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Portland State University is the only institution
in Portland to offer a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry.
Please explore this page and its links to get a feel for what exciting
research and coursework is ongoing in the department. We invite you to
check out:
The department is currently seeking graduate students for Fall 2009,
deadline for application is February 1, 2009. Please click here for a
quick link to the Ph.D. application procedure
.
Quick Contacts:
Sinnamon Tierney - Department Manager, Research Administrator and
Graduate Admissions Coordinator - 503-725-8904 email:
tierney@pdx.edu
Dr. Eric Sheagley - Chemistry General and Organic Lab Coordinator -
503-725-8237 email: sheagley@pdx.edu
Chemistry Faculty Position
Postdoctoral Position in Chemistry (Available immediately posted: 10/2/09/)
News and Announcements
November 2009
Linus Pauling Award Symposium and
Banquet - Saturday, November 7
Symposium in Hoffman Hall from 1-5pm
October 2009
Dr. Mark Woods has been recognized by the Chemical Society Review for
his article on "Paramagnetic Ianthanide complexes as PARACEST agents for
medical imaging" as within the top 50 articles published in 2006 that
contributed to the 2008 ChemSocRev Impact Factor.
Awards: Dr. Andrea Goforth was awarded an National Science Foundation
"Acquisition of a Multi-Institutional, Multi-Departmental, Modern X-Ray
Diffraction System (MRI) award to Anchor a Portland Area Materials
Characterization Group. Total Award Amount: $ 225,624
Research Faculty, Drs. Jane Kelly & Michael Riscoe both received NIH
Challenge grants for a total of less than $2 million. Dr. Kelly's
project is on
"Dual Function Acridones as a New Antimalarial Chemotype" & Dr. Riscoe's
project is on "Development of Chlorquine Replacement Drug".
September 2009
The Department of Chemistry welcomes new faculty member Dr. Olof
Ramstrom
July 2009
Publications: Kevin A. Reynolds and his research group have
published two collaborative papers on /Salinispora tropica/, a deep
sea-dwelling bacterium that makes the salinosporamides, promising
anticancer agents. The group teamed up with Professor Bradley
S. Moore of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University
of California, San Diego, to discover that these chlorinated
salinosporamides are biosynthesized by a set of unusual polyketide
synthase (PKS) enzymes (/Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA/, DOI:
10.1073/pnas.0901237106). They then explored the enzyme's substrate
specificity, and learned that it could incorporate a broad range of
substrates, including brominated and fluorinated compounds, into the
salinosporamides' skeleton (/J. Am. Chem. Soc/., DOI:
10.1021/ja9042824). The work has also been covered in this Chemistry
and enginnerinig News (http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/87/i30/html/8730scic4.html
Dr. Tami Lasseter Clare ongoing work on the "Money Tree" with the
Portland Art Museum
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/07/new_psu_venture_uncovers_secre.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009420710_aporartlab.html
May 2009
Chemistry Faculty Member, Dr. Tami Lasseter Clare featured in May's
Portland Monthly Magazine article: "Chemical Reaction, A Portland State
University scientist believes her new lab can save some of the
Northwest's precious art."
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/arts-and-entertainment/category/art/articles/art1-0509/#
<http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/credits/articles/lynette-sanchez>
April 2009
April 25th - World Malaria Day, Spotlight on Portland Company,
DesignMedix Inc., Licensed to PSU and Developed by Faculty Member, Dr.
David Peyton
http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=33035
Dr. David Peyton was awarded an NIH STTR grant for nearly $400,000 for
two years to support research on "Designed Antimalarial Agents
Overcoming Chloroquine Resistance". The grant is a collaboration with
the DesignMedix company and PSU on antimalarial drugs research.
Adjunct Research Professor, Dr. Michael Riscoe was just awarded a new
NIH R01 grant on "Antitoxoplasmosis drug design and optimization" for
over $1.4 million for four years. Dr. Riscoe is the Director of the
Experimental Chemotherapy Lab at the Portland VA Medical Center.
Dr. Andrea Goforth and Dr. Dirk Iwata-Reuyl were both awarded The
Murdock Charitable Trust's Partners in Science Program Awards. The
awards are for a total of $15,000 each for two years. PSU Faculty
members are paired with an area High School Chemistry Teacher to work on
a research project. Dr. Goforth will be working with Ms. Rebecca
Chitkowski from Gladstone High School on "Synthesis and Characterization
of Bismuth Precursors Compounds and Bismuth Nanoparticles for Computed
Tomography X-ray Contrast Agents". Dr. Iwata-Reuyl will be working with
Alexander Taylor from Oregon City High School on "Mechanistic Studies of
GTP Cyclohydrolase IB: A New Antimicrobial Target".
March 2009
Congratulations to Junior, Biochemistry Major, Christopher Hazzard. He
is the recipient of the ACS Dick Van Santen Scholarship and carries the
award of $3,000.
Dr Mingdi Yan and Dr. Kevin Reynolds were each awarded NIH supplemental
awards totaling over $900,000. Dr. Yan's NIH research is on
"Photogenerated Carbohydrate Microarrays" and the project will span four
years. Dr. Reynolds' NIH research is on "Deciphering the Steps of
Prodoginine Biosynthesis" and will be completed over the next two years.
Dr. Carl Wamser just received an NSF grant for establishing a green
roof/photovoltaic project on Science Building II for $300,000. This
project includes partnerships with PGE and the City of Portland as well
as collaborations with PSU engineering and biology faculty members.
Dr. Rob Strongin and Dr. Mingdi Yan received news they were awarded a
new NIH R01 grant on "Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer" for $1,163,305
over five years with collaborators at The Womens & Infants Hospital of
Rhode Island and Brown University.
February 2009
Dr. Jim Pankow has been named to the National Academy of Engineering.
Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions
accorded to an engineer. "Academy membership honors those who have made
outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or
education" As of now, he is the only research-active faculty member in
the state to hold this unique position. Please read more at:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=02062009
Dr. Tami Lasseter Clare joins the Department of Chemistry. Dr.
Clare's research focuses on the intersection of materials chemistry and
art conservation.
PSU's Department of Chemistry collaborates with Oregon Translational
Research and Drug Development Institute (OTRADI) (please link to
OTRADI's website at: http://www.otradi.org/back.htm). Please watch the
YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kNXnCbfVv8
January 2009
Department of Chemistry adjunct professor, Nancy Becker, MS, RD, LD received the
2009 Award for Grassroots Excellence. The award is considered the American Dietetic Association's top award for
nutrition advocacy.
Becker's work in public policy and her leadership were cited in her
nomination by the Oregon Dietetic Association. In addition to
developing, mentoring and training leaders and students within ODA, she
testified to the Oregon state legislature on breast feeding and school
nutrition, and worked with state legislators on the importance of high
nutrition standards for foods sold outside of the school lunch program.
Becker has received attention throughout Oregon for bringing food, nutrition
and health issues to then candidate and now new U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley.
New internships available for PSU undergraduate chemistry students with
local chemical companies. Please contact Dr. Gwen Shusterman for more
information at shustermang@pdx.edu or 503-725-3897.
November 2008
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce Dr. James F. Pankow
has been asked to serve as one of the University Fellows for the
Sustainability Center. He will serve alongside two other Fellows for
the Sustainability Center, Dr. Sergio Palleroni, Architecture and Dr.
Dave Ervin, Environmental Science & Resources. The Fellows will help
guide PSU in sustainability initiatives, including Urban Transportation,
Photovoltaic Solar Energy, Aerosols & Climate, and Renewable Enegy.
September 2008
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce and welcome the
addition of two new faculty members who arrived in the Fall of 2008.
Dr. Andrea Goforth, an ONAMI
Signature Research Fellow whose research involves advancement of the
field of bionanotechnology by the development of novel, nanometer sized
inorganic imaging agents.
Dr. Mark Woods, whose primary research involves the design and
chemical synthesis of targeted contrast media for magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI). Dr. Woods also works at the Advance Imaging Research
Center (AIRC) at Oregon Health
and Sciences University.
PSU Chemist, Dr. Robert Strongin's research on Dyes in biomedical
applications is featured in Chemical and Engineering News:
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/86/i38/html/8638sci1.html
Chemistry Tenure-Track Faculty Opening in Environmental Chemistry or
Renewable Energy, beginning Fall 2009
August 2008
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to welcome Dr. James F. Pankow.
Dr. Pankow will start at PSU in September. He has a split appointment
between the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science (MCECS)
and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).
July 2008
Dr. Robert Strongin's research on new fluorophores is published as an open access article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA: http://www.pnas.org/content/105/26/8829.full.pdf+html?sid=1c3d65c4-c28a-4fca-bd68-6bea929e2933
Dr. Shakar Rananavare's discovery of a nanofilm-based room temperature sensor for chlorine is featured by Institute of Physics at their website: http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34537;jsessionid=C52A57005818F68979028B5A517CC72F
Dr. Robert Strongin is named a Sigma Xi Distinguished National Lecturer for the term 2009-2010.
June 2008
Dr. Mingdi Yan was just awarded a 5 year National Institute of Health
R01 Grant for $1,410,440. Project titled: Photogenerated Carbohydrate
Microarrays.
May 2008
Dr. Mingdi Yan's patent "Patterned Polymeric Structures, Particularly Microstructures and Methods For Making Same" is licensed to SuSoS AG, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Dr. David Peyton and Dr. Robert Strongin each receive Outstanding Researcher Awards from the Sigma Xi Columbia-Willamette Chapter.
April 2008
Dr Kevin Reynolds is elected to the Board of Directors for the Society of Industrial Microbiology.
March 2008
The PSU BioAnalytical Mass Spectral Facility web site
is now available.
December 2007
Chemistry Faculty member, Shankar Rananavare is
the recipient of an NIH grant subcontracted by OHSU.
The project is titled "Interfacial Phase Behavior of Pulmonary
Surfactants". Dr. Rananavare is collaborating with Dr. Stephen Hall at
the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Laboratory at OHSU. The
project will last four years and is for over $235,000.
November 2007
The Antimalarial Hybrid designed by Dr. David Peyton
was
acknowledged in Chemical & Engineering News, November 12, 2007 edition
under "Drug Hybrids enter the Fray".
The Department of Chemistry acquires a New Mass Spectrometer
The Mass Spectrometer is a Bruker micrOTOF-Q. It features precise mass
determination capabilities (20-40,000 m/z range), MS/MS and SigmaFitTM
isotopic analysis, making it possible to determine the formula of small
molecules, perform metabolic studies, analyze complex mixtures and
digests, and evaluate intact proteins.
October 2007
Dr. Robert Strongin
was awarded
$168,904 from Department of Justice. The project is titled "Developing
Fluorogenic Reagents for Detecting and Enhancing Bloody Fingerprints"
PSU Ph.D. Student, Aaron Burton
was awarded a NASA Earth and
Space Science Fellowship, renewable for three years. Project titled
"Selection in Vitro of a Ribonucleotide Reductase Ribozyme".
September 2007
Dr. Niles Lehman
was awarded a
NASA grant for nearly $400,000 over three years. The project is titled "
A Self-Assembling Collectively Autocatalytic Set of RNA Oligomers".
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
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