Jenna Dewan on the ‘Unspoken Chemistry’ That Brought Her Together With Steve Kazee (Exclusive) – Yahoo Entertainment

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A year after they started dating, Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee are gearing up to welcome their first child together.

The pair didn't need much time to know they wanted to be together. As she told ET, it was an "unspoken chemistry" that brought them together.

"You just know if you have it," she told ET's Lauren Zima during a recent visit to the Santa Monica set of her new show, Flirty Dancing. "It's the sparks that fly and it just works really well."

"I am in a really great place and totally in love," she gushed. "It's nice."

With just months beforewelcoming her bundle of joy, Dewan is in full working mom mode on Flirty Dancing. Her 6-year-old daughter, Everly, whom she shares with Channing Tatum, is making sure she's not pushing herself too hard.

"She's really excited. She's really protective. It's been cute," Dewan said. "She's worried about what I'm eating, making sure it's healthy. When I say, 'Mommy needs to sit down and take a break,' she totally gets it. She hugs and cuddles the belly."

"I mean, it's really been adorable. You never know how it's gonna go, and so far she's been so excited. And she tells the entire world. Everyone. Everyone, every way. Even peoplethat check us out at stores. She's like, 'Does she know my mom's pregnant?' They're like, 'We can see,'" the actress joked.

For now, Dewan is giving her full attention to hosting Flirty Dancing, Fox's upcoming series which sees two strangers learn a dance, and then upon meeting for the same time, perform it together.

"It's such a fun and fresh show that I'm filming and that I'm having the best time doing," Dewan raved, noting that she fell in love with the show's U.K. counterpart. "I was literally crying in the first episode I saw. I thought, 'What more fun could this be? To sort of bring this old school romance back to modern day dating through dance, where they're not allowed to speak and can only use movement and eye contact and really go off chemistry and see if you feel something with each other.'"

"Obviously I've danced with people before and you know when there's chemistry, you know when there's not," she noted. "It's people finding true love every single week."

But with a name like Flirty Dancing (notably not Dirty Dancing), just how close do people get?

"I wouldn't say grinding, but it definitely gets close," Dewan promised. "They are definitely in close proximity. There is a lot of physical touch, which in rehearsals is really fun to watch, because most people are uncomfortable with that."

"We are used to the phone and online dating and that sort of surface level, and then they get right into that first rehearsal and you're this close to each other and you'retouching and you're having to lift each other. So, you gotta drop all your walls immediately and just connect," she said.

Flirty Dancing premieres Sunday, Dec. 29 on Fox. See more on Dewan in the video below.

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Jenna Dewan on the 'Unspoken Chemistry' That Brought Her Together With Steve Kazee (Exclusive) - Yahoo Entertainment

Trump officials voice opposition to ‘forever chemical’ bill | TheHill – The Hill

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The White House announced Tuesday that President TrumpDonald John TrumpPence: Intelligence shows Iran directing militias not to attack U.S. targets Mnuchin aims to wait until end of 2020 to disclose Secret Service costs for Trump's travel: report Pressure building on Pelosi over articles of impeachment MORE would likely veto legislation designed to manage a class of cancer-linked chemicals leaching into the water supply.

The chemicals, known by the abbreviation PFAS, are used in a variety of nonstick products such as raincoats, cookware and packaging and have been found in nearly every state in the country.

They are considered forever chemicalsbecause of their persistence in the environment and in the human body, with 99 percent of those tested havingPFAS traces in their body.

After failing to includea measure to broadly regulate PFAS in the annual defense policy bill late last year, House lawmakers introduced sweeping legislation in November that would force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set a drinking water standard for PFAS.

The EPA said it would determine whether to regulate PFAS by the end of 2019, a self-imposed deadline the agency missed.

A vote on the House bill is slated for Thursday, and the measure is widely expected to pass the Democratic-controlled chamber. The bill was expected to face resistance in the GOP-led Senate, with the administration's statement Tuesday furtherdiminishing the legislation's prospects.

The White Houseargued in a statementthat thebill would bypass well-established processes, procedures, and legal requirements of the Nations most fundamental environmental laws, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; the Safe Drinking Water Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; the Clean Air Act; and the Solid Waste Disposal Act while stressing that the EPA should take the reins in developing a drinking water standard.

The regulatory process works best when EPA and other agencies are free to devise regulations based on the best available science and careful consideration of all the relevant facts. By truncating the rulemaking process, this legislation risks undermining public confidence in the EPAs decisions, and also risks the imposition of unnecessary costs on States, public water systems, and others responsible for complying with its prescriptive mandates, thestatement added.

The EPA currently recommends water contain no more than 70 parts per trillion of PFAS, but Democrats and public health groups say the agency needs an actual requirement one that will likely need to be below that level to protect public health.

The statement from the White House largely mirrors previous concerns expressed by Republicans, who wanted to ensure utilities would not be saddled with meeting a standard that requires expensive technology far beyond their means.

We dont want a standard thats infeasible to be required of drinking water utilities, and the last thing is we dont want the cost benefits that are part of the law right now to be disregarded, a Republican aide told The Hill last year. We wanted the practicalities to be considered.

Lawmakers originally included provisions to deal with PFAS chemicals in an early version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the must-pass defense spending bill that Trump signed last month.

That early legislation targeted PFAS through the military, which has at least 425 sites that have been contaminated after exercises involving the heavy use of firefighting foam.

The possibility of including PFAS provisions in the NDAA were squandered last month, however, as some lawmakers questioned whether the matter was beyond the scope of the bill.

The PFAS legislation currently in the House combines 11 previous PFAS bills and targets a wide range of issues, including requiring PFAS to be covered under the hazardous waste cleanup law, and imposes a five-year moratorium on the development of new PFAS chemicals.

The bill also spells out new regulations for production and cleanup of such toxic chemicals, requiring the EPA to regulate PFAS air pollution under the Clean Air Act, as well as another portion outliningproper disposal for PFAS chemicals.

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CPS Chemistry Students to Study Toxic Metals, Environmental Racism – Chicago Tonight | WTTW

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Chicago Tonight | WTTW
CPS Chemistry Students to Study Toxic Metals, Environmental Racism
Chicago Tonight | WTTW
Chemistry students from seven Chicago public high schools will team up with university scientists this summer to study the impact of toxic metal contamination on local communities. The effort is part of a nearly $450,000 National Science Foundation ...

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CPS Chemistry Students to Study Toxic Metals, Environmental Racism - Chicago Tonight | WTTW

My Chemical Romance Have Returned To The Charts Following The Reunion Announcement – ROCKSOUND.TV

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So glad we're all on the same page here.

The world is evidently super hyped at the wholeMy Chemical Romancereunion - not only did they sell out their comeback show immediately, they've also stormed various charts for the week of November 09.

Additionally, My Chem's back catalogue has jumped 10% in streams, and 12% in album units according to Billboard. That translates to over 11.3 million streams of My Chemical Romance songs since the announcement of their reunion. So we're all feeling a bit emo then, huh?

Notably, 10 My Chem tracks have placed in the Billboard Lyric Find Chart, which measures the number of searches for the lyrics of songs, with 'Welcome To The Black Parade' debuting at number five in the chart after seeing a 376% increase in searches for the lyric since last week. 'Helena' followed in at number 10 on the chart, seeing a 257% increase in searches.

My Chemical Romance also debuted at number 41 in the Billboard Social Chart, which measures social media engagement with bands and artists globally - following their reunion announcement, they had over 25,000 hits to their Wikipedia page which is a 132% increase from their standard daily average, plus their official Twitter account gained 59,000 new followers, and the Twitter handle was mentioned over 40,000 times. This marks the first time that MCR have appeared in the Billboard Social Chart since 2016, in the lead up to the 10th anniversary of the release of their classic album 'The Black Parade'.

While all this chart success is impressive, it's anticipated that MCR will climb in the charts next chart week, as their comeback was announced only one day before the close of the current chart week. We've had a whole week of hyping and reminiscing since then.

My Chemical Romance announced their reunion and a comeback show last Thursday, October 31, with their comeback show taking place December 20 in Los Angeles. They've since announced a handful of additional international appearances.

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‘Well keep you on the edge of your seats’: Newcomers have brought game and WWE antics to the Bucks – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Wesley Matthews, a starter since joining the Bucks, is still adjusting to his role but has contributed as a three-point shooter and defender.(Photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA TODAY Sports)

An NBA player choke-slamming his teammate and then hitting him with a folding chair isn't usually the kind of pregame activity that screams positive team chemistry. It's working pretty well for the Milwaukee Bucks, though.

Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez joined the Bucks as free agents this summer, rekindling a friendship they built over two years together in Portland from 2013-15. Acting out wrestling scenarios was part of their high jinks back then and they've resumed the practiceas members of the Bucks, playing out pregame skits in arenas around the country much to the surprise of arena staff and the delight of their teammates.

In Boston, Matthews ambushed Lopez in a narrow hallway, hitting him with team equipment as teammates continued their stretches nearby. There was a stone-cold stunner in Oklahoma City, the aforementioned chair appearance in Chicago and most recently the two played out a nearly minute-long tag-team match that included a cameo kick from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Were going to run out of material soon," Matthews said with a smile. "Its something weve done for a while now we did it in Portland but nothing, like, to this magnitude. Its just kind of goofing around but were really starting to embrace it, have fun with it, the teams starting to get in on it a little bit more and now weve got to keep it fresh. ...

I think Im going to start sending RoLo some film. Were going to start bouncing ideas back off each other.

Although he was never much of a wrestling fan, Lopez has always been game for playing the heel. He's got plenty of practice from his famous, playful interactions with mascots around the league and when Matthews the wrestling fan and brains of the operation needed a worthy adversary, Lopez was ready to step up.

I like to think of myself as a thespian," Lopez said."Im not a wrestling connoisseur in the same way Wesley is, but its something weve been doing for a little bit. I found that we have a lot of wrestling fans on the team, so its something thats kind of blossomed, taken a life of its own.

One of the team's biggest wrestling fans is none other than Antetokounmpo. He took his family to WWE Raw in Chicago on Christmas in 2017 and less than a week later he took some of his teammates to another event on a road trip in Toronto.

The interest of Antetokounmpo and other Bucks players is what has helped Matthews and Lopez's routine go mainstream, taking their act to the tunnel before the teamheads out to the court instead of being a random sideshow for sparse crowds in the hallways of the arena. As a collectively sanctioned event, more and more players want to get involved.

Its fun," Antetokounmpo said."I told them I wanted to join the routine and they allowed me to join the routine. So, it's fun."

This new act adds a new wrinkle to what was already one of the more positive locker rooms in the NBA. Last season, the Bucks established a fun, loose, cohesive culture that permeated everything they did.Everyone kept a laser focus on the court, but outside of game time their intensity melted away as they enjoyed each other's company and kept things light and drama-free.

A new pregame bit from a pair of veteran additions fits in nicely with the vibe.

It kind of just gets everybody loose, ready for the game," Matthews said.

Of course, performing in games is more important than performing beforehand. Through 15 games heading into a clash at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum, both Lopez and Matthews are still adjusting to their new roles.

Robin Lopez has averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds over 14.2 minutes per game as a member of the Bucks.(Photo: Associated Press)

Lopez, backing up his twin brother, Brook, has averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds over 14.2 minutes per game. He has worked to stretch his game out beyond the three-point line with tepid results, going 6 of 25 (24.0%). However, before an 0 for 2 night Thursday against the Trail Blazers, Lopez had made three-pointers in three straight games.

Matthews has had more of an impact, particularly lately. He's been an every-game starter since joining the Bucks, though his contributions have generally been understated and reserved his defense and three-point shooting. Thus far, 61 of Matthews' 87 shot attempts have come from long range.

I think it should never be underestimated or not appreciated what he does for us defensively," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before Wednesday's game in Atlanta."I think hes locked in, he makes things difficult on the wings. So, I think thats where we want him to start. Hell get more and more comfortable. I think his patience is good, I think hes in a good place and I think things will start happening for him on both ends.

Budenholzer's words proved prophetic. Matthews got going a bit on offense against the Hawks, putting up 10 points and displaying more offensive balance than any game to this point in the season, scoring inside and out while dishing out three assists. On Thursday, Matthews predominantly spent his time behind the three-point line, making 4 of 7 attempts, including one in the fourth quarter that padded Milwaukee's lead to eight points.

"You know every night hes going to defend," Antetokounmpo said."You know hes going to do that no matter whats going on, but when hes locked in offensively, knocking down shots hes definitely taking this team to the next level.

The challenge now for Matthews and Lopez will be to help the Bucks get to that next level. That applies both on the court and to their pregame shenanigans.

Well see, thats the fun of it, Robin Lopez said. Well keep you on the edge of your seats. Were not sure what turn were going to take next.

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'Well keep you on the edge of your seats': Newcomers have brought game and WWE antics to the Bucks - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For Theo Epstein, chemistry now matters — a lot – New Haven Register

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NEW HAVEN >> Theo Epstein recalled sporting a Red Sox hat when he sat amidst the vast crowd at Yales Class Day ceremonies 22 years ago, even though he had recently finished an internship with the Orioles.

Two days later, after commencement exercises, Epstein boarded a plane for San Diego ostensibly donning a Padres hat, beginning his career in Major League Baseball in that teams front office.

At Yales 2017 Class Day program on Sunday, Epstein was again a man of many hats, swapping his Yale cap for a Cubs hat midway through his address as this years featured speaker. Like the lids atop his head, Epstein, who has led both the Red Sox and Cubs to historic, curse-busting World Series titles, has proven to be amenable to change.

Famously calling for longtime Yale football coach Carm Cozza to step down while the sports editor of the Daily Campus as a Yale junior, Epstein has since confessed to regretting the situation. More famous as one of the poster boys of analytic and sabermetrics that has engulfed baseball over the past 15-20 years, Epstein has similarly changed his tune a bit.

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Thats one of the great ironies of the digital information age, he said shortly after his speech. Now theres so much information out there, so much data and statistics, that its easy to attempt to precisely quantify a players contribution. You can never really quantify a human being. You cant quantify character. That stuff does matter, especially in a group situation, where players really do have impact on one another and leadership matters. The ability to bounce back from adversity matters, lifting each other up in tough moments. Its something that Ive come to appreciate more and more, every year, each of the 26 years Ive worked in baseball.

The gist of Epsteins speech, which included a good-natured request for Yankees fans to head for the exits and his own astonishment that he would ever be invited back as Class Day speaker (If you had ranked all the people, whos most likely to come back, I probably would have been last, he said afterwards), centered around the now-famous story of the Cubs ability to bounce back from adversity last season and win their first World Series in 108 years. Specifically, he pointed to the story of how the team, led by slumping outfielder Jason Heyward, held a meeting in the midst of a brief rain delay during Game 7 that rallied the troops to their ultimate historic victory.

Many sabermetricians of today, some of them disciples of Epstein, often pooh-pooh things like clubhouse chemistry and players with good character, arguing that, ultimately, its all about the numbers. But Epstein has diverged off that path in recent years.

I think theres a wide spectrum of ways people assess talent, he said. I still think datas important, because it can give you some real, empirical truths about a player. Facts are important, objectivity is important. But you have to combine it with an understanding of the player as a human being.

Chemistry is really hard to pinpoint and discern the magic formula, he continued, but if you look for enough high-character players, players who are invested in one another and are willing to connect, that really helps uplift the whole team.

Epstein was in good spirits during his return to Yale, reflecting on the good times he had as an undergrad. He specifically remembered the speech delivered by Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke at Class Day in 1995, which encouraged people to live heroic lives in small, understated ways.

Epsteins memories of his visits to Toads Place were a little more fuzzy.

Really, the best memories are just pre-partying with friends, then heading there and all the hijinks that would ensue on a nightly basis. The best memories, by definition, you cant remember.

Epstein has helped deliver lifelong memories to Red Sox and Cubs fans, and hopes this years Cubs team can make more. The Cubs have been idling around .500 as they try to snap out of a potential post-World Series hangover. Epstein sees some similarities with the 2005 Red Sox, who were coming off their first world title in 86 years the prior October.

I remember in 05, we dealt with a lot of injury problems, he noted. We dealt with some downturns in performance, and we had to scratch and claw our way to 95 wins and get into the postseason. We were kind of spent by the time the postseason rolled around. I hope that this year, we find a way to fight through it and show up in October in a little bit better condition, ready to play another month of baseball.

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The secret to great wine? Organic chemistry. – Chemical & Engineering News

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Waterhouse

Credit: Eleni Kardaras Photography

Vitals

Education: Ph.D., synthetic organic chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Professional highlight: Honorary doctorate from the University of Bordeaux, a school with a wine program that dates back to 1880, the same year the viticulture and enology program started at the University of California

Favorite molecule: Acetaldehyde, which is a key wine oxidation product

Favorite way to enjoy a glass of wine: Barrel sampling with friends

Favorite city: Ljubljana, Slovenia. The food is wonderful; things are organized; there are many excellent local wines to taste and not too many tourists.

For Andrew L. Waterhouse, being tasked with wine selection when having drinks with family, friends, or inquisitive journalists is something of an occupational hazard. Its just part of the job, the professor of viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis, says.

Its a good bet that Waterhouse will pick a winning wine. Hes widely respected for his expansive knowledge of wine chemistry and has educated a generation of winemakers during his 26 years teaching in UC Daviss world-renowned program.

But Waterhouse hasnt always been a wine connoisseur. With training in natural product synthesis, he started his career at a different school teaching organic chemistry primarily to premed students and researching conformational analysis of polysaccharides. One day, while paging through C&EN on a flight, Waterhouse saw a job posting for an assistant professor of viticulture and enology at UC Davis. He wanted to return to the West Coast, where he went to school, so he applied.

As soon as I heard I got the job, I started reading, he remembers. Professionally, I knew nothing. I was a wine lover, but I had no idea what was in wine, really, other than alcohol. Now he studies wines complex natural products, such as flavonoids. Winemakers call it chicken wire chemistry, he says, because the hexagons in the flavonoid structures resemble chicken wire to those untrained in chemistry.

Waterhouse says when he first started at UC Davis he tried to teach organic chemistry to budding winemakers the same way he taught it to premeds. It didnt work, he says. For example, when he taught his students about terpenesimportant flavor compounds in certain wines such as Rieslingshe discussed how the compounds undergo acid-catalyzed rearrangement during aging.

I was showing the students allylic cations forming, rearranging, and eliminating. And it was completely useless to them, he says. They have to understand something about terpene chemistry, but they dont have to understand mechanistic transformations from one terpene to another. This made Waterhouse completely rethink how he taught chemistry to these students. He needed to talk about chemistry that would be useful in wine making. Thats why they take classesthey want to understand whats happening so they can manage it better. Its a very applied use of chemistry.

And students of wine chemistry differ from premeds in another way, Waterhouse found. Whether the wine-making students are pursuing bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees, all approach the subject with passion, Waterhouse says. When I was teaching organic chemistry to premeds, they had no interest in the subject. They just needed an A. It was a hurdle class for them and they didnt like it. Thats not the case with the students he teaches at UC Davis, he says. They really want to know the information, and they want to know why it is useful.

In 2016, after 25 years as a wine chemist, Waterhouse decided to create a resource for others who might be interested in teaching the subject or for chemists who are just interested in knowing more about the chemistry of wine. Along with Cornell Universitys Gavin L. Sacks and the University of Adelaides David W. Jeffery, he coauthored Understanding Wine Chemistry.

The book, he says, is different from other wine chemistry resources because it focuses on the organic chemistry of wine. Most of the chemists in the field are analytical chemists, and theyre very good at that, but when they write about it, they focus on analytical issues, such as comparing analytical results with taste and sensory results. While thats important, Waterhouse says, he and his coauthors wanted to create a book on the chemical reactions that take place in wine.

Just by understanding the chemistry you can intervene in very simple ways, Waterhouse notes. For example, sauvignon blanc wines from New Zealand are known for a guava- and passion-fruit-type aroma, but that fruity note would often be missing after storage. An organic chemist figured out that the aroma arises from an ester that can hydrolyze. Now, New Zealand winemakers keep the sauvignon blanc as cold as they can until its bottled and shipped, thus preserving that flavor. So understanding chemistry is very powerful, even in wine making, Waterhouse points out.

But, Waterhouse is quick to add, chemistry does not have all the answers. When I came to Davis, I thought all we have to do is figure out what are the key molecules that are present in great wine. Many people have this idea, and I was not any different. It turns out that there have been a lot of smart people thinking about this for a really long time, he says.

What Ive discovered is that its not really just the chemistry that makes wine interesting or valuable. Theres a lot more behind the story of wine than chemistry. I know that might be disappointing for some chemists, but the reality is that people love wine. And people love wine not just because of the way it tastes. They love wine for many reasons, he says. When youre a winemaker one of the key things you have to be able to do is convey a message about your producta story about yourself or the land or the history of the property. Those things are, in some way, more important to a wine drinker than wine that just tastes good.

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The secret to great wine? Organic chemistry. - Chemical & Engineering News

A look into ‘Glycoworld’ at UMSL, its sweet chemistry research and the professor behind it – UMSL Daily (blog)

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Curators Professor of Chemistry Alexei Demchenko (at far left) and his research students make up Glycoworld, the name theyve given their research lab. The team, wearing their Glycoworld lab coats, studies the synthesis and application of carbohydrates associated with cancer and microbial infections and used to develop diagnostics and vaccines. (Photo courtesy of Glycoworld)

Step into Curators Professor of Chemistry Alexei Demchenkos laboratory at the University of MissouriSt. Louis, and you will have entered Glycoworld.

Deemed thus by the professor and his research students for its concentration on sugar chemistry, the lab is up to some extraordinary work focused on the synthesis and application of carbohydrates (sugars). They even have their own logo, inspired by the chemical structures they manipulate and the national flags of the students who work in the lab.

The Glycoworld logo used on the website and on the teams T-shirts and lab coats (Logo courtesy of Glycoworld)

My students proudly call themselves Glycoworldians, Demchenko said. We even have Glycoworld T-shirts, Glycoworld lab coats and even a Glycoworld clock.

The culture forms a sense of pride around the work that they consider vital and applicable down to the very creation of life.

Carbohydrates are involved in many processes and are referred to as the essential molecules of life, Demchenko said. Our life begins with fertilization, which takes place via a carbohydrate-protein recognition. From the building blocks of nature to disease-battling therapeutics and vaccines, carbohydrates have had a profound impact on evolution, society, economy and human health.

Demchenkos research is particularly concerned with the health aspect, focusing on the production of carbohydrates associated with cancer and microbial infections. The synthetic versions are used for the development of diagnostics and vaccines.

But synthesizing carbohydrates isnt so easy.

Although carbohydrates are so desirable for the biological and medical communities, these molecules are very challenging targets for chemists because of the need for functionalization, protecting and leaving group manipulations and controlling anomeric stereoselectivity.

Chancellor Tom George (at left) and Vice Provost of Research Chris Spilling (at right) present Alexei Demchenko with UMSLs 2017 Senior Investigator of the Year award last month at a ceremony concluding Research and Innovation Week on campus. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Basically, its hard to control how the carbohydrates react and bond to each other or other classes of compounds like proteins. But even though its difficult chemistry, its important work because of the modifications it allows and the possibilities those modifications offer.

Only the chemical synthesis can provide direct access to unnatural mimetics that attract rising interest due to their therapeutic or diagnostic potential, Demchenko said.

Rising interest is certainly an understatement. Continuously since 2005, Demchenkos research has found funding from many different parties, including the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, Pfizer, Mizutani and more.

The research also earned him UMSLs 2017 Senior Investigator of the Year Award, presented to Demchenko during last months Research and Innovation Week on campus.

Additionally, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, a high-profile academic journal, gave Demchenkos research extra attention, making it the front cover of the January 2017 issue.

Featuring a fox in a box and the Glycoworld logo, the cover is a clever play on the chemistry it represents. The fox and box are inspired by the functional leaving groups or groups of atoms used to manipulate the chemical structure of a carbohydrate and its reactivity.

The front cover of Organic & Biomolecular Chemistrys January 2017 issue featured Demchenkos research and a fox in a box, playing on the OFox and OBox leaving groups or groups of atoms Demchenkos lab created to modify carbohydrates. The art was originally sketched by UMSL grad and Glycoworldian Salvatore Pistorio and adapted into a watercolor piece by artist Fabia DAmore-Krug. (Photo courtesy of Royal Society of Chemistry)

The first leaving group we developed at UMSL was based on a benzoxazole, and since it was connected to sulfur (S), we called it the SBox, Demchenko explained. Then, a later variant was called the OBox because it was connected to an oxygen (O). In this paper we present our latest variant. Its fluorinated (F), so we call it the OFox, but it is not a direct abbreviation; it just sounded fun.

The cover was first sketched by recent UMSL and Glycoworld graduate Salvatore Pistorio. The rough sketch was then handed off to Demchenkos colleague and artist friend Fabia DAmore-Krug, who did her own sketch in pencil, then pen and created the final piece in watercolor.

In total Demchenko has more than 150 published academic articles and gives about 10 to 12 lectures a year. His students deliver about the same number of posters and talks at conferences as well.

While I have the expertise, leadership and motivation necessary to successfully supervise the research program, it is my students who actually do the magic, said Demchenko, humbly. I have a very well-trained and highly motivated research team that is ready to undertake the current research and face new challenges. They are great, all of them!

And to thank his team for their dedication and hard work, Demchenko said theres no better way than to let them have a little fun, naming the lab, designing the logo together and giving them T-shirts to wear proudly and presenting them with a Glycoclock when they graduate.

For more information on Glycoworld, visit the homepage. You can also follow Demchenko on Twitter.

Short URL: http://blogs.umsl.edu/news/?p=68414

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A look into 'Glycoworld' at UMSL, its sweet chemistry research and the professor behind it - UMSL Daily (blog)

First author objects to retraction (his fourth) in chemistry journal – Retraction Watch (blog)

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The first author of a 2013 chemistry paper is objecting to his co-authors decision to retract the paper, which contains duplicated figures.

We recently encountered a similar scenario with papers byfirst author Khalid Mahmood. In late 2015, Mahmood lost three papers in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces over duplicated images. One of thenotices also indicated that the figures hadbeen published elsewhere and identified with different samples the same language used in the notice of the most recent retraction, in Journal of Materials Chemistry C.

Mahmood performed the work on thepapers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), along with histwoco-authors, Seung Bin Park and Hyung Jin Sung (also co-authors on two of the retracted papers in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces).

Seung Bin Park, who is dean of the College of Engineering at KAIST, told us:

I was deeply disappointed and distressed by this retraction It was a period of time when joy of sharing new findings turned into nightmare.

Park said he did not know why Mahmood opposedthis retraction, but noted:

I just hope that, someday, he comes out and gives explanation on his papers.He owes apology to his colleague[s].

Heres the retraction notice for the 2013 paper:

We, Seung Bin Park and Hyung Jin Sung wholly retract this Journal of Materials Chemistry C article, on the basis of uncertainties regarding the validity of the SEM images, which have been published elsewhere and identified with different samples. Specifically; Fig. 1c in this Journal of Materials Chemistry C article, identified as In-doped ZnO, is the same image as Fig. 2 of our previous paper,1 where it is identified as 5% N-doped ZnO. Fig. 2c in this Journal of Materials Chemistry C article, labelled as pure ZnO, is also part of Fig. 2 of the same paper,1 where it is labelled as 3% N-doped ZnO. In addition, within this Journal of Materials Chemistry C article, Fig. 1b is the same image as Fig. 2b, whereas they are labelled differently as In-doped ZnO and pure ZnO, respectively. Finally, similarity between the noise in the XPS data in Fig. 5b, in this Journal of Materials Chemistry C article, and those in Fig. 3a reported in ref. 2, cast doubt on the validity of the XPS data.

Signed: Seung Bin Park and Hyung Jin Sung 10th February 2017

Khalid Mahmood opposes this retraction and remains in support of the reported conclusions as they stand. Retraction endorsed by Fiona McKenzie, Executive Editor, Journal of Materials Chemistry C

Enhanced photoluminescence, Raman spectra and field-emission behavior of indium-doped ZnO nanostructures, has been cited 51 times since it was published in 2013, according toClarivate Analytics Web of Science, formerly part of Thomson Reuters. The first reference cited by the noticeis one of the three previous retractions; the retraction notice for Fabrication of Tantalum and Nitrogen Codoped ZnO (Ta, NZnO) Thin Films Using the Electrospay: Twin Applications as an Excellent Transparent Electrode and a Field Emitter, issued in 2015, also mentions duplicatedimages in the recently retracted paper.

Executive editor Fiona McKenzie declined to provide additional information:

Thereasons for the retraction are explained in the retraction notice and our correspondence with the authors remains confidential.

We emailedMahmood at KAIST, as well as King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, where he was a postdoc, but have not heard back.

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Comedy show preview | Short, Martin exploit their ‘natural chemistry’ – The Columbus Dispatch

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Julia Oller The Columbus Dispatch @juliaoller

They finish each others sentences so often that the two comedians (and best pals) could be their own "Before and After" answer on Wheel of Fortune: Steve Martin Short.

Their work in the 1986 buddy comedy Three Amigos ignited the real-life friendship between Steve Martin and Martin Short.

Martin had recently entered the movie business after giving up his longtime stand-up comedy career because of creative burnout. The funnyman then traded punchlines for plucking, releasing several banjo-backed albums with his band, the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Short whom Martin calls Marty hosted a season of "Saturday Night Live" before landing in films such as Father of the Bride (also starring Martin) and appearing in Broadway musical productions.

Even though their interests intersected, the two never took their jokes beyond the friendship, until an invitationto speakat a Chicago comedy conference in 2012 sparked an epiphany.

It was a success," Short said, "because we were reminded that we had a natural chemistry with each other."

They beefed up the comedy bits, added banjo interludes and slapped on a convincing title, An Evening Youll Forget for the Rest of Your Lives."

Martin and Short will perform the show Sunday at the Ohio Theatre, where the same tongue-in-cheek humor will mark the back-and-forth banter in the show.

It constantly is changing and, for a few minutes, we talk to people and tell stories about people and our lives that are funny, Martin said. And then Marty comes out.

The general structure of the vaudeville-esque performance is set, but the comedians make room for improving their witticisms.

We often write notes for each other or make a suggestion on performing or timing, said Martin, 71. Theres nothing problematic between us.

Short, 67, sticks to corporeal improvements.

Steve usually suggests different lines that could make my section better, and my suggestions are about hygiene, he quipped.

Even though Martin and Short have an easygoing rapport onstage, they save the inside jokes for after-hours.

Neither one of us want to do anything the audience cant grasp in some way, Martin said. We dont mind jokes that are funny to us but get a small laugh, but we dont want to do jokes that get nothing. Were paranoid in that way.

For all their ribbing, Martin and Short are quick to praise each others artistic abilities.

Short stands by during Martins finger-picking segments I let them do what they do brilliantly, and Im off doing something I havent yet figured out how to do brilliantly, he said.

Said Martin:Ill tell you what Marty does do brilliantly sing. Hes never sharp; hes never flat.

Just as the friends had no plans to start their variety show, they now have no plans to quit one, either.

Comedy is something you can only practice while doing it, Martin said. Youve got to be in front of it so we just keep booking shows and make the audience suffer until we figure what were doing.

joller@dispatch.com

@juliaoller

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EXCLUSIVE: Sharna Burgess and Bonner Bolton Talk Explosive Chemistry on ‘DWTS,’ Avoiding Another Handgate – Entertainment Tonight

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Playing EXCLUSIVE: Sharna Burgess and Bonner Bolton Talk Explosive Chemistry on 'DWTS,' Avoiding Another Handgate

It's no secret that Dancing With the Stars pair Sharna Burgess and Bonner Bolton look pretty great together, on and off the dance floor.

The 31-year-old dancing pro and the 29-year-old bull rider have had all eyes on them this season, thanks to their explosive chemistry, which doesn't show any signs of stopping soon. On Sunday, Burgess shared a steamy pic of her and Bolton getting super close, previewing their upcoming waltz on Monday's show.

"It's been one heck of a week for @bonner_bolton and I, to be honest... kinda stressful," she wrote. "However, all the controversy aside I have to tell you... this cowboy can waltz!!! He tells me it's because it reminds him of the Texas two step... so this dance is inspired by exactly that and the culture surrounding it. He's worked his butt off and is on track to kill it tomorrow. Get ready for it loverz."

NEWS: 'DWTS' Week 2 Preview -- Sharna Burgess & Bonner Bolton Turn Up the Heat, Maksim Chmerkovskiy Injured & More!

Burgess' "controversy" mention is, of course, referring to the pair's unintentional viral moment last week, when backstage cameras caught Bolton wrapping his arm around Burgess and his hand going quite a bit lower than her waist. ET's Cameron Mathison caught up with the duo at their DWTS rehearsals on Friday, where Bolton explained how he's going to avoid another mishap.

"It got a lot of attention, that's for sure," Bolton told ET. "I'm definitely going to be more cautious of where my hands are."

"Obviously, I don't know what to do with my hands," he joked, before getting serious. "It's really .. it was so unintentional and I have all the respect on and off the dance floor for this young lady, so it's totally cool."

"We're good," Burgess confirmed. "It's alright."

The pair also acknowledged their obvious spark. The two bonded early on when Bolton took Burgess out for Cajun food on the first day they met in Texas.

"We have a great chemistry getting to know each other, but obviously we're three weeks into this thing of having met each other on his ranch, and we're having a lot of fun, but our priorities obviously are getting Bonner through this competition as far as he can possibly go," Burgess said. "So, in the meantime, we're having a lot of fun getting to know each other and we do have great chemistry."

"She's really good to get along with," Bolton added of his partner. "We actually have a lot in common, I think, in that our personalities are real similar, but that can make it kind of challenging. Sometimes, I think, I get on her nerves a little bit."

Still, Bolton didn't shut the door on a future romance between them when asked if he would ever date Burgess.

"I'm gonna have to see where that one goes, and take that into consideration, but we'll just leave that a mystery," he said.

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- 'DWTS' Partners Sharna Burgess and Bonner Bolton Reveal Whether They Are Still Single

On Sunday, Bolton Instagrammed that he's feeling good about Monday's waltz.

"I hope it touches everyone's heart and that you all enjoy it as much as I enjoy dancing to it! #vote #teamdenimndiamonds," he wrote, alongside a cute picture of him with his arm around Burgess.

Watch the video below to see Bolton and Burgess' flirty night out at the Cowboy Palace Saloon in Chatsworth, California, last Tuesday.

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With more light, chemistry speeds up — ScienceDaily – Science Daily

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Science Daily
With more light, chemistry speeds up -- ScienceDaily
Science Daily
Light initiates many chemical reactions. Experiments have for the first time demonstrated that increasing the intensity of illumination some reactions can be ...
With more light, chemistry speeds up - Phys.orgPhys.Org

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Middle school student qualifies to state chemistry challenge – Hudson Hub-Times

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By TIM TROGLEN Reporter Published: March 29, 2017 12:00 AM

HUDSON -- A team of six Hudson Middle School students competed in the March 4 'You Be the Chemist' challenge at Great Lakes Science Center.

Hudson Middle School students qualifying for the competition included: Quinn Berichon, William Carvahlo, Hannah Ma, Carl Roessler, Thomas Banko and Andrew Constable.

One of those students, Thomas Banko, finished second and will move on to the state competition in April.

The middle school team faced teams from Harding Middle School in Lakewood, Wilcox Elementary in North Ridgeville, Lewis F. Mayer Middle School in Fairview Park, Albert Einstein Academy in Westlake, Menlo Park Academy in Cleveland and North Ridgeville Middle School.

The challenge, sponsored by Palmer Holland a national chemical distributor located in North Olmsted, was open to all Hudson Middle School students. However, the students had to qualify via a written exam, according to science teacher Rebecca Reese.

A total of 28 students initially qualified. After several sessions and a second test, the top six made the team and competed March 4, according to Reese.

"Students answered questions based on chemistry concepts," Reese said. "We competed against four other schools in the greater Cleveland area."

Each of the six students was given a T-shirt for participating.

The program was introduced to the district by Hudson parent Ron Zmich, an employee of Palmer Holland who has been working with the students on science-based enrichment activities.

"The YBTC Challenge is an interactive academic competition for fifth-through-eighth grade students focusing on chemistry concepts, history and safety...a Chemistry Academic Challenge, if you will," Zmich said. "The program begins with a local county challenge and progresses to a state challenge and finally a national challenge."

Palmer Holland took over as organizer/administrator of the You Be The Chemist Challenge initiative five years ago according to Zmich, executive advisor for the Greater Cleveland Local Challenge effort.

"The challenge is promoted by the Chemical Education Foundation for both Cuyahoga and Summit counties."

Zmich said the challenge is an electronic question/answer competition that engages students in grades fifth through eighth in learning about important chemistry concepts, historical discoveries and chemical safety. Free study materials are provided by the Chemical Educational Foundation to help students prepare for the challenge, he added.

"As an industry sponsor of the program, Palmer Holland covers all registration fees for those students participating in the local, state and national challenges," Zmich said. "Similar in format to the National Spelling Bee, the top three places from our local challenge move on to the Ohio state challenge."

The winner of the state challenge will progress to the national challenge to be held in Washington D.C. in June.

"Prizes are awarded to winners at all phases of the challenge," Zmich said. "The national champion will win prizes and a scholastic scholarship of $10,000."

Email: ttroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-541-9435

Twitter: @Trog_RPC

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Lady Bulldogs’ Team Chemistry Leads to Wins – Story – Big Country Homepage

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March 27, 2017 - The Wylie Lady Bulldogs are getting ready for their second round match later this week.

The Lady Bulldogs found the back of the net an amazing 12 times in their victory over Decatur in the first round last week. 11 of those came in the first half.

They're experienced, and the Lady Dogs have played together for a long time. Why is that important? One word, chemistry!

Riley Dennison said, "We have good chemistry and there's no drama. We all like each other."

Head coach Manuel Cordova said, "I think it's kind of been similar. We've kind of set a standard where we want to enjoy each other kind of be around each other. I think that makes a big difference especially once you go through adversity, like if you're willing to go through adversity with a group of girls it's going to be a lot more worth it than going in by yourself. They're excited, it kind of just shows in the warm up, how they communicate. Their team dinners they do, so it's not really a new one. I think the playoffs just kind of revive this new excitement in everybody and we're ready to go."

Coach Cordova and his team continue the class 4A playoffs on Thursday night.

They'll take on Clint in Midland at 7 p.m.

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Chemistry Club to host ‘Star Wars’ theme demo night – DeKalb Daily Chronicle

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On Friday at a university not so far away Chem Wars!

Northern Illinois Universitys Chemistry Club invites the public to its annual Spring Chemistry Demo Night at 6:30 p.m Friday in Cole Hall room 100.

This year, the Chemistry Club will put on Chem Wars, a show that will feature a number of thrilling experiments that could have been used by the big film studios in Hollywood to create the special effects in the science fiction franchises we all love and cherish.

We certainly hope that the Star Wars theme draws lots of people to come to the show," Chemistry Club President Marina Galluzzo said in a news release. "However, I am confident that when they leave they will not only better understand the chemical concepts behind these experiments but also appreciate the love of chemistry that all volunteers participating in the show share.

Faculty members helping with this years demo include Tim Hagen, Lee Sunderlin, Chong Zheng, Tim Perkins and the Chemistry Clubs faculty adviser, Oliver Hofstetter.

The annual Chem Demo really is the highlight of the year when it comes to presenting ourselves and reaching out to the community. It is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate that science is fun and that scientists are just people like you and me, Hofstetter said in the release.

While the night will include some crowd favorites from previous years, such as the liquid nitrogen bomb and ping-pong madness, the Chem Club also will serve freshly prepared ice cream at the end of the performance.

Expect bright flashes of light and intermittent periods of low light and/or darkness during the event.

Free parking will be available in the NIU Parking Deck starting at 5 p.m., except for reserved and handicapped spaces.

For information about the Chemistry Demo, email Marina Galluzzo at mgalluzzo@niu.edu.

For information about the Chemistry Club, email Hofstetter at ohofst@niu.edu.

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Alanna Schepartz appointed Sterling Professor of Chemistry – Yale News

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Alanna Schepartz, newly appointed as a Sterling Professor of Chemistry, is known for the creative application of chemical synthesis and principles to understand and control biological recognition and function.

A Sterling Professorship is one of the universitys highest faculty honors.

Schepartzs research has contributed to and shaped thinking in multiple areas, including the molecular mechanisms of protein-DNA recognition and transcriptional activation; protein design and engineering and their application to synthetic biology; and the mechanisms by which both molecules and molecular information are trafficked between biological compartments. She is also widely recognized for her design of -peptide bundles, the first and only example of a protein-like architecture that lacks even a single -amino acid.

After earning her undergraduate degree in chemistry from the State University of New York-Albany, Schepartz carried out graduate studies at Columbia University. Following postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology, she joined the Yale faculty in 1988. She was named the Milton Harris 29 Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry in 2000 and holds an additional appointment as professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Her other appointments have included a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship (2002-2007) and the inaugural directorship of the Yale Chemical Biology Institute (2011-2014).

At Yale, Schepartz has played a leading role in promoting science education and women in science. In 2002, she received a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to enrich undergraduate education in chemistry by creating courses that expose students to the excitement and creativity of cutting-edge research earlier in their college careers. She was also an organizer of a conference in 2003 that highlighted the impact of women scientists historically and addressed scientific challenges for the 21st century.

The Yale professor has been honored with numerous awards for her work, including a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. She has received the Dylan Hixon 88 Award for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences, the Frank H. Westheimer Prize Medal, the A.C.S. Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry, the Wheland Medal, and the ACS Chemical Biology Prize & Prize Lecture, for which she was the inaugural recipient. In 2010, Schepartz was elected as a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Chemical Society. From 2005 to 2016, she served the chemical biology community as an associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In 2014, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 2016, Schepartz was named editor-in-chief of Biochemistry.

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Report Finds Top Chemical Companies Making Billions Off Poisoning the Earth – Beyond Pesticides

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(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2020) A new report finds that as birds and pollinators continue to decline, and chronic diseases remain on the rise, the global agrichemical industry is raking in billions of dollars from hazardous pesticides that contribute to these crises. A joint investigation from Unearthed and Public Eye finds that 35% of pesticide sales from the largest agrichemical corporations are made from the most toxic pesticides on the market.

Pesticide production was a $57.6 billion market in 2018, according to the report. While the profits of the industry are privatized, the public health and environmental effects are broad. Studies conducted over the last decade show that the impacts of hazardous pesticide use dwarf the market for these chemicals.

The impact of pesticides on public health results in a drag on the economy. Earlier this year, research from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine found that childrens exposure to organophosphate insecticides was estimated to result in over 26 million lost IQ points and over 110,000 cases of intellectual disability, totaling roughly $735 billion in economic costs each year. A 2019 study from the same scientists determined that endocrine disrupting chemicals, including organophosphates and organochlorine pesticides, were attributable to $340 billion in health care costs annually.

The damage pesticides cause to the natural world also results in significant economic impacts. Pollination alone contributes between $20 and $30 billion in economic value to agriculture each year. A 2016 review, titled The Hidden and External Costs of Pesticide Use, pinned the total environmental costs of pesticide use, including issues like bird and fish kills, loss of pest management by the killing of non-target animals, and pest resistance to pesticides to result in at least $39.5 billion in economic costs annually.

The report from Unearthed and Public Eye finds that the five major chemical companies represented by the trade association Croplife, including BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, FMC, and Syngenta/ChemChina, sold roughly $37 billion worth of pesticides in 2018, comprising 65% of the global market. Of that group, the investigation found that 10% of leading product income from Croplife members came from chemicals considered highly toxic to bees by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Focus of the report centered around the outsized influence Croplife members have on the sale of highly hazardous chemicals around the world, as defined by Pesticide Action Network International. In high income developed countries, Croplife companies sales of highly hazardous pesticides accounted for 27% of its market share, but in lower income developing countries, hazardous pesticide sales were nearly 50%. This is especially concerning in countries like Brazil, which is home to some of the most biodiverse areas in the world. Since the election of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonoro, pesticide approvals in that country have skyrocketed.

While it is certainly important to restrict use of the most toxic pesticides on the market, what is truly needed is an end to pesticide dependency. The ongoing success of organic agriculture shows that we can transform our farming systems from an economic drain on ecosystem services and public health to one that fosters biodiversity, delivers more nutritious foods, and adds to economic growth. Under organic, use of a limited list of least-toxic pesticides is allowed only under the conditions determined by a comprehensive organic systems plan.

If youre concerned about the use of pesticides on Brazilian biodiversity and imported foods, consider joining Beyond Pesticides boycott of Brazilian food products. And to hear more about the connection between pesticide use and adverse economic impacts, considering attending Beyond Pesticides National Pesticide Forum, where Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, of the NYU research team will provide a keynote talk on his research.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Unearthed

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Alexandridis elected fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff – University at Buffalo Reporter

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Paschalis Alexandridis, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is the oldest chemical society in the world and celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2016. Its mission of advancing excellence in the chemical sciences dates back to 1841 and continues today, with more than 54,000 members around the world.

The distinction of fellow recognizes members who have been in a senior position for more than five years and have made a demonstrated impact in the chemical sciences.

This is a well-deserved recognition of Paschalis many contributions to our understanding of the behavior of colloids, surfactant and polymer solutions, materials that touch our everyday lives in innumerable ways, including food, pharmaceuticals and a wide variety of personal care products, says Mark Swihart, UB Distinguished Professor, Empire Innovation Professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. His work has been recognized by national and international awards, which raise the visibility of UB and our department. We are delighted to see that appreciation grow further.

A chemical engineer specializing in soft materials, complex fluids and nanotechnology, Alexandridis joined the UB faculty in 1997. His work impacts emerging paradigms of chemical engineering on molecular engineering of materials and on product design and development, with the goal of novel smart, nano and bio materials that benefit society.

He has authored more than 175 journal articles and 65 conference proceedings, edited two books and given more than 190 invited lectures worldwide. He is co-inventor of 10 patents on pharmaceutical formulations, superabsorbent polymers, and metallic and semiconductor nanomaterials. His work has been cited more than 18,000 times.

Alexandridis is also a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His previous distinctions include the SUNY Chancellors Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity (2011), American Chemical Societys Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal (2010), Bodossaki Foundation Academic Prize in Applied Science (2005), UB Exceptional Scholar Award (2002), Sigma Xi International Young Investigator Award (2002), Japan Research Institute of Material Technology Lecturer Award (2001) and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1999).

Alexandridis has served as chair of AIChE Area 1C: Interfacial Phenomena and on the executive committee of the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. He is currently serving as co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and review editor of the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents.

His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Petroleum Research Fund, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and industry.

At UB, Alexandridis has served as director of graduate studies in chemical engineering, director of the materials science and engineering program, and associate dean for research and graduate education in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

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Alexandridis elected fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo Reporter

Two named to run Harvard chemistry department in wake of academic’s arrest on criminal charge in China case – The Boston Globe

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This was Professor Liebers final year as Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) chair, and our office was in the process of considering potential successors," Stubbs said. Both Professors Dan Kahne and Ted Betley are held in very high regard by their colleagues, and both were strongly recommended for the chair role.

Stubbs said that given "the urgency of attending to the students and postdoctoral scholars in the Lieber group, the need to draw the CCB community together in mutual support, and the ongoing demands of administration of a large and complex department, we decided that co-chairmanship was a good approach. I am very grateful to Professors Betley and Kahne for their willingness to step into these roles on such short notice, and I look forward to working in partnership with them.

The interim chairs boast impressive credentials.

Betley runs Harvards Betley Research Group, which works in the field of synthetic inorganic chemistry to design new complexes capable of activating unreactive chemical bonds, says Betleys biography on Harvards website. We design catalysts comprised of first-row transition elements where precise control of the molecular electronic structure leads to reactivity in organometallic catalysis and small molecule activation."

The bio says Betley "has been recognized by the Technology Review as one of the top 35 US technological innovators, as well as by the NSF, DOE, and DOD with Early Career Awards."

Kahnes lab at Harvard, the Kahne Research Group, is interested in the problem of antibiotic resistance, his online bio says. To develop new approaches to treat resistant bacterial infections, we focus on the protein machines that assemble the outer membrane that protects Gram-negative bacteria from toxic molecules.

Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, are focused on Lieber, whos charged with making false statements to federal authorities. Hes currently free on $1 million bond and hasnt yet entered a plea.

The case stretches back to 2011, when a professor at a leading Chinese university e-mailed a contract to Lieber. He told Lieber he had been recommended for a global recruitment program, part of the communist governments Thousand Talents Plan to lure high-level scientific talent and, in some cases, reward them for stealing proprietary information, federal investigators have said.

A few days later, Lieber traveled to Chinas Wuhan University of Technology to sign a long-term agreement. When the terms were finalized, he would be paid $50,000 a month, $158,000 in living expenses, and $1.5 million to establish a research lab at the Chinese university, according to legal filings.

But Lieber kept that secret from Harvard, according to federal prosecutors, and when questioned by Defense Department investigators in 2018, denied he had ever participated in the Thousand Talents program.

Harvard officials last week said Lieber, who was arrested at his university office, had been placed on paid administrative leave.

The charges brought by the U.S. government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious, the university said in a prior statement. "Harvard is cooperating with federal authorities, including the National Institutes of Health, and is initiating its own review of the alleged misconduct.

Tonya Alanez of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.

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Two named to run Harvard chemistry department in wake of academic's arrest on criminal charge in China case - The Boston Globe