Chemistry & Biochemistry Seminars | Spring 2025

Stop The Bleed Safety Training

  January 8, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Presentation by USU Department of Public Safety for graduate students, faculty, and staff. 
Hands-on activities and training. Come in comfortable clothes. 

Contact Samantha Christenson at samantha.christenson@usu.edu with questions. 

Michael J. Castaldi, DSc | From Discovery to Development The Story of Trovan a Quinolone Antibacterial

  January 15, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Mike Christiansen

About the Speaker: Prof Castaldi holds a DSc in chemistry and a MS in Science Education. Professor Castaldi has over 40 years of experience in the Drug industry. Upon retirement from Pfizer, Inc. he began a teaching and research career at several institutions. He is a holder of multiple papers patents and presentation in the areas of Medicinal, Organic and Chemical Education. He will describe the drug discovery process starting from the identification of a drug candidate and the modifications of the original discovery route to produce the first development toxicology lot. Further research led us to identify and put into practice a commercial process to make the side chain of Trovan. The most notable feature of this synthesis is the construction of the complete carbon backbone of the side chain in one single synthetic step. The talk will also describe the identification and development of a soluble and prodrug, Alatrofloxacin. He will also be available for discussion with interested students and faculty as well as career consulting and resume review. Castaldi, is an avid golfer and lover of grand opera.

Giulia Palermo, PhD | Computational and AI-Powered Innovations in Genome Editing: Physics-Based Approaches and AI to Understand and Design CRISPR-Cas systems

  January 22, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Ryan Jackson

Affiliation: The University of California Riverside 

About the Speaker: Giulia Palermo is a computational biophysicist and Associate Professor at the University of California Riverside in the Department of Bioengineering and Chemistry. She is a native of Italy where she earned her PhD in 2013 from the Italian Institute of Technology. During her doctoral studies, she was awarded an early career fellowship to join the group of Prof. Ursula Roethlisberger at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). In 2016 she became a post-doc at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) working with Prof. J. Andrew McCammon, thanks to a Swiss National Science Foundation post-doctoral fellowship.

Her group is best known for computational studies of the CRISPR-Cas9 system. By using state-of-the-art computer simulations, her lab is interested in characterizing the mechanism of action and compuationally engineer emerging genome editing systems that are transforming life sciences. She is a recipient of the 2020 Corwin Hansch Award to Outstanding Scientists Under 40, a 2022 NSF CAREER Award, and a 2023 Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry.

Giulia is an active educator passionate about teaching. She is an advocate for women in science and her lab strives to create research opportunities to increase diversity in STEM.

David Laviska, PhD | Principles of Green Chemistry

  February 5, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ZOOM 

Zoom Link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/88981021126?pwd=sGO3K7Dhg4qeEfiiS9wlVgHBAw2A6F.1

Host: Hannah Feinsilber

Affiliation: American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI)

About the Speaker: Prior to joining the ACSGCI, Dr. David A. Laviska was Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University where he was co-director of the Academy for Green Chemistry, Stewardship, and Sustainability. As a pedagogical innovator, he led the effort to incorporate the principles of Green Chemistry throughout the Organic and General Chemistry curricula and was awarded “Professor of the Year” in 2020. As a first-generation college student and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he took leading roles in working with undergraduate STEM students from across the spectrum of underrepresented groups. His research focused on green(er) synthesis and characterization of late transition metal complexes with unique optical properties and hetero- and homogeneous catalysis. His research students also developed and piloted green(er) experimental protocols for use in undergraduate teaching labs. Prior to his second career in academia, David worked for more than a decade as an Environmental/Analytical Specialist with the EPA (Region II) and earned all of his degrees in chemistry: PhD (Rutgers University), MS (University of Washington), and BA (Cornell University).

Eric Nacsa, PhD | New Electron-Transfer Concepts in Organic Synthesis

  February 12, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Gang Li 

Affiliation: Penn State University

About the Speaker: Eric was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and grew up nearby in Kingston, Ontario. He graduated with a BSc in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA in 2010, where he worked on the total synthesis of sesquiterpene natural products. He received a PhD from Columbia University in 2015, studying synthetic applications of aromatic ions with Tristan Lambert. He finished his training with David MacMillan at Princeton University as an NIH postdoctoral fellow developing light-promoted asymmetric transformations. Eric began his independent career at Penn State University in 2019. His lab has received support from ACS PRF, NSF CAREER, and NIH R35 awards.

Qilei Zhu, PhD | Sustainable Alcohol, Amine and Hydrocarbon Functionalization Strategies Enabled by Electrochemistry and Photocatalysis

  February 19, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Yunfan (Frank) Qiu 

Affiliation: University of Utah

About the Speaker: Qilei was born and raised in Zhejiang, China. In 2014, Qilei obtained BS in chemistry from Peking University. After graduation, Qilei then joined the Chemistry Department of Princeton University, and conducted PhD research of Organic Chemistry with Prof. Robert Knowles. Qilei’s doctoral research focused on carbocation generation and photo-catalytic strong bond activation using proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). In 2019, Qilei became a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Daniel Nocera at Harvard, where Qilei explored using titania in organic synthesis. Qilei also conducted mechanistic studies of several radical transformations using spectroscopic and electroanalytical techniques. Since 2022, Qilei started his independent research in the University of Utah. Our research program is focused on developing selective and sustainable chemical transformations to enable streamlined synthesis of functionalized molecules from accessible feedstocks. Synthetic transformations involving radical or radical ion intermediates under photocatalytic or electrochemical conditions are of particular interests, due to the versatile reactivities exhibited by those open-shell radical intermediates under mild conditions. The research program in the Zhu laboratory is divided into two general areas: (1) developing electrosynthetic methods for the sustainable functionalization of abundant chemical feedstocks, such as alcohols and amines, and (2) the discovery and optimization of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) photocatalysts for selective functionalization of strong C(sp²)–H and C(sp³)–H bonds.

Prof Chenjie Zeng, PhD | Precision Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanoclusters: Connecting Coordination, Cluster, and Colloidal Chemistry at the Nanoscale

  February 26, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Yi Rao

Affiliation: University of Florida

About the Speaker: Chenjie Zeng received her BS in Chemistry from Nankai University (Tianjin, China) in 2011 and her PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Rongchao Jin from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016. She was a NatureNet Science postdoctoral fellow with Profs. Christopher B. Murray and Cherie R. Kagan at the University of Pennsylvania from 2017–2019. She joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida as an assistant professor in 2019. Research in her group centers around precision nanochemistry and nanomaterials, with emphasis on developing synthetic methods for atomically precise nanomaterials, understanding the structure and property correlations of nanomaterials at the atomic level, as well as assembling the nanoparticle building blocks into thin films and bulk solids for better energy conversion and exotic physical properties.

Thang Ba Hoang, PhD | Tailoring light-matter interactions at the nanoscale for new generation of high efficiency optoelectronics

  March 5, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Tuan Trinh

Affiliation: University of Memphis

About the Speaker: Dr. Thang Hoang is an Associate Professor of Physics, Undergraduate Academic Advisor at the University of Memphis (UofM), Tennessee. He received his PhDdegree in Physics from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to joining the UofM he was a research fellow of the Norwegian Research Council, European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7) on Quantum Integrated Photonic Networks, and a research scientist at Duke University, NC. Dr. Hoang is an experimentalist with a broad research interest in the areas of materials science and nanophotonics. He uses various spectroscopic techniques to explore optical and electronic properties of materials at reduced dimensions as well as fundamental properties of light-matter interaction at the nanoscale where nanomaterials are integrated with optical platforms. His research is sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Health (NIH), Oak Ridge National Lab and by the University of Memphis, TN. His publication profile can be viewed from Google Scholar.

David Wampler, PhD | From Biochemistry to Blood Transfusion – Not All Career Paths are Linear

  March 19, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Scott Ensign

Affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 

About the Speaker: After earning his paramedic certification in 1992, David Wampler, PhD, LP, FAEMS, started his career as a firefighter/paramedic with the City of Kerrville Fire Department. During his 10 years there, he also served as an instructor in the paramedic program with UT Health San Antonio and earned his BS in Biochemistry at Schreiner University. Following his time in Kerrville he attended Utah State University where he studied under Prof. Scott Ensign and was awarded a PhD in Biochemistry. Dr. Wampler then returned to Texas, doing a 2-year research Fellowship at UTSA studying bioinorganic enzymology. He now serves as a tenured full Professor in the Department of Emergency Health Sciences at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. His primary role is Director of Clinical Research for the Office of the EMS Medical Director and as Clinical Training Officer for the San Antonio Fire Department. Wampler is an internationally recognized researcher, author, editor and speaker. He is also a father of two athletes – one at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and one high school junior – both are athlete throwers of shot put and discus.

Makail Lunt | Decoding Biology to Radically Improve Lives - A Closer Look at Recursion

  March 26, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Ryan Jackson

Affiliation: Recursion

About the Speaker: Cache Valley native Makail Lunt earned the USU Presidential Award and a Bachelor’s in Biological Engineering from Utah State University. While at USU, she participated in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and outreach initiatives like GEAR UP, promoting Science and Engineering to underrepresented groups. As a Shingo Club member, she gained valuable continuous improvement training.

Makail is now a Senior Research Associate at Recursion, where she works on projects related to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and process development. Her work has been instrumental in key Recursion partnerships, and she continues to develop new cell lines and starting material for maps of Biology with the potential to discover treatments for patients with neuron-related diseases.

CHEM 4890 Research Presentations

  April 2, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Contact: Sean Johnson

More info to be announced.

CHEM 4890 Research Presentations

  April 9, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Contact: Sean Johnson

More info to be announced.

Luisa Whittaker-Brooks, PhD | Defects Chemistry as a Design Parameter to Enable Functional Electronics

  April 16, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  ESLC 046 

Host: Tuan Trinh

Affiliation: University of Utah

About the Speaker: Luisa Whittaker-Brooks is the John A. Widtsoe Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah. Her research centers on the design of well-defined hybrid materials with controlled morphology and interfaces that serve as conduits for deterministic and coherent energy and charge transfer for applications in energy conversion, storage, and electronics. Dr. Whittaker-Brooks received her BS degree in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Panama. Under a Fulbright Fellowship, she received her MS and PhD degrees in Materials Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University. She was the recipient of the 2013 L’Oréal Fellowship for Women in Science Award and the 2015 Marion Milligan Mason Award for Women in the Chemical Sciences administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She was named a Scialog and Cottrell Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), a Talented 12 by C&En news, and a GERA Ovshinsky Energy Fellow by the American Physical Society (APS). She is also the recipient of a Department of Energy Early Career Award and a Sloan Fellowship in Chemistry. She was also awarded the Outstanding Early Career Investigator by the Materials Research Society and the Rising Star award by the American Chemistry Society Women’s committee.

Rachel Curry | Lab Safety Training Refresher

  April 23, 2025  |  4:00 p.m.  |  Zoom

Lab safety training refresher course by USU Department of Environmental Health & Safety for graduate students, faculty, and staff. 

Contact Samantha Christenson at samantha.christenson@usu.edu with questions.