Professor Huiqing (Jane) Zhou Awarded an NIH MIRA Grant

Assistant Professor Huiqing (Jane) Zhou has been awarded an R35 MIRA grant from the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The $1.95 million to the Zhou laboratory will support their research in developing methods to investigate fundamental questions in the human tRNA biology.  MIRA, also known as the "Maximizing Investigators' Research Award" provides early-stage investigators with the support to achieve greater stability and flexibility in research, thereby promoting research productivity and creativity.

Boston College Chemistry Department Team Scores Big!

A team of 3 Boston College Chemistry graduate students, from the research group of Professor Peter Zhang, competed in the Nucleate Activator program. This non-profit training program pairs scientific trainees with business students to connect them with advisors, mentors, executives, legal support, and investors that are experienced in building biotech companies.

The BC Chemistry team, Metallosyn was joined by Celia Lette, an M.S. student in Biotech/Finance at Brown University. Second year Ph.D. students Mariah Tedder, Team Lead, Many Hemati and Landon Taylor, along with Ms. Lette and scientific advisor Professor Zhang competed in the Eco East track. Over the last six months, the teams attended weekly workshops with mentors on scientific risk, strategic fundraising, pitch deck development, and more designed to facilitate the transition from academic research to commercialization of scientific discoveries. Metallosyn, competing in the Eco East track, focused on sustainability, seeks to commercialize the bio-inspired catalyst library designed by Professor Zhang's lab, alongside future developments to apply the catalyst platform to challenging problems in sustainable chemistry. On May 18th, Metallosyn's technology was pitched in a series of presentations to judges that included start-up founders and venture capitalists. Metallosyn placed 2nd in the Nucleate Eco East track and was also awarded the Eco Scientific Excellence Award. They are contenders within the Nucleate Venture Prize competition and have plans to explore the Boston biotech sphere to continue pursuing the commercialization of their chemistry as a start-up company.

Professor Jia Niu Recipient of 2023 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

Recognized for a commitment to teaching and outstanding scholarship, Professor Jia Niu has been named a 2023 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar.  This prestigious award recognizes early career faculty and includes a $100,000 unrestricted award.  To learn more about Professor Niu's research, visit his research group page.  To learn more about his latest research "Cleaner, greener plastics from wood," click here.

Kyrsten Weissheier Receives Honorable Mention in NSF GRFP Program

The National Science Foundation awarded Kyrsten Weissheier an Honorable Mention in the Graduate Research Fellowship Program for her project, "Programmable Proximity-Driven O-GlcNAcylation of Histone Tails using CRISPR/Cas9."  Kyrsten is a second year student in Professor Jia Niu's research group.  The Graduate Research Fellowship Program is highly competitive and seeks to recognize students who have demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions to the field.  Congratulations Kyrsten on this outstanding achievement!

Delilah Jewel Recipient of Engelhard Pingree Fellowship

The 2022-23 Morrisey College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Engelhard Pingree Research Fellowship has been awarded to Delilah (Lily) Jewel.  This honor recognizes a graduate student who has made a significant contribution to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ research mission.  Working
in the research laboratory of Professor Abhishek Chatterjee, Lily is the 1st
author on a paper appearing in Science and an upcoming paper in Nature Methods.  In announcing the award., Dean Candace Hetzner mentioned Lily’s work involving  innovative biomolecular research.   For more
information on research in the Chatterjee lab, check out their website.

Collaborating to Advance Solar Energy Systems

5E Advanced Materials, Inc. has signed a sponsored research agreement with the Boston College Chemistry Department. The research will focus on the development of boron-based solar energy conversion materials. As countries look toward the decarbonization of the energy sector,  the ability to capture, convert and store solar energy economically will be of increasing importance. Leading the effort in the Chemistry Department, Professor Shih-Yuan Liu stated, “The Department of Chemistry at Boston College has strong expertise in boron chemistry. We have tremendous synthetic capabilities for accessing boron-containing compounds. As such, the collaboration with 5E Advanced Materials makes sense as the company focuses on the element boron in the energy sector. We are very excited about the opportunity and look forward to commencing the project.”