Chemical Assembly

Dr. David B. Berkowitz

CHEMISTRY

Hybrid Biocatalytic/Organic Synthesis Ventures

REU students in the Berkowitz group will learn to express, purify, and characterize enzymes and utilize them in stereo-controlled synthetic applications. In addition to organic synthesis and enzymology methods, students will learn to use ¹H, ¹³C NMR, and chiral HPLC to analyze both organic and biocatalytic reactions. In addition, the group has a highly interactive weekly research group meeting in which all undergraduate, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellow members of the team actively participate.

Dr. James Checco

CHEMISTRY

Exploration of cell-cell signaling pathways

The Checco group combines chemical biology and biological mass spectrometry to investigate cellular communication signaling in the nervous and endocrine systems. REU students will design and synthesize peptides with non-natural functionalities, perform small molecule synthesis, and become familiar with biological assays and mass spectrometry. 

Dr. Liangcheng Du

CHEMISTRY

Discovery of new antibiotics

The REU students will learn how to isolate and identify new bioactive natural products from underexplored microorganisms. They will be exposed to techniques in microbial fermentation, metabolite analysis, biosynthetic gene identification and mutation, cloning and expression, biosynthetic enzyme activity assay, and metabolic pathway engineering. The outcomes will contribute to the ongoing fight against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Dr. Catherine Eichhorn

CHEMISTRY

RNA folding and RNA-cofactor assembly

The group’s primary focus is on understanding how RNA folds and interacts with cofactors to perform cellular functions. Students learn how to prepare RNA, protein, or small molecule samples and interdisciplinary methods including chromatography, electrophoresis, NMR, crystallography, and computational modeling.

Dr. Tim Gatzenmeier

CHEMISTRY

Synthetic Methodology towards Biologically Active Compounds

The Gatzenmeier group develops novel synthetic methodology in the context of medicinal chemistry and sustainability. A major interest is accessing sulfur(-fluorine) compounds due to their versatility in drug discovery and development, as well as the potential of pentafluorosulfanyl (SF5) compounds to act as PFAS replacements. REU students will receive a focused training in experimental organic synthesis and modern lab techniques, such as inert-gas reaction conditions, automated chromatography purification, and spectroscopic compound characterization.

Dr. Yinsheng Guo

CHEMISTRY

Structural dynamics and optoelectronic properties in advanced materials

REU students learn to grow bulk, micro, or nanocrystals and use laser spectroscopy and microscopy to explore their lattice motions, charge carrier dynamics, and solid-state chemistry. For example, Amaya Street (2023 REU) grew halide perovskite crystals and measured micro-reflectance and micro-photoluminescence at cryogenic temperatures to probe how charge carriers are stabilized in these novel semiconductors.

Dr. David Hage

CHEMISTRY

Rapid separation-based analysis of chemical and biochemical interactions

The binding of drugs to agents such as blood proteins or dissolved organic matter in water controls the activity effects of many pharmaceutical agents in the body and environment. The Hage group uses affinity microcolumns to rapidly determine equilibrium constants and rate constants for these processes, and how these interactions change with disease or in the environment. REU students learn about high-performance liquid chromatography, analytical/bioanalytical chemistry, data analysis, and bioconjugation, as well as methods such as mass spectrometry or spectroscopy.

Dr. Rebecca Lai

CHEMISTRY

Development of Electrochemical Aptamer-based Sensors for Detection of Neurochemicals

Folding- and dynamics-based electrochemical biosensors fabricated on a wide range of electrodes have been extensively studied in recent years. They are a promising approach to detect various target analytes, including proteins, DNA, small molecules, and metal ions. These sensors are rapid, sensitive, cost-effective, and operationally convenient. The current project focuses on the characterization of DNA aptamers specific for the detection of neurochemicals such as neuropeptide Y. It also involves the design and fabrication of electrochemical aptamer-based sensors that are well-suited for real-time detection of these neurochemicals in artificial cerebrospinal fluid. The REU student will learn the following: (a) characterization of DNA aptamers using different electrochemical techniques; (b) fabrication of an electrochemical aptamer-based sensor on a gold electrode via self-assembled monolayer chemistry and study the effects of target concentration on sensor behavior; and (c) investigate matrix effects on sensor performance.

Dr. Stephen A. Morin

CHEMISTRY

Animate materials

Animate materials combine the characteristics of active, adaptive, and autonomous matter to yield materials that self-optimize for specific functions given the status of their environment. The Morin Group combines the versatile capabilities of polymer chemistry with innovative soft matter microfabrication techniques to build hierarchical materials with macroscopic, stimuli-responsive functionality. REU students learn how to synthesize silicones, hydrogels, and hybrids thereof using photochemistry, surface conjugation schemes, and soft lithography.

Dr. Andrzej Rajca

CHEMISTRY

Stable organic radicals for organic magnets, spin labels, and MRI contrast agents

REU students learn to synthesize spin labels and high-spin organic molecules. For instance, UGs helped develop new high-spin molecules with ultra-robust stability and electrical conductivity. The next generation of these radical-based materials involves properties such as chirality, magnetoresistance, and much stronger magnetic properties.

Dr. Jared Shaw

CHEMISTRY

Mass Spectrometry of Ribosomes as an Antibiotic Target

The student will learn to culture cells and then isolate & characterize ribosomes by native mass spectrometry and top-down proteomics. The results will elucidate how ribosome structure modulates protein synthesis and possibly reveal novel targets for drug development.

Dr. Joseph Yesselman

CHEMISTRY

Rational design of RNA nanostructures

The student will design new RNA nanostructures using the lab's software and will test their designs through modeling and experimentation in comparison to structures in the literature.