News

Congratulations to Professors Andy Phillips and Alanna Schepartz, who were just awarded $2.5 million from the National Cancer Institute to investigate novel approaches to treat cancers previously considered “undruggable”. The highly competitive grant, to be distributed over five years at about $500,000 annually, comes through NCI’s “Provocative Questions” program. Schepartz and Phillips, in collaboration with Dylan Taatjes at the University of Colorado, seek to address question 18: Are there new technologies to inhibit traditionally ‘undruggable’ target molecules, such as transcription factors, that are required for the oncogenic phenotype?

Congratulations to Professor Craig Crews on the FDA's recent approval of Kyprolis (carfilzomib) for the treatment of relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma - a particularly deadly form of cancer that originates from certain white blood cells. The approval of Kyprolis represents the culmination of over a decade's worth of work, which emerged from the Crews lab's discovery that the natural product epoxomicin could function as a highly potent, selective inhibitor of the proteasome. Kyprolis, a chemical derivative of epoxomicin first prepared in the Crews lab, earned FDA approval on July 20, and has been available for patients in the U.S. since August 1. Congratulations to Professor Crews, and all past and present members of the Crews lab, who have contributed to this exciting advance!

The Chemistry Department notes that Professors Elsa Yan and Victor Batista have been elected Chair and Vice-Chair for the Vibrational Spectroscopy Gordon Research Conference to be held in 2016. Chairs of the GRC's are elected by the attending scientists at these outstanding meetings, and are entrusted by their colleagues to use their leadership positions in their fields to assemble world-leading conferences in important fields of science. Best wishes to Elsa Yan and Victor Batista for great success with their GRC.

Congratulations to Arron Wolk, a graduate student in Professor Mark Johnson's Laboratory, who received a 2012 Rao Prize for his talk entitled "Isolation of ion-driven conformations in diphenylacetylene molecular switches using cryogenic infrared spectroscopy" at the 2012 International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy. Arron's research is a collaboration between the Hamilton lab and Johnson lab. Congratulations Arron!

The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce the establishment of the Aldrich Lecture at Yale. The inaugural Aldrich Lecture will be given by Professor Dionicio Siegel of the University of Texas at Austin and will be held in the Yale Chemistry Department during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Congratulations to Li Fu, a graduate student in Professor Elsa Yan's Laboratory, who received the Langmuir Student Award from the ACS Colloids and Surfaces Division. This award recognizes excellence in research in the field of colloids and surface chemistry. Among the 10 finalists, Li presented his research on “Characterization of proteins at interface by chiral sum frequency generation” in the 86th ACS Colloids and Surface Symposium and won the Langmuir Presentation Award for the best presentation!

Congratulations to Professor Mark A. Johnson, who has been elected to receive a Humboldt Research Award. This award was conferred to recognize Professor Johnson's lifetime achievements in research. With this award, Professor Johnson is invited to carry out research projects in cooperation with colleagues in Germany and foster improved international scientific cooperation. Congratulations!

Professor David Spiegel has been selected by the editors of ACS Chemical Biology to serve as this month's "expert" in the field of Synthetic Immunology. His role will be to answer questions and engage in discussions related to challenges and opportunities in this emerging discipline. Additional information may be found here.

Congratulations to Professor Seth Herzon who has been awarded the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. This award supports the careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences who demonstrate leadership in research and education. Additional information may be found here.

Deacon J. Nemchick, a graduate student in the Vaccaro Group, has been awarded a prestigious student-nominated Prize Teaching Fellowship from Yale University in recognition for his outstanding performance and exceptional promise as a teacher. He will be honored at a dinner in the fall hosted by The Dean of the Graduate School and The Dean of Yale College. Additional information can be found here.

Paul Anastas, Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment and director of the Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering, will receive the German Chemical Society’s Wöhler Prize for his contributions to the design, discovery, and development of new chemistries and conceptual frameworks for advancing sustainability. Additional information may be found here.

Professor Seth Herzon has been named a Cottrell Scholar Award recipient. The Cottrell Scholars are named by the Research Corporation, and represent special recognition of early career faculty who are demonstrating special excellence and dedication to teaching and research. Additional information may be found here.

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to congratulate Professor Seth Herzon, who has been named a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. As noted on the Sloan Foundation Web-Site, "These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 118 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field." Additional information may be found at http://www.sloan.org/fellowships.

Professor Seth B. Herzon has been named a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. The CAREER program is the NSF's "most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research." For additional information, please visit their web-site at http://www.nsf.gov.

The Chemistry Department is delighted to congratulate the newest member of our faculty, Professor Jason Crawford, who has won the highly prestigious Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists. Sponsored by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Dale F. Frey Award is bestowed on those individuals who are "most likely to make paradigm-shifting breakthroughs that transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer". More information about the award may be found here. Congratulations, Jason!

The Department is delighted to congratulate Professor David Spiegel, who has been awarded a Novartis Early Career Award. This award is presented annually to two outstanding young scientists in either organic or bioorganic chemistry, and is targeted to colleagues within 10 years of their first independent academic appointment. Additional information may be found here.

The Department wishes to congratulate two members of Mark Johnson's laboratory who are the recipients of two highly prestigious fellowships: Joseph Fournier, a graduate student in the Johnson lab, has received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, sponsored by the Department of Defense, and Christopher Johnson, a postdoc in the Johnson lab, has received an American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellowship, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

The Chemistry Department is delighted to congratulate Professor Seth Herzon on being named a 2011 Packard Fellow. The Packard Fellowship was established in 1988 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and provides support to early-career scientists in the physical sciences and engineering. There are only sixteen fellows each year, and they hail from virtually all scientific disciplines. Bravo! More information about the award may be found here.

Three National Awards for Chemistry Faculty Members. Three members of Yale Chemistry have received national awards from the American Chemical Society. William Jorgensen, Sterling Professor of Chemistry, will receive the Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of Liquids; Alanna Schepartz, the Milton Harris ‘29 Professor of Chemistry, will receive the Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry; Jonathan Ellman, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry, will receive the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods. All will receive their awards at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego in March 2012. The National Awards of the American Chemical Society are among the highest honors bestowed upon outstanding scientists by the ACS. Additional information may be found here.

The Department wishes to congratulate Kyle Kimmel, a graduate student in Professor Jon Ellman's Laboratory, upon his selection to participate in the Abbott Scholars Symposium held at Abbott’s Corporate Headquarters on Tuesday, August 30, 2011. Kyle went above and beyond the call of duty when he decided to drive to Chicago to participate in the Abbott Scholars Symposium upon cancellation of his flight due to hurricane Irene.

The Department wishes to congratulate Nicholas Calandra, a graduate student in Professor Seth Herzon's Laboratory, upon his receipt of a prestigious fellowship from the American Chemical Society's Division of Organic Chemistry. This particular fellowship is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, to whom we are grateful. In addition to financial support, the fellowship also provides resources for Nick to travel to the upcoming National Organic Symposium in Seattle, Washington, where Nick will present his research.

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to congratulate William L. Jorgensen, Sterling Professor of Chemistry, on his election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Jorgensen is a world leader in the field of computational chemistry and molecular design. Membership in the Academy is an exceptional honor bestowed upon only the most influential and pioneering individuals in all areas of science. For the press release prepared by the NAS, please click here.

The Chemistry Department is delighted to congratulate Professor Robert Crabtree on his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is bestowed upon "some of the world’s most accomplished leaders from academia, business, public affairs, and the humanities."  Additional information on this year's inductees may be found here.

The Department is delighted to congratulate Professor David Spiegel on receiving a 2011 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. Sloan Fellowships are bestowed upon the most promising early career scientists. Recognition of "distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field" are hallmarks of the Sloan Fellowships program. Additional information may be found at: http://www.sloan.org/fellowships

Congratulations to the Herzon Laboratory on their recent synthesis of Lomaiviticin Aglycon (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011). This chemical synthesis represents an exciting contribution in the area of complex molecule synthesis, and showcases a strategy that is possibly related to the biosynthesis of this fascinating natural product. The structure also features rarely-observed-in-nature functional groups, which present special challenges for synthesis. Moreover, this work sets the stage for further study of the mechanism of action of this exciting natural product, which has been shown to exhibit potent anticancer properties. (See also: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/89/i06/8906news5.html)

The Department would like to congratulate Professor David A. Spiegel for being selected as one of seven winners of this year's Nature Chemical Biology Grand Challenges Essay Contest.  This contest commemorates the journal's 5th anniversary issue and highlights critical challenges in the field of Chemical Biology. Professor Spiegel's essay, entitled "Synthetic Immunology to engineer human immunity", is currently available online.

The Chemistry Department is delighted to announce that Professor Andrew J. Phillips has been named a recipient of a 2011 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award. The Cope Scholar Award, sponsored by the American Chemical Society, is presented in recognition of excellence in the field of organic chemistry. Professor Phillips will deliver an award address at the 242nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, to be held in Denver, Colorado.

Congratulations to Mark Johnson, Arthur T. Kemp Professor of Chemistry, and Alanna Schepartz, Milton Harris ‘29 Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry, who have been elected to the 2010 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society. Members of the Fellows of the American Chemical Society “share a common set of accomplishments, namely true excellence in their contributions to the chemical enterprise coupled with distinctive service to ACS or to the broader world of chemistry".

The Department is delighted to announce that Professor William L. Jorgensen, Sterling Professor of Chemistry, has been elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences. Members of IAQMS "are chosen among the scientists of all countries who have distinguished themselves by the value of their scientific work, their role of pioneer or leader of a school in the broad field of the application of quantum mechanics to the study of molecules and macromolecules." Professor Jorgensen joins Professor John Tully, another Sterling Professor and member of our Department, as a member of this distinguished group.

Congratulations to James Blakemore, a graduate student in both the Crabtree lab and Brudvig lab, who has been invited to attend The 60th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The Annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is an interdisciplinary meeting bringing together more than 650 young researchers from around the globe with 59 Nobel Laureates from the fields of physiology or medicine, physics, and chemistry.

On June 21, Laura Allen, received the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award at the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Conference in Washington DC. This national award honors outstanding student contributions in green chemistry, a field that promotes environmentally sound chemical procedures and processes. Laura's work telescopes a three step organic chemical process of pharmaceutical interest into one step, a strategy that also avoids the toxic reagents previously required. Laura is a fourth year graduate student in Dr. Crabtree's lab in the Chemistry Department. Dr. Hancock was an active advocate emphasizing the role of chemists in solving environmental problems in an economically viable way.

The Chemistry Department wishes to congratulate our newest colleague, Professor Jonathan Ellman, who has been named the 2010 recipient of the Pedler Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry.  The Pedler Award dates back to 1929, and has been bestowed on an inspiring list of former recipients, beginning with William H. Perkin in the inaugural year.

The Chemistry Department is delighted to welcome Professor Andrew Phillips as a member of our faculty, effective during the summer of 2010.  Professor Phillips will add exciting new projects in complex molecule synthesis, natural products chemistry and in the study of problems at the interface of chemistry and biology. Additional information about Professor Phillips and his research may be found at: http://spot.colorado.edu/~aphillip/index.html

Congratulations to Professor Patrick Vaccaro on the occasion of his receiving the "The Dylan Hixon '88 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences for 2010." The Dylan Hixon Prize is one of Yale’s highest honors for teaching excellence. Professor Vaccaro will receive his award as part of Yale’s Commencement and Class Day activities.

Congratulations to Alanna Schepartz who was just elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Members of the AAAS represent innovative thinkers in every field and profession, including more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.  Click here to see the announcement in the Yale Bulletin.

Congratulations to Professor Elsa Yan on receiving a 2010 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This award will support Professor Yan’s multidisciplinary project on Molecular Mechanism of Vision. The CAREER program, according to the NSF website, “offers the NSF's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research.”

Congratulations to Alanna Schepartz who was awarded a highly coveted National Academies Keck Futures Initiative grant for a project entitled "Separate but equal: Design of orthogonal, functional environments within living mammalian cells"

Congratulations to Seth Herzon who has been named a 2010 Searle Scholar.  The Searle Scholar Award is given annually to 15 young scientists nationwide to support research in medicine, chemistry, and the biological sciences.  This award will support ongoing research in natural products synthesis and reaction development in the Herzon laboratory.

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to welcome Professor Jonathan Ellman as the newest member of its faculty, effective July 1st, 2010. Professor Ellman brings exciting research projects in the areas of Organic and Organometallic Chemistry, as well as in Chemical Biology.

The Ellman Laboratory will establish its programs both in the Department of Chemistry and at the Yale School of Medicine. Professor Ellman will also play a pioneering role in the development of the Chemical Biology Institute on Yale's new West Campus. Click here for additional information regarding the Ellman Research Group.

The Spiegel Research Group has recently made important strides in their work involving antibody-recruiting small molecules that target HIV and prostate cancer.  These molecules function by redirecting antibodies present in the human bloodstream to proteins expressed on the surface of human pathogens, and represent novel and potentially general strategies for disease treatment.  These studies were recently published in JACS, and have been highlighted in various venues, including ACS Chemical Biology, Faculty of 1000 Biology, Popular Science, R&D Magazine, e! Science News, Science Daily, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, & ACS Noteworthy Chemistry.

Professor Seth Herzon and co-workers Christina Woo, Liang Lu, Shivajirao Gholap, & Devin Smith have completed the synthesis of the anticancer agent kinamycin F, as described in a recent issue of Journal of the American Cancer Society. A summary of their work can be found in the Yale Bulletin.

The Department is pleased to announce that Alanna Schepartz has been selected as the Alexander M. Cruickshank Lecturer at the Gordon Research Conference on Biopolymers to be held at Salve Regina University on June 6-11, 2010. Congratulations, Alanna!

Yale's Thomas Steitz is one of three winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work describing the structure and function of the ribosome, the molecular machine that translates the information in messenger RNA into protein. Read the Yale Press Release.

The Department is pleased to announce that Alanna Schepartz, Milton Harris Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, is the very first recipient of the ACS Chemical Biology Prize Lectureship. This award, bestowed by the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry, is designed to honor the contributions of a single individual who has had a major impact on scientific research in the area of Chemical Biology. The inaugural award will be presented at the 239th ACS National Meeting held March 21–25, 2010, in San Francisco.  For more information, visit http://www.biochemdivision.org/awards. Congratulations, Alanna!

Professor Robert Crabtree has won the 2010 Kosolapoff Award of Auburn University.  The award is given in recognition of landmark contributions in
Chemistry and Biochemistry, and has illustrious history of previous recipients: Kosolapoff Award of Auburn University. The Chemistry Department extends warmest congratulations to Professor Crabtree on this occasion.

Congratulations to William Jorgensen and John Tully who have been selected as members of the first class of ACS Fellows. Click here to read the write up in C&EN

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to congratulate Dr. Francis Collins on his nomination to assume the leadership of the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Collins received his Ph.D. in 1974 from the Chemistry Department at Yale, working with Professor R. James Cross. The title of Dr. Collins' dissertation was, "Semiclassical Theory of Vibrationally Inelastic Scattering, with Application to H++ H2."  The Department offers Dr. Collins all best wishes on this important occasion.

Congratulations to William L. Jorgensen who has been appointed as a Sterling Professor of Chemistry, one of the University's highest faculty honors. more

Congratulations to Professor Mark Johnson who has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Members of the AAAS represent innovative thinkers in every field and profession, including more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.  Click here to see the announcement in the Yale Bulletin.

The Department of Chemistry was pleased to host tryouts for this year’s national Chemistry Olympiad on April 25. more

We are pleased to welcome Nilay Hazari who will join our faculty as an Assistant Professor on July 1, 2009. Having done his Ph.D. as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology, Professor Hazari will initiate a program of research in synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemistry.

Congratulations to David Spiegel's lab for receiving a Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant will fund work related to the development of new antibiotic strategies to minimize the development of bacterial resistance.

Ann Valentine has been awarded the Paul D. Saltman Memorial Award, given annually by the Gordon Research Conferences, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of metals in biology. Click here to read the write-up in the Yale Bulletin.

Scott J. Miller has received the Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Gold Medal from Nagoya University. In honor of Professor Yoshimasa Hirata, a towering figure in natural products chemistry, Professor Miller recently delivered the Hirata Memorial Lecture in Nagoya, Japan.

Congratulations to Paul Anastas, named by the Yale Corporation the inaugural Teresa and John H. Heinz III Chair for Chemistry for the Environment.

Peter Moore has been elected President-Elect of the Biophysical Society. He will assume this office at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. His term as President will begin in 2010.

Alanna Schepartz has been awarded Harvard University's 2008-2009 Frank H. Westheimer Prize in recognition of her outstanding research in chemistry and chemical biology. more

Department of Chemistry Graduate School alumna, Laura Kiessling, Hilldale Professor of Chemistry and Laurens Anderson Professor of Biochemistry at The University of Wisconson-Madison, has been awarded the 2008 Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal. more

Congratulations to Prof. Seth Herzon, who has been recognized with an Eli Lilly New Faculty Award. This honor is in recognition of Seth's exciting research programs in the area of synthetic organic chemistry.

The Department of Chemistry and the New Haven Section of the ACS has awarded the 2008 Kirkwood Medal to MIT Professor JoAnne Stubbe. The award is presented biennially for "outstanding contributions to the field of Chemistry," and honors the late Prof. John G. Kirkwood, former Sterling Professor of Chemistry and Chairman of the Department at Yale. View photos from the May 1, 2008 award ceremony.

Congratulations to Prof. David Spiegel, who has won this year's Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award for work on the chemistry of advanced glycation end-products.

Paul Anastas has received the Leadership in Science award from the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.

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