Author Archives: aeyessick

Chem Student Interns at HudsonAlpha

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Chemistry-Biology Major One of Five UA Undergraduates to Earn Prestigious Biotech Internships

Three students from the College are getting hands-on experience in sophisticated biotechnology as part of the BioTran internship program at the HudsonAlpha Institute in Huntsville. Anna Willis, a senior from Powder Springs, Ga., studying biology and chemistry at UA, is working with Serina Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that develops treatments for Parkinson’s disease, cancer, inflammation, pain, and metabolic disorders.

Only 10 percent of those that apply for the BioTran internship are selected annually for the opportunity. Since the inception of the BioTran internship in 2009, more than 1,500 students have applied and only 115 have been accepted to participate.

This article originally appeared in the July 2013 Desktop News. View complete article.

Chemistry Grad Students Visit Nobel Laureates

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Two graduate students participate in Lindau Meetings in Germany

In July, 35 Nobel Laureates congregated at Lake Constance in Germany to meet the next generation of leading scientists and researchers, including two UA graduate students from the Department of Chemistry. Steven Kelley, a native of Olive Branch, Miss., and Michele Stover, a native of Moselle, Miss., attended the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting along with more than 600 young researchers from nearly 80 countries.

Kelley earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mississippi State University in 2009 and subsequently enrolled in the doctoral program in the Department of Chemistry. Kelley, who earned a $150,000 fellowship from the Department of Energy, works with Dr. Robin Rogers, professor and holder of the Robert Ramsay Chair in the Department of Chemistry and director of UA’s Center for Green Manufacturing.

Stover earned an Associate of Arts degree from Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss. in 2008 and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from William Carey University before enrolling in UA’s doctoral chemistry program in 2010. At UA, Stover works with Dr. David Dixon, professor and holder of the Robert Ramsay Chair of in the Department of Chemistry.

This article originally appeared in the July 2013 Desktop News. View complete article.

Frantom Wins NSF Award

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Dr. Patrick Frantom has received an NSF CAREER award in excess of $1 million to support his research. The CAREER is the premiere award for young faculty from the National Science Foundation. Find out more about this award on the UA news site.

Grad Student Earns NSF Fellowship

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More than 13,000 graduate students applied for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Seven of those selected represented The University of Alabama, three of those have ties to the College of Arts and Sciences, and one — Jordyn L. Johnson — is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry.

Jordyn Johnson, originally from Chattanooga, Tenn., studies the regulatory mechanism of the enzyme alpha-isoproplymalate synthase in the lab of Dr. Patrick Frantom, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. This enzyme serves as a model system for the study of allosteric regulation, where enzyme activity is regulated by the reversible binding of an effector molecule. Regulatory mechanisms such as this allow organisms to respond to changes in their environments. A deeper understanding of these regulatory mechanisms would impact the growing fields of allosteric therapeutics and allosteric biosensors. While an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Johnson participated in the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program at UA where she began work on this project with Frantom. 

Awards are up to $121,500 per fellowship and come with annual stipends to be used for research-based graduate studies. Fellowships were awarded to 2,000 students, about 15 percent of those who applied. According to the NSF, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program is part of its overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation’s leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation.

This article originally appeared in the May 2013 Desktop News. View complete article.

Congratulations, Spring 2013 Graduates!

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Congratulations to the chemistry students receiving degrees at the May commencement ceremony:

  • PhD
    • Mier An – Inhibition of an E. Coli Glycosylase, MutM, by Non-Native Metals
      Advisor: Dr. Laura Busenlehner
    • Franchessa Maddox Sayler – Synthesis and Appilcation of Hierarchically Porous Metal and Metal Oxide Monolithic Materials
      Advisor: Dr. Martin Bakker
    • Preethi Vennam – Study of Semiquinone Intermediate in Cyctochrome bc1 Complex
      Advisor: Dr. Michael Bowman
  • MS
    • Preston A. Beasley – Understanding the Effects of Molecular Additions in Energetic Ionic Liquids
      Advisor: Dr. Robin Rogers
    • Akil Y. Foluke
      Advisor: Dr. Silas Blackstock
    • Ebony D. Love
      Advisor: Dr. John Vincent
  • ACS-certified BS
    • Jeremy Scott Archer, summa cum laude
    • Daviod C. Beretta
    • Johan Hendrik Both, magna cum laude
    • Karson S. Brooks, summa cum laude
    • Samuel J. Dotson, summa cum laude
    • Nicholas J. Izor, cum laude
    • Landon R. Mueller, magna cum laude
    • Qunton E. Shockley
    • Stephen A. Walker, summa cum laude
  • BS
    • Sarah K. Adams, magna cum laude
    • Margaret G. Apperson, summa cum laude
    • Andrew J. Mills, IV, cum laude
    • Neil Patel
    • Francisco D. Paulino, cum laude
    • Alexandria C. Sims, cum laude
    • Jason R. Snider

Chem Students Win Awards at UA Conference

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Congratulations to the chemistry students who received awards at the UA Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference.

Sergei Wallace (Rogers) received second place in the A&S Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) Division Oral presentation competition.

Karson Brooks (Pan) placed third in the A&S NSM poster competition.

Lindsey Cobb (Nikles), Kevin Duque and Nick Laskay (Shaughnessy), and Shuwen Yue (Bakker) received honorable mention for their posters.