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AREAS OF RESEARCH:
Analytical Chemistry
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Bioenergy and the Environment
Biophysics
Chemical Biology
Inorganic Chemistry
Materials and Nanoscience
Metabolism, Aging and Development
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Structural and Computational Biology
Systems Biology and Biological Regulation
Theory and Computational Chemistry
607 Charles E. Young Drive EastLos Angeles, CA 90095-1569Tel: 310.825.3958www.chemistry.ucla.edu
chemistry and biochemistry today
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 1
welcome to our department
exciting, engaging, and appropriate so that incoming first-
year students feel, “I can do this!” To that end, resources
including our brand new organic chemistry labs and
forthcoming Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory in
the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry will provide
students of all levels space to spark new ideas by studying
and working together.
A positive student experience results in alumni passionate
about giving back, and we are proud that our department
has so many generous alumni. And there are so many ways
to give back! Graduates of our department return faithfully
to share their advice and professional guidance with current
students, such as those in our Careers in Chemistry &
Biochemistry course. (“Alumni Give Back” on pages 6 & 7.)
Awards and fellowships made possible by our donors
recognize and develop the strengths of our students in
research and teaching. These awards have a big impact
on a burgeoning resume or CV. In many cases, it’s hard to
choose who receives an award! This was a big impetus
for the development of new funds like the Daniel E. Atkinson
& Charles A. West Prizes in Metabolic Biochemistry.
Given the depth of our faculty and the opportunities they
present for graduate students to expand their research
prowess, we’re hoping to develop more graduate student
fellowships. Right now, gifts have an even greater impact
thanks to a departmental match made possible by funds from
the patent of a compound developed by organic chemistry
professor Dr. Michael Jung, whose work led to the life-saving
prostate cancer medication Xtandi. Our donor funds enable
us to welcome prospective students on visits, help us recruit,
support our seminar series, and provide for endowed
lectures to bring innovative visitors to campus.
As chair, I am proud to introduce you to all that
makes up the Department of Chemistry &
Biochemistry at UCLA. For almost 100 years, we
have been a department driven by the possibilities of
breaking through boundaries to improve quality of life,
create cutting-edge collaborations, and defy expectations
about who can study science and how they learn.
This publication is a glimpse of the life-changing work
being done within our department, from providing emerging
undergraduate scientists with hands-on research opportu-
nities to connecting our faculty’s scientific discoveries to
commercial fulfillment.
Visions for our department encompass initiatives that offer
students the highest quality faculty, curriculum, facilities,
and research opportunities; support a pipeline that channels
research out of our labs and into the commercial sector
to improve quality of life; and provide outreach to the next
generation of students and the public at large.
A career in science begins with a transformative undergraduate
experience. Our dynamic faculty connect with our youngest
students to hone their curiosity and develop their talents.
Further expanding our educational reach is the Departmental
Teacher-Scholar program, whereby recent graduate students
from institutions across the country are selected for a
competitive residency program that combines educational
instruction and research. For undergraduates, the immediate
connection of being taught by a recent Ph.D. graduate is a
significant inspiration. (“Empowering Undergraduates” on
pages 2 & 3.)
For those thousands of undergrads who begin their
exploration of chemistry with us, we want our labs to be
21000MORE THAN
UNDERGRADS ENROLL IN OUR CLASSES EACH YEAR
7.6
STUDENT EVALUATIONS OF INSTRUCTORS AVERAGE
ON A SCALE OF 9.0
Generous supporters have established six new endowed
chairs that recognize the contributions of some of our
terrifically talented faculty. These chairs allow us to retain
and recruit the very best faculty. (“The Impact of Giving”
on pages 8 & 9.)
We aim to make the science that we do accessible to a
wide audience. Greater understanding, appreciation,
and support begin with giving K-12 students access to
scientific education. Our faculty and students excel in
the kind of off-campus outreach that sparks an interest
that can last a lifetime, cultivating forthcoming genera-
tions of students who then become scientists. (“Making
Science Accessible” on pages 12 & 13.)
One thing that I think is really phenomenal about the
department is the number and the diversity of the under-
graduate majors that we have. This is a hallmark of UCLA.
More than 50% of our undergraduate majors are women,
astonishing for a STEM field. We’re getting a cohort of
students from Hispanic backgrounds, and students who
are the first in their families to attend college. UCLA as
a public institution is doing a great job in this regard, and
we want to make it even better by continuing to make
our teaching accessible so that everyone does well.
Whether you are a curious visitor or a prospective
student, postdoc, or faculty member, we welcome you
to learn more about the remarkable people who make
up our department and are the heart of the life-changing
work being conducted daily in our classrooms and labs. u
Catherine F. Clarke, Professor and Chair,
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
2 PH.D. PROGRAMS:
Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology (BMSB)
Chemistry
CHEMISTRY PH.D. SPECIALIZATIONS:
Analytical/Instrumentation
Biophysics
Chemical Biology
Inorganic
Materials
Organic
Physical
Theory and Computation
8
KEY ROLES IN MULTIPLE CENTERS AND INSTITUTES AT UCLA, INCLUDING:
California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)
Center for Biological Physics (CBP)
Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCB)
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC)
Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics
UCLA-Department of Energy (DOE) Institute for Genomics and Proteomics (IGP)
Industry Research
Tracking the success of our Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology (BMSB) Ph.D. alumni helps us monitor the success of our graduate programs and stay in touch with our successful alumni. Active Chemistry and BMSB faculty tracked their Ph.D. alumni (1981-2016) N = 736. (Out of 776, 40 were unknown).
Where areour Alumni?
37%
6%
11%
20%
3%1%
12%
3% 7%
Teaching at College/University
Research at University/Government Lab
Academic Research & Teaching
Law/Patent/Financial
Consulting
Postdoctoral Research
Medical/Healthcare Other
“One thing that is really phenomenal
about the department is the number
and the diversity of the undergraduate
majors that we have.“
The UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry is the home
of 2018 Robert Foster Cherry Award recipient Prof. Neil Garg,
who received one of the nation’s highest commendations for great
teaching and its $250,000 prize.
2 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 3
THE BOYER/CRAM/LIBBY POSTDOCTORAL TEACHER-SCHOLAR PROGRAM
Our Boyer/Cram/Libby Postdoctoral Teacher-Scholars teach undergraduate chemistry or biochemistry courses each academic year while conducting post-doctoral research with a sponsoring faculty member. The positions honor UCLA Chemistry and Biochem-istry Department Nobel Laureates Paul D. Boyer, Donald J. Cram, and Willard F. Libby.
1. Shuming Chen / B.A. in chemistry, Grinnell College; Ph.D. in organic chemistry, Yale University • Research on the elucidation of mechanisms for stereoselective chemical transformations with Prof. Ken Houk.
2. Jacquelin Kammeyer / B.A. in biochemistry, Indiana University; Ph.D. in chemistry, University of California, San Diego • Research on development of protein polymer conjugates for the stabilization of therapeutic proteins with Prof. Heather Maynard.
3. Zhao Li / B.S. in polymer science, Sichuan University; Ph.D. in physical chemistry, UCLA • Research on early cancer detection and targeted therapy by magnetic resonance molecular imaging and nano theranostics with Prof. Yung-Ya Lin.
4. Rachel Prado / B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry, University of Alabama-Birmingham • Research on conjugating nanodiamonds with different functional groups, peptides and proteins, as well as characteriza-tion of nanodiamond surface chemistry, with Prof. Louis Bouchard.
5. Roshini Ramachandran / B.S. in chemistry, Madras University; master’s in applied chemistry, Anna University; Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens • Research on 2D and 3D hybrid boron-rich polymers with Prof. Alex Spokoyny.
1 2 3 4 5
empowering undergraduates
Not only is summer research experience typically one of the
most meaningful parts of an undergraduate education, it
also enables students to pursue science research rather than
having to accept a summer job in an unrelated field. For many
students, experiencing research in a lab is a real game-changer
– many who previously thought they were headed to pharmacy,
medical, or dental school realize how exciting research is and
begin to consider research as a career. By conducting research
during the summer, students gain skills that help them in their
lab courses, and, as a result, they excel in classes they may
have previously dreaded. They develop a network of friends
and colleagues who can be very helpful when looking for
employment and discovering other opportunities.
HOSTING VISITING UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARS
Each summer, our faculty host visiting undergraduate
scholars from local community colleges and universities
and from colleges from around the world through summer
research programs and international exchange programs.
For eight to ten weeks the students work with UCLA faculty,
graduate students, and postdocs to experience first-hand
the excitement of conducting academic research in Bruin
labs. Their visits culminate with a summer research program
poster session.
In 2015, we began to participate in the University of California
-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (UC-HBCU)
Initiative and since then have hosted more than 16 HBCU
students for summer research. The goal of the visiting
summer researcher programs is to introduce bright under-
graduates to UCLA, give them an opportunity to engage in
ground-breaking science, prepare them for graduate school,
and attract them back for their graduate research.
UCLA CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY UNDERGRAD-UATES MENTORED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Summer is not the only time that undergraduates conduct
research in faculty labs. On average, we have 100 undergrad-
uates conducting research in our faculty labs throughout
the year. These students are one of our most valuable assets.
After graduating, many are accepted to our Ph.D. programs
so that they can continue their research. u
Each year, thousands of undergraduate students come
through chemistry and biochemistry
classes, making our department one of the most
visited departments on campus with a big impact on
the student experience.
STATE-OF-THE-ART UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH LABORATORIES
One of the department’s key goals is to increase our enroll-
ment capacities so that we can provide a greater opportunity
for students to take challenging classes that are necessary
preparation for their future professional endeavors. Funding
from the UCLA Chancellor’s office helped renovate our two
lower division organic laboratories. 24 new state-of-the-art
glass 360-degree visibility hoods now provide undergraduate
students with a safe, cutting-edge educational experience.
The renovations support innovative new undergraduate
laboratory curricula developed by Profs. Neil Garg and Hosea
Nelson. Graduate students Lucas Morrill (Garg laboratory) and
Alex Bagdasarian (Nelson laboratory) played key roles in de-
signing experiments for the revamped courses. The courses
are being co-taught with and further enhanced by Teacher-
Scholars Dr. Jacquelin Kammeyer and Dr. Shuming Chen.
LIFE-CHANGING SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
Our undergraduate summer research fellowship program
offers UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry undergraduates the
opportunity to carry out research with a chemistry or bio-
chemistry faculty mentor during the summer. These fellow-
ships are made possible thanks to the support of our alumni
and friends. Thanks to increased donor support, 25 of these
students received departmental summer fellowships in 2017.
This was almost double what we have had in previous years.
SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOW SPOTLIGHT
“My summer internship allowed me to distinguish the
difference between being a student and being a sci-
entist,” said Omar Ebrahim, an undergraduate student
studying chemistry and materials science with a focus
in organics, who conducted summer research in Prof.
Heather Maynard’s laboratory. “There is a tremendous
difference between learning from a textbook and ac-
tually struggling with the enigmatic mess that inhabits
the flasks within my chemical fume hood. My research has been difficult to define, but that
struggle has allowed me to truly develop my identity as a researcher, someone who tries
to give definition to something unknown instead of simply memorizing existing definitions.
Without the help of my department and the Raymond & Dorothy Wilson Foundation, I
would still be lost as an intellectual.”
“Mentoring Omar has been fantastic,” said Ebrahim’s mentor graduate student Marco
Messina. “He is a hard-working undergraduate researcher who has his hands in many
different projects, which has enabled him to gain a wide-ranging skill set. His growth as a
researcher in the chemical sciences has been exponential – I am proud to witness this first-
hand. Omar is involved in research at the interface of polymer chemistry, synthetic organic
chemistry, and organometallic chemistry and is developing methods and tools which can
be utilized in a variety of fields. As we are currently preparing a manuscript, Omar even has
his first publication submission to look forward to in the coming months!”
Above: In the newly renovated
undergraduate organic
chemistry laboratory, Prof. Hosea
Nelson (center) demonstrates
the new hood to undergraduate
students Michelle Musso (left)
and Jaha McClean (right).
Left: Biochemistry undergraduate
student Emma Carley (right)
conducts research year-round in
the laboratory of Prof. Margot
Quinlan. She discussed her
research with lab mate graduate
student Aanand Patel.
At a poster session for
visiting summer researchers,
University of California-
Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (UC-HBCU)
scholar Norman Harris II of
Howard University explained
his work in the Houk
laboratory to Prof. Albert
Courey, associate dean for
diversity, equity, and
inclusion in the UCLA
Division of Physical Sciences.
24 new state-of-the-art glass 360-
degree visibility hoods now provide
undergraduate students with a safe,
cutting-edge educational experience.
Above: Raymond and
Dorothy Wilson
Undergraduate Summer
Research Fellow Omar
Ebrahim (left) with
graduate student mentor
Marco Messina (right),
both in Prof. Heather
Maynard’s laboratory.
4 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 5
Long before 2017, when he arrived
at UCLA and was named one of the
year’s SN 10 by Science News, Chong
Liu was inspired by his high school chem-
istry teacher. “He really motivated me. In
addition, he taught me how to play bridge,”
he says with a chuckle.
Liu earned his B.S. in chemistry from Fudan
University in China and a Ph.D. from Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley. While pursuing
the combination of his inorganic training
with nanosystems and microbiology during
a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, Liu
helped to develop inorganic-bio hybrid
systems that removed carbon dioxide from
the air ten times more efficiently than plants.
At UCLA, Liu is looking forward to collabo-
rating with his UCLA peers across research
boundaries. He is also eager to connect
first-generation college students like
himself with opportunities.
That bridge-playing role model gave Liu
a strong belief in the power of teaching
and the responsibility to reach out to and
educate the public as well as students, “and
not isolate,” he says. “In the end, it’s part of
the reason we do science – to translate our
research into something useful for society.”
https://cliulab.com
Chong Liu“Part of the reason
we do science
[is] to translate
our research into
something useful
for society.”
a new generation
At the crossroads of studying light, developing custom
instruments, and materials chemistry is Justin Caram,
who focuses on how materials absorb or emit light, and
ways that capacity can be used to develop new technologies from
solar cells to imaging inside living tissue.
When Caram interviewed with the department before formally
joining, graduate student Hannah Friedman was excited about his
research. “He gave his pitch and I was like, sold! I didn’t realize how
interested I was in [physical chemistry] until I heard him talk about it.”
Caram received his bachelor’s degree at Harvard and his Ph.D.
from University of Chicago before heading to the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology for a postdoctoral fellowship. Describing
how teaching students is his favorite part of the job, he says,
“I enjoy going over the math and science and all these different
concepts and trying to download everything I know to them.”
Caram calls upon his own background when helping students find
their way. As an undergraduate, he drifted between majors from
humanities to psychology before falling in love with chemistry.
“My goal is to turn them into scientists and give them enough that
they can go out and try to understand what they’re looking at.” u
https://justincaram.me
Justin Caram
José Rodríguez
When José Rodríguez was named a 2017 Searle Scholar
and 2017 Beckman Young Investigator, and awarded
funding for probing molecular structures at the atomic
scale, the Mexican-born son of migrant workers was grateful for yet
another opportunity to give back.
“Coming here and having all these opportunities, one on top of the
other, getting educated, I feel like I owe a ton to this society,” he says.
While pursuing an undergraduate degree, Ph.D., and postdoctoral
fellowship at UCLA, he found himself surrounded by passionate sci-
entists with a clear vision. They provided the motivation and bigger
picture perspective that keeps one going beyond setbacks – exact-
ly what Rodríguez decided he wanted to share when he became a
professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department.
His lab works on refining tools with the potential to help cure
neurodegenerative diseases and make research more accessible for
scientists around the world, and his door is always open to students
from all circumstances, whether they have research experience or
not. Rodríguez says that has never stopped anybody. “If a great idea
can come from anywhere, that means anyone is capable of coming
up with great ideas.” u
http://rodriguez.chem.ucla.edu
“My goal is to turn
[students] into
scientists and give
them enough that they
can go out and try to
understand what
they’re looking at.”
of teaching
His door is always open to
students from all circumstances,
whether they have research
experience or not.
Hosea Nelson
Within two years of joining the Chemistry & Biochemistry
faculty in 2015, Hosea Nelson and the graduate students
in his organic chemistry lab had their first publication in
Science. Their breakthrough turns light hydrocarbons like methane
into more complex molecules, which could cheaply turn waste from
oil and gas production into useful, safer end products.
Nelson credits the innovation to his students, whom he calls adventure-
some risk takers, adding, “That’s good for science, in my opinion.”
Chemical & Engineering News named him one of their Talented 12
for his own scientific daring.
The former high school drop-out stumbled across chemistry while
sampling community college classes to discover a vocation. He
worked his way through City College of San Francisco, then transferred
to University of California, Berkeley, for his undergraduate degree.
A Ph.D. followed at California Institute of Technology.
Now, he’s committed to helping his students grow into problem solvers,
both in the sciences and society. The newly-lauded 2018 Sloan Research
Fellow and 2017 Packard Fellow – recognized as one of the nation’s most
innovative early-career scientists and engineers – decided to come to
UCLA because of the broad scope of communities he’s able to reach out
to as an educator.
“I got really lucky,” he says. “I want to get to the point where I
can contribute.”
www.thenelsonlab.com
Chemical &
Engineering News
named Nelson
one of their Talented
12 for his own
scientific daring.
The latest Chemistry &
Biochemistry hires are ready
to inspire and empower the
next generation of scientists.
Biology. Chemistry. Nanoscience. Photo-
physics. Ellen Sletten – John McTague Career
Development Chair in Chemistry & Biochem-
istry and 2018 Sloan Research Fellow – brings it all
together in her lab. Students, too, are drawn from
across disciplines by her work with fluorinated
materials that create better ways for physicians to
identify disease sites so as to eliminate them with
precision while leaving healthy tissue alone.
Sletten, who received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from
the University of California, Berkeley, and was an
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, has very intentionally filled
her year-and-a-half old lab with students of all
levels. “My undergraduate research experiences
were critical for my path to graduate school,”
she says. “Without that, I would not be where I
am. It’s natural to want to be able to provide that
experience for others.”
“I really appreciate that Ellen has gone every step
of the way with us since we got to the lab,” says
graduate student Rachael Day. Summer graduate
researcher Shreya Patel added, “There aren’t
many professors who are female, so it helps a lot
because one day I want to be a professor. It’s nice
to have that role model.”
http://sletten.chem.ucla.edu/
Ellen Sletten
“My undergraduate research
experiences were critical ...
[I] want ... to provide that experience for others.”
6 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA
Dr. Audree Fowler received
her B.S. in chemistry from
UCLA in 1956 and was one
of the first women to receive
a Ph.D. in biochemistry at
UCLA in 1963. Since she
retired as director of the
UCLA Protein Micro-
sequencing Facility, she
has been a loyal supporter
of the department and our
students. “The sciences
gave me a great life”, Fowler
explained. “Now I want to
help others have access
to the same opportunities
I enjoyed.” In 2008, an
endowment from Fowler
established the Audree
Fowler Fellows in Protein
Science for Ph.D. students
in Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, the
Molecular Biology Interde-
partmental Ph.D. Program,
and Biological Chemistry.
Each year, three recipients
are presented with awards
of $5,000 each and they
present their research at the
Annual Molecular Biology
Institute Retreat.
Alumnus Dr. Rafael Ortiz,
intellectual property manag-
er at Michelman, Inc., helped
establish the Organization
of Cultural Diversity in
Science (OCDS) at UCLA in
2006. OCDS is a graduate
student-run group which
promotes cultural diversity
in the sciences to enrich
the educational experience
of our underrepresented
students and provide them
with networking oppor-
tunities that may impact
their careers. OCDS was the
brainchild of Ortiz and Prof.
Miguel García-Garibay, now
dean of the UCLA Division
of Physical Sciences. Thanks
to Ortiz’s efforts, Proctor
& Gamble, the company
he was working with at the
time, supported OCDS and
helped it become a thriving
organization on campus
providing much needed
support to hundreds of
students. OCDS organizes
community college outreach
events and a lecture series
featuring speakers from
traditionally underrepre-
sented backgrounds across
the sciences – many of
whom are were members
of OCDS during their time
at UCLA.
In 2016, alumna Dr. Elinne
Becket, a scientist with Zymo
Research Corporation,
arranged for her company
to sponsor the Zymo
Research Fellowship for
undergraduate biochemistry
major Cyrus Y. Jin which
made it possible for Jin to
conduct research in the lab
of Prof. Steven Clarke. Jin
graduated in June 2017, and
he joined the Biological
and Biomedical Sciences
(BBS) Ph.D. program at the
Harvard Medical School in
August of 2017.
ALUMNI MAKING A DIFFERENCEalumni give back
afternoon seminars, Biochemistry, Molecular and
Structural Biology (BMSB) alumni return to UCLA to give
a seminar about their career paths, followed by a Q&A
and reception. These seminars are open to the public, so
anyone may drop in to hear about the experience of a
working biochemistry professional.
Many of our alumni work in industry, such as those at
Amgen, and arrange research internships for our students.
These internships oftentimes lead to career opportunities
for our students once they graduate. Our alumni have
also arranged for their companies to sponsor lecture
series and summer fellowships for our undergraduate
students. Thanks to their continued relationship with the
department, many of our alumni hire our graduates to
work for their organizations. u
From top, left to right: Dr. Christina Baker, Global Materials
Technology Manager, PPG Aerospace; Dr. Gavin Jones,
Research Staff member, IBM Research-Almaden; Blanca
Moreno, Chemistry Lead Lab Technician, Santa Monica
College; Dr. Nohjin Park, Medical Science Liaison, Sirtex
Medical Limited; Dr. Tanya Kruse, Head of Manufacturing
Sciences-Fractionation, Shire; Dr. Elinne Becket, Scientist,
Zymo Research Corporation.
A positive student experience at UCLA results in
alumni who are passionate about giving back.
Each quarter, UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry alumni
support our students and share one of their most valuable
assets – their time.
Since 2015, the Careers in Chemistry & Biochemistry (Chem
147) course for undergraduate students has brought more than
50 alumni – including an astronaut, a patent lawyer, a craft
beer brewer, and many teachers and research scientists – back
to UCLA to share candid revelations about what they would
have done differently and what values result in success. Alumni
love returning to interact with our students and to share their
wisdom! In fact, these interactions have turned into even more
opportunities for students when our alumni work with their
employers to sponsor research fellowships, or when soon-to-
be graduates are recruited for positions at a company by the
UCLA alumni who work there.
The seminars are followed by a Q&A and a reception
where students gain experience networking with the
speakers, faculty, and fellow students – a skill essential for
professional development.
A similar series geared towards biochemistry Ph.D.
students and hosted by the Graduate Biochemistry Student
Association (gBSA) debuted in 2017. At these summer
From top, left to right: Dr. Bruce Morimoto, Vice President, Scientific
Affairs, Celerion; Dr. Sehat Nauli, Professor, Physical Sciences
Department, Santa Monica College; Dr. Anna Lee Fisher, former
NASA astronaut who flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on
mission STS-51A; Lindsay Keever, Associate Director, Alliance
and Contracts Management, Calico Life Sciences; Dr. Tracy Blois,
Director of Alliance Management, Amgen; Dr. Rusty Blanski, Senior
Research Chemist, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory; Dr. Mel
Sahyun, Editor, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology; Cynthia
Ma, Chemistry and Physics Teacher, Green Dot Public Schools;
Alexis Lieberman, Account Sales Executive, Spectrum Chemical
Manufacturing Corporation; Dr. Tanya Petrossian, CEO of Endo-
Cyclic Therapeutics, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Entrepreneur
in Residence (EIR), Principal at Building Blocks Advisory Group;
Dr. Gary Fujii, Board of Directors, Southern California Biomedical
Council and President/CEO Molecular GPS Technologies; Kevin
Ogilby, co-owner Progress Brewing, South El Monte; Dr. Marisa
Joubert, Principal Scientist/Group Leader, Amgen.
@For a complete list
of all the Careers
in Chemistry
and Biochem-
istry speakers,
please visit www.
chem.ucla.edu/
Chem147/.
Each quarter,
UCLA Chemistry
& Biochemistry
alumni support
our students
and share one
of their most
valuable assets
– their time.
Left: Fowler (center) with
the 2016 Audree Fowler
Fellows in Protein Science,
then biochemistry graduate
students Dr. Brendan Amer
(Ph.D. ’17, Clubb group)
and Dr. Jeff Vinokur
(Ph.D. ’17, Bowie group).
Middle: Dr. Rafael Ortiz;
Right: Prof. Steven Clarke
(left) with Cyrus Y. Jin (right).
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 7
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 9
the impactof giving
8 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA
NEW ENDOWED CHAIRS
Generous supporters have established six new endowed chairs that recognize the
contributions of some of our terrifically talented faculty. These chairs allow us to retain
and recruit the very best faculty to teach and mentor our students.
Dr. Myung Ki Hong Endowed Chairs Founder and President of
Dura Coat Products, Inc. and 2015 Alumni Award recipient, Dr. Hong
established the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Endowed Chair in Materials
Innovation and the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Endowed Chair in Polymer
Science. His gift will help UCLA for years to come by supporting
teaching and innovative research activities.
Michael and Alice Jung Endowed Chair in Medicinal Chemistry
and Drug Discovery Prof. Michael Jung and his wife Alice
established the endowed chair to support a faculty member who is
conducting research to produce new, life-saving drugs. Prof. Jung
was part of the team that developed the drug Xtandi which has
proved effective for treating late-stage prostate cancer.
John D. and Edith M. Roberts Endowed Term Chair in Chemistry
The endowed chair was established in 2017 in memory of Prof. John
“Jack” D. Roberts and his wife Edith by his family, friends, and
faculty. Prof. Roberts was an exemplary alumnus of the department
and a renowned chemist. The chair will support a faculty member in
organic chemistry and future lectures.
Kenneth N. Trueblood Chair for Excellence in Research and
Teaching The endowed chair was established in 2017 by the estate
of Prof. Kenneth Trueblood and his wife Jean. Prof. Trueblood was
a leading scientist and teacher at UCLA for whom the Kenneth
Trueblood lecture hall is named, and his wife Jean was an active
member of the UCLA community for decades.
Jeffrey and Helo Zink Endowed Professional Development Term
Chair in Chemistry Established with a gift from Prof. Jeff Zink and
his wife Helo, this term chair will foster young faculty starting their
careers at UCLA and help the department recruit and retain the best
faculty for years to come.
New avenues of giving have been established to fund
teaching and research awards by which we recognize
the excellence of our faculty and students. They include
the Daniel E. Atkinson & Charles A. West Prizes in Metabolic
Biochemistry. These awards are named in honor of the
two UCLA chemistry faculty members who were largely
responsible for the development of biochemistry within
the department: Prof. Daniel Atkinson and Prof. Charles A.
West. The Atkinson West Prizes award excellence among
undergraduate and graduate students. This fund also
supports summer research fellowships in departmental
chemistry and biochemistry faculty labs for undergraduate
and graduate students.
How do gifts from our alumni
and friends sustain the pulse of
our thriving department?
THE DANIEL E. ATKINSON & CHARLES A. WEST PRIZES IN METABOLIC BIOCHEMISTRY
They translate into resources that help us serve our students and
community. They allow us to welcome prospective students at
recruitment weekends. They support our recruitment efforts for faculty, stu-
dents, and postdocs. They inspire young scientists with fellowships that make under-
graduate summer research possible. These gifts from our generous alumni and friends
also enable us to recruit top scientists to our seminar series and endowed lectures and
to create prestigious endowed chairs.
Susan BaumgartenMani L. BhaumikRavi and Aparna BikkinaEstate of Todd BlumenkopfRobert C. and Mae R. CarterMary Ellen FriedmanAtsuko and Akira FujimotoRobin L. GarrellWilliam and Nina GelbartAgi Hirshberg Myung and Lorrie HongKendall N. HoukMichael E. and Alice M. Jung
Jack and Leslie N. KavanaughCharles and Carolyn KnoblerFrank B. and Clelia W. MalloryBruce H. and Joy K. MorimotoPhyllis ParvinEmil and Hanna ReislerThe Family of John D. and Edith M. RobertsRalph and Shirley ShapiroKaren and William TimberlakeEstate of Lorraine H. and Masuo TojiJim and Barbara TsayEstate of Jean T. and Kenneth N. TruebloodGeorge M. and Barbara Whitesides
Raymond A. and Dorothy A. WilsonDongwon YooJeffrey and Helo Zink
*As of print date. Visit www.chemistry.ucla.edu/ our-donors for the most up-to-date list of donors.
For more information about
The Centennial Campaign for UCLA
visit www.lettherebe.ucla.edu/.
DONORS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY WHO HAVE GIVEN $25K+ SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE UCLA CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN*
THE MANI L. BHAUMIK CENTENNIAL COLLABORATORY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY
The new Mani L. Bhaumik Chemistry & Biochemistry Centennial Collaboratory is
made possible by a generous gift from former UCLA postdoctoral fellow, physicist,
and bestselling author Dr. Mani L. Bhaumik and will be the heart of student life in the
department, providing students and faculty with a much-needed lecture hall, private meeting
and tutoring rooms, and a fully-equipped study lounge. The Collabo-
ratory will be located on the fourth floor of Young Hall (previously the
department library) where 6,500 square feet of open space is being
renovated to enhance the UCLA experience for thousands of young
Bruins who rely on courses provided by the department.
We are thrilled to announce that contributions have already been made to this
new space from the following generous donors:
Dongwon Yoo
Jim and Barbara Tsay
Atsuko and Akira Fujimoto
Raymond and Dorothy Wilson
Karen and William Timberlake
The Collaboratory is a big endeavor requiring much support and we welcome your help.
For more information about how you can be a part of this critical new space, including
naming opportunities and recognition on the donor wall, please contact the Chair’s office at
(310) 825-3958, chair@chem.ucla.edu. u
The Collaboratory will
be the heart of student life
in the department...
Above: (from left) Recipients of the 2017 Daniel E. Atkinson and
Charles A. West Biochemistry Undergraduate Prizes in Metabolic
Biochemistry, Nguyen Pham ‘17 and Jason Gosschalk M.S. ’17, with
Department Chair Prof. Catherine Clarke, and fund supporters Joy
Morimoto and Dr. Bruce Morimoto.
MATCHING FUNDS
The Department is matching all endowments
of $100,000 or more on a one-to-one basis,
while funds last, ensuring even greater support
for generations of students and educators. Join
us in this investment by contacting the Chair’s
office at (310) 825-3958, chair@chem.ucla.edu.
10 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 11
commercializinginnovation
Prof. Richard Kaner’s work is addressing one of the world’s most critical
needs: clean water. He developed a membrane, PolyCera®, that is
capable of cleaning the dirtiest waters, whether for industrial reuse
or household drinking. With the separation properties of an expensive
ceramic membrane and the low-cost and scalability of a polymer
membrane, PolyCera® is hydrophilic and resists fouling unlike all other
commercial membranes.
Kaner, who is the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Endowed Chair in Materials
Innovation, co-founded PolyCera®, Inc. and sold it to Water Planet Inc.,
which uses PolyCera® membranes in installations all over the world.
From oilfields in California and Texas, to household water filters in India
and automotive manufacturing operations in China, PolyCera® cleans up
wastewater for clean drinking, safe environmental discharge and direct
recycling. PolyCera® membranes work wherever oil and water meet,
including machine shops and contaminated water from oil fracking.
PolyCera®’s easy-to-clean ultrafiltration membranes are five to ten times
less expensive than ceramic membranes and can treat waters that are
impossible for commercial polymer membranes. It’s a truly affordable
and accessible game changer.
After many years of carrying out basic research into new materials, Kaner
is encouraged by the end result. “It’s exhilarating to work with talented
students on converting our basic research on new materials into products
that improve everyone’s quality of life,” he says. u
Richard Kaner
Heather Maynard
The demand for better batteries is huge, and a
technology developed by Prof. Sarah Tolbert
is delivering exciting improvements on these power
sources we use in so many ways every single day.
Tolbert and Prof. Bruce Dunn of UCLA’s Department of Materials Science and
Engineering have developed nanostructured pseudocapacitors – materials
that combine battery – and capacitor-like properties in a single technology.
In what Tolbert refers to as “battery Swiss cheese”, hole-ridden nanomaterials
are filled with a liquid electrolyte containing lithium ions. Because the lithium
containing liquid fills the holes, it does not have to move as far within the
battery material itself. That motion of lithium in the solid battery material is
one of the key sluggish steps that makes conventional batteries charge slowly.
In short, this technology allows the batteries we all know now to charge in a
fraction of the time, but unlike traditional supercapacitors, they have similar
capacity to standard batteries – meaning you could potentially recharge your
dead cell phone in a matter of minutes, rather than hours.
“When assembled into an energy storage device, these materials would
enable consumer electronics devices to be charged in just a few minutes,”
Tolbert explains.
There’s no arguing that everyone appreciates batteries that charge quickly –
and the faster they are, the more uses people can find for them.
“One of the most obvious applications is electric vehicles,” Tolbert says. “If
you could charge the battery in the same amount of time that you fill it with
gasoline, then everybody could have an electric vehicle and you wouldn’t be
dependent on having a charging station in your house, or having a house.”
After a decade of refining these materials, Tolbert and Dunn recently helped
start a company called Battery Streak. The team is making prototypes for
potential commercial application and scale up, while also working to further
push the charging time down and to increase the power capacity (which can
sometimes be lost when charging time speeds up). Batteries for cell phones,
hearing aids, power tools, and of course electric cars may end up being posi-
tively affected by this exciting technology. u
[PolyProtek] is cheap
and easy to scale up
into the tons
required for feeding
commercial livestock.
Innovative solutions towards food production are needed to
support the growing world population. In particular, animal feed
enzymes are critical components that enable efficient livestock
production. However, these enzymes are often inactivated when
subjected to the high temperatures of feed pelleting processes.
It’s an issue for which Prof. Heather Maynard, Dr. Myung Ki Hong
Endowed Chair in Polymer Science, has an innovative solution.
Maynard and her group have shown that trehalose-based polymers
and hydrogels stabilize various proteins and enzymes to heat stress.
“We found that the three main animal feed enzymes used in farm
animal nutrition are stabilized by our trehalose hydrogel to the high
temperatures required to make the animal feed,” she says. “This,
combined with the efficient and scalable synthesis of the trehalose
hydrogel, makes the technology promising for enhancing food
production in the livestock industry.”
Stabilization means that livestock more easily breaks down feed. These
animals are traditionally fed slop that contains elements that their
digestive systems can’t break down. One solution has been to add
enzymes to kibble, which is also fed to the animals; these enzymes can
help break down those products for greater nutritional value. The
problem with that approach is that heat is required to make the kibble
and ensure it is free of pathogens like dangerous bacteria, and that
heat degrades the enzymes, making them virtually useless.
Maynard’s class of products, called PolyProtek, addresses this need for
stabilization in animal feed in a new way. It is cheap and easy to scale up
into the tons required for feeding commercial livestock.
More potential is out there for application of Maynard’s product. For
example, it might be able to increase water retention in soil during
drought conditions for crop production. The group’s demonstrated
stabilization of the important protein therapeutics insulin and glucagon
may help diabetics regulate glucose levels, and even more medical
applications are being tested. u
Xtandi has extended
the lives of
thousands of men ...
…addressing one
of the world’s most
critical needs:
clean water
From improving the way we live to saving lives, research by our
Chemistry & Biochemistry faculty comes out of labs and makes the
world a better place.
UCLA offers avenues for researchers to channel their ideas into practical
application. Powerful resources like the Division of Physical Sciences Entre-
preneurship and Innovation Fund support and encourage faculty as they
take their work out of their labs and to commercial partners who can drive
those scientific innovations to the marketplace – and, ultimately, all of us.
Sarah Tolbert
Prof. Michael Jung describes the moment he
knew they had the chemical compound he helped
develop to treat prostate cancer.
“It was supposed to be a four-year clinical trial, but [the
FDA] stopped it after two because the drug was so
good,” says the distinguished professor of chemistry.
“When we heard [the news], I was at the airport in Boston
and Charles Sawyers was in New York. We called each other
on our cell phones, shouting with joy.”
Where other treatments have failed, Xtandi has extended the lives of
thousands of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
Jung worked with Drs. Sawyers and Howard Scher of the Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center to develop the anti-androgen drug enzalutamide
(Xtandi), which received FDA approval in August 2012. The oral medication
inhibits the binding of androgens to the androgen receptor, the engine
of prostate cancer progression. Recently, Xtandi was shown to delay the
occurrence of metastases in earlier stage CRPC.
The first person treated with Xtandi in 2007 had been given only a few
months to live. He is still alive today.
UCLA sold a portion of its future Xtandi royalties to fund more research
programs that could result in similar discoveries. These funds also support
undergraduate scholarships and graduate study fellowships.
An experimental chemist, Jung knows that dogged persistence as well as luck
is needed to succeed in drug discovery. “You can work in the pharmaceutical
industry for 40 years and not get a drug on the market because it’s really hard.
There are so many things that can go wrong,” he says.
But sometimes they can go very right. A few years ago, Jung was in the
UCLA Faculty Center having lunch. A woman walked up to him and said,
“You’re Michael Jung. You’re the inventor of Xtandi!” She then hugged him.
Her husband was alive because of the drug. u
Editor’s Note: A second drug from Mike Jung’s lab, apalutamide or Erleada, was
approved by the FDA for nonmetastatic CRPC in February 2018. There will be more
about this excellent treatment for prostate cancer in our next edition.
Michael Jung
...you could potentially
recharge your dead cell
phone in a matter of
minutes, rather than hours.
12 CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA
making scienceaccessible
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT UCLA 13
Fueled by their own love of science, our faculty and
students bring chemistry and biochemistry out of the
lab and into the community. By visiting local schools and
organizations to give hands-on demonstrations of simple and
fun experiments, our faculty and students give young people
the opportunity to observe what we do first hand. This
community engagement opens a new world of possibilities to
curious minds and may lead some to pursue a career in science.
Many of our department’s faculty and students participate in
the Nanoscience Outreach Program, which Prof. Sarah Tolbert
has led for the past 15 years. They visit local schools and train
teachers how to conduct nanoscience experiments in their
classrooms, providing them with all the supplies needed to
perform the experiments. Each year new experiments are
developed by a dedicated team of graduate student and
postdoctoral volunteers in collaboration with Tolbert. These
same students run the teacher workshops. With hundreds of
teachers having completed this training, thousands of school
children each year are positively impacted by this outreach.
For more than 10 years, Prof. Carla Koehler and members of
her group have led an annual, week-long course in zebrafish
biology for second graders at Ivanhoe Elementary School.
The young scientists use stereomicroscopes to visualize brine
shrimp and developing embryos; they note the various organs
in the fish and enjoy watching the hearts beat and blood
flow. The students help set up matings during the week and
watch the embryos develop, noting the different stages. Like
real scientists, the students record their observations and
participate in a discussion about using model organisms to
understand human disease. The initiative shows how children
can become engaged through the experimental and observa-
tional process in science, regardless of academic level.
Reaching underserved communities is the goal of much of the
community engagement done by our faculty and students.
Our faculty and students take
great pride in sharing their love
of science with the community.
Prof. Alex Spokoyny is a faculty team member of the UCLA
Prison Education Program which focuses on improving
literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
among Southern California prison inmates.
Prof. Heather Maynard and her students regularly bring the
“Maynard Lab Traveling Science Road Show” to a local family
crisis center to demonstrate fun science experiments. They
also visit local Brownie and Girl Scout troops, while Prof. Ben
Schwartz works with local Boy Scouts to create activities that
help them earn their Chemistry Merit Badges.
Prof. Richard Kaner and his lab members visit local
elementary and high schools to give hands-on lectures about
polymers, semiconductors, and metals. Prof. Patrick Harran
teaches an introductory general chemistry course for
disadvantaged Los Angeles inner city students.
In addition, our faculty and students volunteer at the annual
Univision Feria de Educación, an event held at various
California State University campuses, which provides educa-
tional and college preparatory services, learning opportuni-
ties, and fun-filled family activities for the Latino community.
Many of the students and their families at the fair are from
underserved communities, especially in the areas of science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
Some of our outreach has gone global. An on-line tutorial,
BACON, created by Prof. Neil Garg and graduate student
volunteers, provides students and teachers from around
the world access to a free method of learning organic
chemistry which has consistently proven to increase test
scores. Instructor Dr. Laurence Lavelle developed and
maintains a free, widely used online chemistry community
which contains files, images, and videos.
Much of the department’s community outreach is done by
graduate and undergraduate students from our various student
organizations, including the Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE) fraternity,
the Biochemistry Association for Student Enrichment (Bio-
chemASE), the Chemistry & Biochemistry Graduate Student
Association (CBGSA), the Organization for Cultural Diversity
in Science (OCDS), and the Student Members of the American
Chemical Society (SMACS).
For example, each year SMACS and OCDS students volunteer
at a Science Slam at Warner Avenue Elementary School. The
students demonstrate experiments such as “floating candy
letters” (M&Ms in water) and “elephant’s toothpaste” (break-
down of hydrogen peroxide by potassium iodide) and talk to
the children about the science involved in the experiments.
The children are also given the opportunity to show off their
chemistry knowledge to win prizes. On average, more than 700
children and their parents attend the Science Slams each year!
Many of our student groups host on-campus tours for local
school children and community college students, giving them
the opportunity to observe first-hand experiments in the lab
and hear about the life of a UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry
graduate student through panel discussions. These dedicated
students also volunteer with the UCLA Advancing Women in
Science and Engineering (AWiSE) events at local elementary
and middle schools.
And finally, our department enthusiastically participates in
one of UCLA’s largest on-campus events of the year: Exploring
Your Universe, which brings thousands of children and parents
to campus to learn about the wonders of science through
demonstrations, exhibits, and hands-on activities.
These are just examples of the broad range of activities that
our students and faculty offer to the community. Visit www.
chem.ucla.edu/outreach/ to learn more. u
At a local elementary school, graduate
students demonstrate how to
make “elephant toothpaste”, a foamy
substance created by the rapid
decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
Two of many “thank you” notes sent
from 2nd graders to Prof. Carla Koehler
after her week-long course in zebrafish
biology at Ivanhoe Elementary School. COLORING CHEMISTRY
Children are also learning to love science thanks to outreach by our faculty and
students. Prof. Neil Garg and his two young daughters created an organic chemistry
coloring book showcasing the chemicals in common household items and foods.
Garg has donated hundreds of copies to the UCLA daycare center and Warner Avenue
Elementary School. The book is also available on Amazon and Amazon Europe. In the
photo above, children at the UCLA daycare center color large printouts of the book,
which has children follow Cheesy the Mouse on an exploration of the chemistry that
makes up our lives.
AREAS OF RESEARCH:
Analytical Chemistry
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Bioenergy and the Environment
Biophysics
Chemical Biology
Inorganic Chemistry
Materials and Nanoscience
Metabolism, Aging and Development
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Structural and Computational Biology
Systems Biology and Biological Regulation
Theory and Computational Chemistry
607 Charles E. Young Drive EastLos Angeles, CA 90095-1569Tel: 310.825.3958www.chemistry.ucla.edu
chemistry and biochemistry today
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