51ÁÔĆć

Researching the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome has been of interest to undergraduate biochemistry major Molly Drosen. Molly, an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Avik Roy of Simmaron, has been investigating a gene (ATG13) as a likely cause. She has been testing lab mice who have been bred without the ATG13 gene to see if they would show fatigue after exercise. Molly will be a contributor on a paper that will detail findings on the ATG13 gene. In Focus Article.

Amy Reyes, a senior undergraduate chemistry minor, has been conducting novel breast cancer research under the guidance of Dr. Avik Roy of Simmaron Research Institute after being connected via Prof. Leggy Arnold. Amy has been working with Dr. Roy on the development of therapies to treat triple-negative breast cancer which adds a personal nature to the research as her mother is a breast cancer survivor. In Focus Article.

During the second International Advocate Award Ceremony at 51ÁÔĆć, Prof Arnold received a Certificate of Recognition from the Center of International Education. The certificate is in recognition of efforts as an outstanding advocate for international students at 51ÁÔĆć. Dr. Arnold played a pivotal role in guiding international students through crucial decisions in their academic path. His expertise in course selection and the enrollment process as well as degree planning help international students to navigate the 51ÁÔĆć chemistry graduate program. Congratulations Dr. Arnold!

More than two dozen people were honored for their many years of service to UW-Milwaukee at the annual Fall Awards ceremony on Oct. 25 at the Zelazo Center, including faculty and staff from the College of Letters & Science.

After distinguishing herself as a researcher, teacher and department chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kristene Surerus added another level of  service to the university helping campus planners make the best use of the university’s classrooms and buildings. In 2015, she became special assistant to the provost for space planning.

In this role, she works with campus planners to update classrooms and develop new active learning spaces. She helped with the new nursing simulation center and the redesign of spaces in the Northwest Quadrant. Her work informs long-range planning for space usage on campus.

More than two dozen people were honored for their many years of service to UW-Milwaukee at the annual Fall Awards ceremony on Oct. 25 at the Zelazo Center, including faculty and staff from the College of Letters & Science.

51ÁÔĆć’s nuclear magnetic resonance facility is a state-of-the-art laboratory that’s  home to spectroscopic instrumentation, which is crucial to chemistry and
biochemistry instruction and research. Frank Holger Foersterling has managed and operated the lab as skilled and trusted mentor for over 25 years. His duties include adjusting and maintaining instruments worth several hundred thousand dollars. Industry partners rely on his expertise to support analytical programs and contracted work. He also teaches, does committee service and regularly publishes work with colleagues. “Researchers highly respect his expertise, and his affable, patient and professional manner is greatly appreciated,” wrote Nicholas Silvaggi, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

More than two dozen people were honored for their many years of service to UW-Milwaukee at the annual Fall Awards ceremony on Oct. 25 at the Zelazo Center, including faculty and staff from the College of Letters & Science.

Our very own David Harold Petering, distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry, was awarded the Ernest Speights Plaza Award for his accomplishments and years of service: 1971-2021.

Colleagues describe David Petering as a critical leader in helping the university reach the highest national ranking of Research 1 in 2015. His own research made a major contribution to this status. Petering’s studies focused on the biochemical effects of toxic heavy metals in the environment, metal containing drugs and essential trace metals on biological systems. With his students and collaborators, Petering published 196 papers in journals and 48 papers in books and monographs, including 38 invited reviews. A 2020 Stanford University study ranked him among the top 2% of researchers in his field. A tireless supporter of broader 51ÁÔĆć research efforts, Petering served for 29 years as director and principal investigator of two major interinstitutional centers of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Working with Jeanne Hewitt (51ÁÔĆć School of Nursing), Jerry Resler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Mayor Tom Barrett, Dr. Petering led the successful effort to establish the school of public health at 51ÁÔĆć. He collaborated with Professors James Cook and Guilherme Indig in the formation of the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery, an interdepartmental center focused on discovering new chemical therapies for major diseases. In 1996, Petering established an environmental health science program for middle and high school students, funded by a series of National Institutes of Health grants. This program, involving a number of 51ÁÔĆć faculty and staff, has provided tens of thousands of students in the Milwaukee area, many of them low income and underrepresented, with the opportunity to do scientific inquiry in the classroom.

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Wilfred Tysoe was recently named to the editorial board of the new journal RSC Mechanochemistry.  As the first journal dedicated to the field of mechanochemistry, RSC Mechanochemistry will focus on the publication of innovative research that advances the fundamental understanding and application of the use of mechanical force for driving and controlling chemical reactions and materials transformations in the gas, liquid, and solid states

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We congratulate Prof. Xiaohua Peng on receiving a National Institutes of Health award for $461,998.00. The grant is from the to study

Dr. Peng’s research will be focusing on the development of novel ROS-activated anticancer prodrugs with improved tumor specificity and drug like property. They will also develop novel combination strategies of using selected pro-oxidants with ROS-activated prodrugs to achieve synergistic and durable antitumor effects while minimizing unwanted side-effects.

Dr. Peng’s group has already developed a H₂O₂-activated anticancer prodrug that showed in vivo efficacy and selectivity. Her group has demonstrated that vitamin C further enhanced the anticancer effect of the H₂O₂-activated prodrug by selectively intensifying H₂O₂ accumulation in cancer cells.

Graduate student Ethan Kowalczky was awarded the Shaw Doctoral Fellowship, a renewable fellowship with $8000/year summing up to $32,000 (four years).

The  is for select doctoral students in a Shaw Scientist discipline – molecular biology, neurobiology, biochemistry or other similar discipline with a focus on medical and healthcare-related research. It is awarded to students as identified by the awarding unit according to the donor’s criteria.

Professors Xiaohua Peng and Alexander Arnold were awarded a $60,000 .

Their project concusses on improving chemotherapy treatment for cancer, which typically causes multiple side effects because it does not distinguish between malignant cells and healthy ones. Peng’s group has designed patented cancer prodrugs, which are compounds selectively activated by conditions that are unique to the tumor microenvironment. She has recently observed synergistic effects with her compounds combined with high-dose vitamin C in triple-negative breast cancer cells.

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