With the goal of advancing the understanding of the neurochemistry of addiction, the Neuroproteomics and Neurometabolomics Center on Cell-Cell Signaling at the University of Illinois, has had its funding renewed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse with a $6 million grant.

The Discovery Fund, established in 2018 and supported by a generous gift from chemistry alumni Ving Lee (Ph.D., ‘75, Rinehart) and May Lee (Ph.D., ‘76, Rinehart), provides funding for innovative research in the Department of Chemistry.

In February, the Department of Chemistry celebrated the dedication of an American Chemical Society (ACS) National Historic Chemical Landmark in honor of Illinois alumnus St. Elmo Brady, who, in 1916, became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. Central to the celebration were representatives from Tougaloo College, Howard University, Fisk University, and Tuskegee University—four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) whose chemistry programs Brady founded after he left Illinois.

Steven Zimmerman, graduate student Ephraim Morado, and their colleagues are attempting to create a more environmentally-friendly form of polyurethane, a frequently-used polymer that is difficult to recycle.

Professor Martin Burke will receive the 2019 iCON Innovator Award at the iCON Award Dinner on September 26, 2019. This award recognizes those scientists who demonstrate leadership potential at the frontier of knowledge in the life sciences and conduct research that is anticipated to enhance economic development in the State of Illinois.

A collaboration between the Sweedler and the Rodriguez-Zas labs at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the Pradhan lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago has identified genes that are involved in opioid-induced hyperalgesia, an abnormally increased sensitivity to pain.

The Pan Research Group has recently developed a probe made of nanoparticles by crosslinking biliverdin molecules, which are pigments that exist naturally in the body.

The National Science Foundation is funding the new Center for Synthesizing Quantum Coherence (CSQC) as a Phase I Center for Chemical Innovation. Led by Duke, and featuring distinguished chemists at Northwestern University, University of California – Berkeley, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Center aims to unmask the coherent quantum mechanical flow of electronic excited states and of charges, along with their coherent spin-spin interactions, in precisely tailored nanostructures and molecules. 

Microbes are master chefs of the biomolecular world; collectively, they harbor the ability to produce a vast array of unknown substances, some of which may have therapeutic or other useful properties. In searching for useful products, a team of chemists at Illinois have discovered a whole new class of microbial recipes.

Twenty years in the making, a new leading-edge medical imaging research collaboration is becoming a reality.

Beckman researchers across three labs will collaborate on a new project that will receive $400,000 from the National Institutes of Health.

HexNest is a startup company brought to you by two Illinois undergraduate students. Rachel Circelli (chemistry and political science) and Mark Van Den Avont (mechanical engineering) are working to create a safer yet affordable sports mat.

David Sarlah, an assistant professor of chemistry, has received both the Amgen and the 2019 National Organic Symposium (NOS) Young Investigator Awards.

Assistant Professor David Sarlah has been awarded the 2019 Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. The $75,000 in award funding will support Sarlah’s research in the discovery of new reactivities and guiding principles for organic synthesis and their application towards biologically active natural products and methods development.

Chemists at the University of Illinois have successfully produced fuels using water, carbon dioxide and visible light through artificial photosynthesis.