Tufts Chemistry at the Cutting Edge!

The Department is delighted to welcome two new faculty,
Prof. Joshua A. Kritzer, who received his Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Yale, and Prof. Samuel W. Thomas, who received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT.  Prof. Kritzer's research will focus on chemical genetic agents and their use in understanding the molecular biology of human disease, while Prof. Thomas' research is aimed at the design, synthesis, and testing of organic materials for a number of applications.

Prof. Charles Sykes, the Usen Family Career Development Assistant Professor, has just received an NSF CAREER award. This prestigious five-year award will fund his group’s work on molecular rotors and motors as well as nanoscience outreach projects at local high schools. In 2008 Prof. Sykes was named a Beckman Young Investigator and a Cottrell Scholar of Research Corporation. Prof. Sykes’ research group focuses on imaging, characterizing and manipulating matter at the atomic-scale with an emphasis on catalysis, chirality, and directed molecular motion

The first wet chemical analysis on Mars, lead by Prof. Sam Kounaves as a mission Co-I and his Tufts research team, has revealed an alkaline  soil containing a variety of soluble minerals, and  changes the way we view Mars. The 2007 Phoenix mission investigated the Martian soil and ice to understand its potential to support life and the planet's history.  A record that may hold clues for Earth's life & climate.  He is also using "extreme analytical chemistry" to unravel mysteries about Earth's environment and life in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, Death Valley, and ocean vents. See C&EN, NYTimes, and NOVA Now.

Prof. Arthur Utz and his group have accomplished the long-standing goal of exerting bond-selective control over heterogeneous catalysis. The work extends strategies for laser-based chemical control from the gas phase to surface reactions important in industrial catalysis and materials deposition. It also reveals the rates and pathways for energy flow during methane activation, which is rate limiting in the industrial production of H₂. For more see C&EN and Science.

The National Academy of Engineering has elected Prof. David Walt as one of its new members. The announcement cites Walt and his research group's extensive research in the development of revolutionary sensors and sensor-arrays that can simultaneously image and perform biochemical analyses.  See NEA announcement.

Giving proteins Teflon-like properties by inserting fluorinated amino acids into them has been one of Prof. Krishna Kumar's on going research goals. Recent studies by his research team have shown that fluorination of biologically active antimicrobial peptides is an effective strategy for improving their stability and antimicrobial therapeutic value.  In addition to antibiotics, Kumar's work includes the design of fluorinated drug delivery systems and potential cancer drugs. For more see C&EN and Drug Discovery News articles.