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Anibal Boscoboinik, who earned his PhD in Chemistry at 51���� in 2010 was recently named “Inventor of the Year” by Battelle Memorial Institute. Anibal currently works as a materials scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Professor Shama Mirza received 51���� funds to predict responses to anti-VEGF therapy in recurrent glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive of all brain tumors with limited treatment options and no cure. Even after multimodal treatments by surgical resection of tumor, chemo and radiotherapy, the prognosis is poor (median survival <15 months) and recurrence is inevitable. The recurrent tumors are more aggressive with limited treatment options. Bevacizumab (BV), an anti-VEGF therapy, was recently approved by the FDA as a single agent for the treatment of recurrent GBM. It is believed to be very effective to treat recurring tumors, however, not all patients do respond equally to BV therapy (~40% response rate by standard MRI criteria). Currently, no tissue marker exists to predict which patients will have a therapeutic response, which is crucial for continuous care.

Due to the lack of therapeutic assessment, the current approach is ‘wait and see’. The widespread use, expense, and increased risk of side-effects associated with BV creates a need for the development of a marker to predict therapeutic response prior to starting BV therapy. This discovery would have a tremendous clinical impact. However, even more impactful would be the discovery of alternative therapies for patients who are not expected to benefit from BV as well as for those who eventually fail BV.

Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics approaches, proposed to identify prognostic biomarkers to BV therapy a priori in recurrent glioblastoma patients. The findings from the study, supported by the , will provide protein signatures, which can be used to identify patients who will derive the greatest benefit from BV and those who will not, even before therapy has started. This information will enable important clinical decisions regarding the use and treatment of BV, as well as consideration of alternate therapeutic strategies for non-responders. In addition, identifying tumor specific pathways in GBM patients will open avenues to new treatment options.

Students in the 51���� Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry voted to award Gloria Freschl the department’s annual “Outstanding Instructor” award in recognition of her work.

The award was presented at the Department’s 2024 Research Symposium.

Nominating students describe her as follows:

“She’s easily my favorite professor and I adore her! She’s so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about chemistry. Her class makes me feel like I’m ready for nursing school the way no other class has at 51����!”

“She did an exemplary job teaching all of us, she was clear and concise. While also throwing laughter here and there, she made learning fun.”

Michelle Meyer has been awarded the Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship award for 2024-25.

Michelle’s research mostly focuses on developing novel agents and treatments for asthma, atopic dermatitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. She also works on several other research projects; for example, she uses cell-based assays to measure receptor activities and to determine the toxicity of drug compounds provided by Dr. Arnold’s group and other researchers and works on better countermeasures against chemical threat agents such as chlorine gas.

She is a co-author of 6 journal articles, has several more under review, and is a co-inventor on one patent.

Kayode Medubi has been awarded a Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship award for 2024-25.

Kayode is starting his third year as a graduate student in the . His research focuses on developing new drug candidates for asthma and inflammatory bowel disease. He is also involved in collaborations with the group of Dr. Karyn Frick and the 51���� startup company . He is an excellent presenter and has won two poster presentation awards, one at the Milwaukee Analytical Chemistry Conference in 2022 and one at the departmental Chemistry Awards Day in 2023.

Kayode has published one journal article during his M.S. work, and one journal article from his work at 51����.

Cytokines are very important inflammatory signaling molecules that have been intensively studied since their identification in 1957.  Crystal structures and recently electron microscopy structures of cytokines in complex with their receptors have been reported but their quaternary structures involving several cytokines and cytokines receptors are not well understood. will use the 51���� Discovery and Innovation grant to support his computational approach that applies molecular dynamics simulations to improve our molecular understanding of these complexes.

This computational approach will also allow the to find important binding regions of these complexes that when disrupted can result in dissociation. Thus, in another aim of the grant, Prof. Saha will work with the MIDD to identify new small molecules that can disrupt the interactions between IL-13 and IL-4 that bind the heterodimer of IL-4Rα & IL-13 Rα1. Compounds identified by virtual screening will be purchased or synthesized and analyzed by ELISA and isothermal titration calorimetry. The goal of this research is to discover new treatment approaches for atopic dermatitis based on small molecule inhibitors of cytokine signaling.

Students in the 51���� Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry voted to award �����Ի� Prof Rodriguez  “Outstanding Faculty Mentor” awards in recognition of their contributions,

The awards were presented at the Department’s 2024 Research Symposium.

Nominating students describe them as follows:

“His influence extends beyond academics, profoundly impacting my life. He consistently prioritizes our well-being, regularly checking in on our mental health. Approachable and empathetic, his doors remain open despite his demanding schedule, making it easy to engage in discussions about any challenges we may face.”

“Whenever a researcher has a question, he is attentive and gives them his undivided attention to help them solve whatever problem they are facing. He’s an incredible member of the faculty and an immense help to the chemistry department.”

Dr. James Cook has earned a patent which is part of a portfolio of drug compounds targeting the GABAA receptors of the brain and is focused on aiding cognition and depression. Major depressive disorder affects 350 million people globally, ranking as a top cause of disability. Despite this burden, pharmaceutical companies have reduced antidepressant development. Novel antidepressants addressing cognitive dysfunction containing compounds like these are crucial for future treatment. See patent,

Dr. Mark Dietz and team have developed a new research tool for the method for preparation of surface-porous supports. This innovation allows the extraction of metal ions from a mixture. Metal ion separations play a vital role in industrial processes and analytical methods. An example of this is radiochemical separations, which can be used to isolate radioisotopes for medical applications such as imaging and cancer treatment. See patent,

To learn more about this position and how to apply, please click on the following link: /jobs/postings/38949

Chemistry and Biochemistry students presented their work at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. The symposium celebrates the collaborations of our undergraduate students with our research-active faculty and staff across all of our schools and colleges.

was awarded Outstanding Presentation Award for the poster presentation A Qualitative and Quantitative Study: Exploring Anxiety in Undergraduate Level Chemistry Courses. Below are the following students who presented:

– mentor Prof. Murphy

– mentor Prof. Arnold

– mentor Prof. Peng

– mentor Prof. Arnold

– mentor Ethan Kub

– mentor Prof. Peng

– mentor Prof. Mirza

– mentor Prof. Silvaggi

– mentor Prof. Peng

– mentor Prof. Pacheco

– mentor Prof. Pacheco

– mentor Prof. Mirza

– mentor Prof. Frick

– mentor Prof. Arnold