Impressor: Embracing Complex Identities in STEM

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, along with rapid technological advancements and shifting generational cultures, educators face unprecedented challenges in sparking the curiosity of budding scientists. This seminar is dedicated to navigating these challenges with enthusiasm and compassion, as we explore innovative approaches to teaching that will empower the next generation of learners, with special attention to those from historically excluded groups. The focus extends beyond the conventional methods and embraces cutting-edge technologies and inclusive pedagogy to create an engaging and accessible learning environment.

Andre K. Isaacs

Professor Isaacs is a native of Jamaica, André moved to the US to attend the College of the Holy Cross where he received his B.A. in Chemistry in 2005. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 (under the guidance of Professor Jeffery D. Winkler) and worked as a post-doctoral researcher with Professor Richmond Sarpong at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Associate Professor at the College of the Holy Cross. In addition to teaching courses in Organic Chemistry, he conducts research utilizing copper-mediated organic transformations. He uses his social media platform to challenge the normative culture in STEM and to increase visibility of queer and BIPOC scientists. 

Hosted by Professor Lee Penn

Professor Andre K. Isaacs
Department of Chemistry
College of the Holy Cross
Abstract

A Click Chemistry Approach to Nitrogen Heterocycles

My research interest is centered on a very reliable organic reaction - the copper-catalyzed cycloaddition of sulfonyl azides and terminal alkynes (CuAAC). Differential fragmentation of the resulting 1,2,3-triazole generates ketenimines or rhodium carbenoids which readily engage
with a variety of nucleophiles to provide access to heterocycles of interest to the synthetic community. We’ve demonstrated the utility of click chemistry in the synthesis of N-Heterocycles such as indolizines, dihydroisoquinolines and as an approach to beta-lactams.

Andre K. Isaacs

Professor Isaacs is a native of Jamaica, André moved to the US to attend the College of the Holy Cross where he received his B.A. in Chemistry in 2005. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 (under the guidance of Professor Jeffery D. Winkler) and worked as a post-doctoral researcher with Professor Richmond Sarpong at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Associate Professor at the College of the Holy Cross. In addition to teaching courses in Organic Chemistry, he conducts research utilizing copper-mediated organic transformations. He uses his social media platform to challenge the normative culture in STEM and to increase visibility of queer and BIPOC scientists. 

Hosted by Professor Jessica Lamb

Professor Robert M. Waymouth
Department of Chemistry
Stanford University
Abstract

New Catalysts and Processes for Organocatalytic Polymerization: From Catalysis to Functional Materials

We have developed a family of versatile organic catalysts for the living polymerization of lactone and carbonate monomers that have been integrated into efficient flow reactors for the programmed synthesis of block copolymer libraries. These synthetic methods spawned the development of a new concept for gene delivery based on a class of dynamic oligomeric cationic materials that are designed to self- assemble with polyanionic nucleotides to form coacervate nanoparticles. Charge-Altering Releasable Transporters are structurally unique oligomers that operate through an unprecedented mechanism, serving initially as oligo(α-amino ester) cations that complex, protect and deliver mRNA, and then change physical properties through a degradative, charge-neutralizing intramolecular rearrangement, leading to intracellular release of functional mRNA and highly efficient protein expression, both in cell culture and in animals. Selected applications of in-vivo mRNA delivery for cancer and COVID vaccination will be described.

Robert M. Waymouth

Professor Robert Waymouth is the Robert Eckles Swain Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. He received B.S. in Mathematics and B.A. in Chemistry from Washington and Lee University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the Caltech in 1987 with Professor R.H. Grubbs. He was a postdoctoral fellow with the late Professor Piero Pino at the ETH in Zurich in 1987 and joined the faculty at Stanford as an Assistant Professor in 1988. He received the Alan T. Waterman Award from the NSF in 1996, the Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science in 2009, and EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2012, the ACS Polymer Chemistry Award and the Herman F Mark Award. He has won several university teaching awards, including the Walter J. Gores Award, the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, and is currently a Bass Fellow in Undergraduate Education. His research interests are at the interface of Inorganic, Organic and Polymer Chemistry, in particular the development of new concepts in catalysis for the selective synthesis of both macromolecules and fine chemicals. Particular areas of interest include catalytic polymerization reactions, selective oxidation catalysis, the development of organocatalytic polymerization strategies and the design of functional macromolecules for applications in sustainable materials, biology and medicine.

Hosted by Professor Jessica Lamb

Professor T. Grant Glover
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of South Alabama
Abstract

The Role of Mass Transfer and Thermodynamics in Metal-Organic Framework Based Gas Separations

As global demand for CO2 mitigation and clean drinking water accelerates, reticular materials, such as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, will play an increasing role in solving these challenges. Although many novel porous materials have been developed over the last 20 years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are uniquely suited to solve complex problems because they can be synthesized with atomic-scale precision and in a nearly infinite number of structural combinations. Beyond drinking water and CO2 mitigation, these materials have been examined for a variety of other globally relevant applications including, CH4 storage, olefin/paraffin separations, catalysis, toxic gas filtration, space life-support, and others. All of these proposed applications raise numerous questions about the thermodynamics and mass transfer of gases in these materials and how to best tailor them to provide precision control over the material’s adsorption isotherms and diffusion rates. Defects in the crystal structures add additional complexities, some of which can be addressed by pairing molecular simulations and experiments. This seminar will discuss some of these applications and illustrate the connection between MOF structure, mixed-gas adsorption isotherms, and diffusion. These concepts will be discussed in the context of the adsorption of CO2 in humid gas streams and atmospheric water harvesting.

T. Grant Glover

Since 2012 Prof. Glover has operated an externally funded research group focused on understanding mixed-gas adsorption, mass transfer in porous materials, and absorption in ionic liquids. In 2017 he received the Russ and Robin Lea Faculty Innovation Award, and the South Alabama College of Engineering Excellence in Research Award. He has published numerous journal publications, government reports, and patents detailing gas adsorption and porous materials development, and he is the editor of the 2018 book Gas Adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks: Fundamentals and Applications published by CRC Taylor & Francis. His current research projects examine CO2 capture from flue gas, direct CO2 capture from air, atmospheric water harvesting, CO2 capture with task-specific ionic liquids, and CO2/H2O binary adsorption measurements for novel materials design. Prof. Glover is the program director of the University of South Alabama’s newly implemented Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, which he spearheaded from conception through final state approval. Before his academic appointment, Prof. Glover worked for SAIC/Leidos as a Defense Department contractor where he executed experiments studying the filtration of acutely toxic compounds from air, managed a pilot scale test facility, and supervised novel adsorbent materials research for chemical defense. During his time at SAIC/Leidos he received the Living Our Values Award and the SAIC Division Level Employee of the Year Award. Prof. Glover holds a B.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University under the direction of Prof. Douglas LeVan, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Prof. Omar M. Yaghi at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hosted by Professor Lee Penn

Professor Rajarshi Chakrabarti
Department of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Abstract

Statistical Mechanics of active polymers: from dilute to dense phase

Colloidal chains driven by local chemical reactions [1] or in a bath of bacteria [2] show unusual scaling behavior, not observed in equilibrium. In the first part of the talk, I will briefly discuss some analytically solvable models for a single active polymer chain or a passive polymer chain in active baths [3-5]. These models can actually predict experimentally observed superdiffusive motion of the tagged monomer of a colloidal chain in an active bacteria bath. These models also predict swelling of active chains in passive baths and passive chains in active baths, longtime enhanced diffusion as seen in experiments [1-2]. To understand the motion of active shape- deforming agents, a collection of rings made of active Brownian particles (ABPs) [3, 4] for different packing fractions and activities is investigated using computer simulations. This will be the topic for the second part of my talk. Our computer simulations reveal that active rings display a novel dynamic clustering [5] instead of the conventional motility- induced phase separation (MIPS) [6] as observed in case of collection of ABPs. Surprisingly, increasing packing fraction of rings exhibits a non-monotonicity in the dynamics due to the formation of a large number of small clusters. The conformational fluctuations of the polymers suppress MIPS exhibited by ABPs. This demonstrates a complex interplay between activity, topology, and connectivity.

Rajarshi Chakrabarti

Professor Rajarshi Chakrabarti received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. After two postdoctoral stints at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the University of Stuttgart, he joined the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, as an Assistant Professor in 2013 and became a full Professor in 2021. His research interests are broadly in the area of Statistical Mechanics and Soft and Living Matter. Currently, he is serving as an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. Research Website: rajarshichakrabarti.wixsite.com/rajarshichakrabarti

Hosted by Professor Sapna Sarupria.

Professor William J. Glover
NYU Shanghai
NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry
Center for Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Department of Chemistry
New York University
Abstract

Modelling excited-state processes in complex systems with new multiscale embedding methods

Photoexcited charge-transfer reactions underly numerous photophysical and photobiological processes in e.g. organic photovoltaics, the radiolysis of water, radiation damage of DNA, and photosynthesis. A common challenge to understanding these phenomena is the need to simultaneously describe multiple electronic states of both local and charge-transfer character that are strongly coupled to environment (e.g. solvent). A popular strategy is to use multiscale embedding methods such as quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), wherein the system is partitioned into an active QM region containing the molecules/ reaction of interest and an inactive environment with everything else that is described with computationally cheap MM forcefields. Important to the description of electronic excitations is the coupling between the QM and MM subsystems, i.e. how the QM region is embedded in the MM system. Two technical challenges arise: 1) How to partition the QM and MM regions, particularly when the solvent needs to be treated with QM, as in the case of radiolysis products of water. 2) How to capture the electronic polarization of the environment in a consistent manner for multiple electronic states, even when they cross during a photochemical reaction. 

I will discuss our developments in QM/MM methodology to address the above challenges. Our new methods allow us to tackle long-standing questions concerning water radiolysis and photosynthesis. In particular: why do hydrated electrons, formed from the radiolysis of water, decay so quickly from their excited states to the ground state in ~50 fs? What is the origin of unidirectionality that favors charge separation in the active branch of the purple bacteria reaction center? The new tools thus open the door to accurate yet efficient simulations of photoexcited charge- transfer reactions in a plethora of complex systems.

William J. Glover

William Glover is an assistant professor of chemistry at NYU Shanghai and Global Network University assistant professor in the department of Chemistry at NYU. He currently serves as associate director of the NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry. William received his undergrad degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford in 2003. He then moved to sunny California where he joined the group of Prof. Ben Schwartz at UCLA and did his PhD research on many-electron mixed quantum/classical descriptions of condensed-phase charge-transfer reactions, graduating in 2009. This was followed by postdoctoral work with Todd Martinez (Stanford) and Ben Schwartz before starting his independent career at NYU Shanghai in 2015. He has established a research program in developing and applying theoretical and computational tools to understand excited-state properties and dynamics of condensed- phase systems, with applications to the photophysics of biological molecules. His work has been supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shanghai Pudong Pearl Leading Talents Program, and the Ministry of Science and Technology National Foreign Experts Program. He received a Spring 2023 ACS OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry.

Hosted by Professor Donald Truhlar 

Professor Masha Kamenetska
Department of Chemistry, Physics and Material Science and Engineering
Boston University
Abstract

Engineering Quantum Properties of Molecular Circuits with Chemistry

I will describe my lab’s recent progress in demonstrating and controlling quantum phenomena in single molecule junctions. Our past and future efforts are focused along two complementary directions. First, we work to demonstrated how synthetic modification can be leveraged to create functionality, such as quantum sensing, switching and high conductance of topological electronic states in molecules. Second, we develop chemical design principles for in situ assembly of quasi 1D molecular chains containing transition metal atoms with increased degrees of freedom. This work lays the foundation for our future advances in realizing and characterizing quantum phenomena in molecular circuits.

Masha Kamenetska

Masha Kamenetska joined Boston University in 2017 as joint assistant professor in the departments of Chemistry and Physics. She has been awarded the Young Investigator DOD Award (YIP) from the Airforce and the CAREER award from the NSF. She was a Fellow in the Scialog: Cellular Machinery of the Cell 2019-2021 and a Scialog Team Award recipient in 2021. Prior to joining BU, she was a Postdoctoral Associate in Chemistry and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University from 2012-2017, working on single molecule force spectroscopy of biological and polymer materials. She received her PhD with distinction in 2012 in Applied Physics from Columbia University where she worked with Dr. Latha Venkataraman on conductance and binding geometries of single molecule-metal junctions.

Hosted by Professor Renee Frontiera

Professor Benjamin A. Garcia
Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Washington University
Abstract

Novel approaches for characterization of RNA by mass spectrometry

Chemical modifications of protein and RNA strongly influence structure and function. Recent advances in mass spectrometry (MS) methods have identified over 100 of these modifications across many RNA species, and over 500 on proteins. MS has advantages over other techniques, as it can assign multiple modifications simultaneously in an unbiased manner, but still many challenges remain. Here I will describe our latest efforts in developing MS based approaches for RNA analysis of mononucleosides and oligonucleotides, including improved chromatography and mass spectrometry based fragmentation and quantification. Additionally, we will describe how these approaches have been used to identify novel modifications on RNA molecules such as glycosylation.

Benjamin A. Garcia

Benjamin A. Garcia obtained his BS in Chemistry at UC Davis in 2000, where he worked as an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Carlito Lebrilla’s laboratory. He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2005 at the University of Virginia under Prof. Donald Hunt and then was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois under Prof. Neil Kelleher from 2005-2008. From there Ben was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University from 2008-2012, until his recruitment as the Presidential Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2012, promoted to full Professor in 2016, and named the John McCrea Dickson M.D. Presidential Professor in 2017. Ben moved in the summer of 2021 to the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to become the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. The Garcia lab has been developing and applying novel proteomic approaches and bioinformatics for interrogating protein modifications, especially those involved in epigenetic mechanisms such as histones during human disease, publishing over 400 publications. He is presently an Associate Editor of the Analytical Chemistry, and Mass Spectrometry Reviews journals; and serves on the editorial boards for the Molecular Omics, the Journal of Proteome Research and the Molecular and Cellular Proteomics journals. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), the HUPO Governing Council/ Executive Committee and the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Analytical Chemistry Division. Ben has been recognized with many honors and awards for his mass spectrometry research including the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the PITTCON Achievement Award, the Ken Standing Award, the ACS Arthur F. Findeis Award, The Protein Society Young Investigator Award, the ASMS Biemann Medal, the HUPO Discovery in Proteomic Sciences Award, the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry Award and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Join us for a reception at the Coffman Union Campus Club after the seminar, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.!

Hosted by Professor Varun Gadkari

Learn More about the Endowed I.M. Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry

Professor Benjamin A. Garcia
Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Washington University
Abstract

An unlikely career in science and academia

Science is not performed in a vacuum, and scientists do not make strides without other who have helped them along the way. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have had many mentors who have been instrumental in my scientific journey. Now with a career in academia, I have worked hard to improve academia for scientists at all levels, especially those that have been historically marginalized. I will discuss my career path through the lens of all the people that have supported, encouraged and inspired me throughout the years.

Benjamin A. Garcia

Benjamin A. Garcia obtained his BS in Chemistry at UC Davis in 2000, where he worked as an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Carlito Lebrilla’s laboratory. He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2005 at the University of Virginia under Prof. Donald Hunt and then was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois under Prof. Neil Kelleher from 2005-2008. From there Ben was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University from 2008-2012, until his recruitment as the Presidential Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2012, promoted to full Professor in 2016, and named the John McCrea Dickson M.D. Presidential Professor in 2017. Ben moved in the summer of 2021 to the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to become the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. The Garcia lab has been developing and applying novel proteomic approaches and bioinformatics for interrogating protein modifications, especially those involved in epigenetic mechanisms such as histones during human disease, publishing over 400 publications. He is presently an Associate Editor of the Analytical Chemistry, and Mass Spectrometry Reviews journals; and serves on the editorial boards for the Molecular Omics, the Journal of Proteome Research and the Molecular and Cellular Proteomics journals. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), the HUPO Governing Council/ Executive Committee and the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Analytical Chemistry Division. Ben has been recognized with many honors and awards for his mass spectrometry research including the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the PITTCON Achievement Award, the Ken Standing Award, the ACS Arthur F. Findeis Award, The Protein Society Young Investigator Award, the ASMS Biemann Medal, the HUPO Discovery in Proteomic Sciences Award, the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry Award and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Join us for a reception at the Coffman Union Campus Club after the seminar, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.!

Hosted by Professor Varun Gadkari

Learn More about the Endowed I.M. Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry

Professor Benjamin A. Garcia
Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Washington University
Abstract

Quantitative mass spectrometry for understanding epigenetic mechanisms in human disease

Histones are small proteins that package DNA into chromosomes, and a large number of studies have showed that several post-translational modification (PTM) sites on the histones are associated with both gene activation and silencing. Along with DNA and small non-coding RNA, histone PTMs make up epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression patterns outside of DNA sequence mutations. Dysregulation of these chromatin networks underlie several human diseases such as cancer. Here I will give an update on technology advancements that have allowed for high-throughput quantitative mass spectrometry analyses of histone PTMs and chromatin structure, and how we are applying these methods to understand epigenetic reprogramming found in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). MPNST is an aggressive sarcoma with recurrent loss of function alterations in polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2), a histone-modifying complex involved in transcriptional silencing.

Benjamin A. Garcia

Benjamin A. Garcia obtained his BS in Chemistry at UC Davis in 2000, where he worked as an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Carlito Lebrilla’s laboratory. He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2005 at the University of Virginia under Prof. Donald Hunt and then was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois under Prof. Neil Kelleher from 2005-2008. From there Ben was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University from 2008-2012, until his recruitment as the Presidential Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2012, promoted to full Professor in 2016, and named the John McCrea Dickson M.D. Presidential Professor in 2017. Ben moved in the summer of 2021 to the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to become the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. The Garcia lab has been developing and applying novel proteomic approaches and bioinformatics for interrogating protein modifications, especially those involved in epigenetic mechanisms such as histones during human disease, publishing over 400 publications. He is presently an Associate Editor of the Analytical Chemistry, and Mass Spectrometry Reviews journals; and serves on the editorial boards for the Molecular Omics, the Journal of Proteome Research and the Molecular and Cellular Proteomics journals. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), the HUPO Governing Council/ Executive Committee and the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Analytical Chemistry Division. Ben has been recognized with many honors and awards for his mass spectrometry research including the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the PITTCON Achievement Award, the Ken Standing Award, the ACS Arthur F. Findeis Award, The Protein Society Young Investigator Award, the ASMS Biemann Medal, the HUPO Discovery in Proteomic Sciences Award, the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry Award and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Hosted by Professor Varun Gadkari

Learn More about the Endowed I.M. Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry