UCLA

Dickerson Biochemistry Seminar - Flowreen Shikwana and Connor Short
2023-05-12 15:30 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
05.12.23 Shikwana and Short Flyer

Physical Chemistry Seminar 228: Lauren Marbella
2023-05-15 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Marbella Flyer

Special Seminar: Research in Chemical Education and STEM Pedagogy: Dr. Jennifer Casey
2023-05-16 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Dr. Jennifer Casey Flyer
Title: Implementing Effective and Inclusive Group Work in the STEM Classroom
Abstract: Students learn more and earn higher grades in student-centered, collaborative instruction than in lecture-based instruction. Research also suggests that group work may improve equity in course outcomes. Given the many documented benefits of collaborative learning, instructors have good reason to integrate group work into their classrooms, however, incorporating this form of active learning in large classroom settings can be difficult. Additionally, a critical aspect is being overlooked – is incorporating group work enough, or are specific aspects of implementation required in order to achieve a desired outcome? While the literature contains many recommendations for high-impact practices, my work focuses on investigating which features are critical for obtaining an intended outcome, as well as determining who truly benefits from these interventions. In this seminar, we will specifically focus on the impact of group work on student engagement in remote chemistry classrooms, as well as the effect group work has on student sense of belonging across multiple STEM disciplines. The picture that emerges is one that underscores the importance of having thoughtful and deliberate integration of group work into a course – preliminary data suggests having students simply work in groups is insufficient to see improved student outcomes. Depending on the overall goal an instructor is hoping to achieve, they may need to focus on different elements of supportive group work. Furthermore, it is important that we confirm whether the practices we are using are having the desired impact given the effort required to implement structured group work, especially in high-enrollment courses.

Jeffrey I. Zink Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series: Jerome Robinson
2023-05-17 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Prof. Jerome Robinson Flyer
Title: Catalyst RE-Design: Dynamic, Reactive, and Selective Systems for Oxygenated (Co)Polymer Synthesis
Abstract: Polymer waste has quickly become one of our society’s largest looming environmental concerns, where an estimated 4.9 GTons of polymer waste currently exist in the environment. Central to addressing this challenge is the generation of polymers with robust materials properties that also embed or encode end-of-use. Oxygenated (co)polymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are naturally occurring and fully bioresorbable polymers with promising properties, yet their efficient and cost-effective stereospecific synthesis remains challenging. In this talk, I will share some of our group’s recent advances in catalyst development for the synthesis of oxygenated (co)polymers. Specifically, we’ll discuss new catalyst design strategies which fully leverage the unique properties of the rare-earth elements (group III and the lanthanides) to generate systems which are highly dynamic, reactive, and selective.

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Natalie Kashanchi
2023-05-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Houk-Jung Organic Colloquium 247: Joshua Kritzer
2023-05-18 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Kritzer Flyer
Designing Stapled Peptides that Control Autophagy
Abstract: Autophagy is a cellular recycling process important for health and disease, and a major focus for new types of targeted protein degradation. The Kritzer Lab has used structure-based design to develop stapled peptides that bind the critical autophagy proteins LC3B and GABARAP with nanomolar affinities. Small changes in staple structure produced ligands with very different binding modes, leading to differences in paralog selectivity. The stapled peptides exhibited considerable cytosolic penetration and resistance to biological degradation. They also reduced autophagic flux in cultured ovarian cancer cells and sensitized ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin. These small, potent stapled peptides represent promising autophagy-modulating compounds that can be developed as novel cancer therapeutics and novel mediators of targeted protein degradation.

Dickerson Biochemistry Seminar - Nina Harpell and Kayla Rich
2023-05-19 15:30 - 16:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
05.19.23 Harpell and Rich Flyer

MACS Careers in Chemistry Seminar Series | Dr. Mihaela Balseanu | ASM
2023-05-19 16:00 - 17:00 | Mol Sci 3440, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Physical Chemistry Seminar 228: Aaswath Raman
2023-05-22 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Prof. Raman Flyer
Nanophotonic Control of Thermal Emission and Radiative Cooling Applications
Abstract: Thermal emission is a ubiquitous light emission process whose control is of central importance to a broad range of energy, heat transfer and imaging applications. In this talk, I will describe my group’s recent work on controlling the directional and spectral characteristics of thermal emission using nanophotonic strategies. Recent work demonstrating how infrared emissivity can be arbitrarily controlled using graded-doped III-V semiconductor films will be discussed. I will also introduce new energy and climate resilience capabilities enabled by these kinds of material capabilities, in particular highlighting our body of work on radiative cooling for building efficiency as well as desalination applications.

Chem 263 Seminars in Chemical Biology: Hayden Montgomery
2023-05-23 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Jeffrey I. Zink Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series: Yulia Zaikina
2023-05-24 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Dr. Yulia Zaikina Flyer
Title: Hard-to-make solids from unconventional synthetic routes
Abstract: Materials discovery can be accelerated by the development of synthesis methods and in-situ characterization techniques allowing for the rapid “screening” of multicomponent systems, while theoretical predictions of new compounds’ structure and thermodynamic stability can yield the desired roadmap for the targeted synthesis. However, the sluggish kinetics of solid-state reactions entails the necessity of high temperatures and long annealing times, often leading to the stabilization of the thermodynamically stable products. We are interested in unconventional synthesis methods toward solid-state materials, using reactive, salt-like precursors. Our synthesis is guided by real-time reaction monitoring and theoretical predictions. I will show how new ternary compounds containing alkali metals (Li, Na, K) can be discovered using this approach. I will further discuss their structural features established by comprehensive diffraction methods, and physical properties.

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Austin Bailey
2023-05-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Houk-Jung Organic Colloquium 247: Brian Liau
2023-05-25 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Liau Flyer
Unraveling Chromatin Complexes with Small Molecules
Abstract: The orchestrated interactions of chromatin complexes and transcription factors shape the cell’s epigenome to control gene expression and cell state. Dysregulation of these complexes and their interactions underlie human disease, and new therapeutic approaches to modulate them by blocking or even creating interactions are transforming paradigms for drug discovery. Beyond their potential as therapeutics, these small molecules are powerful tools to dissect the function and regulation of chromatin complexes. By combining genome-editing with chemical inhibitor profiling in an approach called CRISPR-suppressor scanning, we describe the systematic identification of drug resistance alleles across protein targets, including chromatin complexes. These drug resistance alleles not only confirm on-target engagement but can be used as powerful discovery tools to uncover new principles and aspects of chromatin complex biology. In this seminar, I will describe how the application of these approaches in combination with deeper mechanistic investigation has led to unexpected biological discoveries that reshape our views on targeting chromatin modifying enzymes for therapeutics.

Dickerson Biochemistry Seminar - Niko Vlahakis and Kelsey Feustel
2023-05-26 15:30 - 16:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
05.26.23 Vlahakis and Feustel Flyer

MACS Careers in Chemistry Seminar Series | Dr. Mihaela Bojin | University of Iowa
2023-05-26 16:00 - 17:00 | Mol Sci 3440, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
26May2023 MACS Careers in Chemistry Seminar

Chem 263 Seminars in Chemical Biology: Heta Desai
2023-05-30 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Jeffrey I. Zink Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series: Rebecca J. Abergel
2023-05-31 13:00 - 14:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Prof. Rebecca Abergel Flyer
Title: Heavy elements in nature: from waste management to precision medicine
Abstract: From the potential contamination of individuals with radioactive fission products after a nuclear accident to the therapeutic use of radioisotopes for cancer diagnostics and treatment, the nuclear, coordination, and biological chemistry of actinides have become increasingly relevant to a number of applied problems. Understanding the fundamental bonding interactions of selective metal assemblies presents a rich set of scientific challenges and is critical to the characterization of f-element coordination chemistry, and to the development of highly efficient separation reagents or new therapeutic agents. Our approach to these challenges uses a combination of biochemical and spectroscopic studies on both in vitro and in vivo systems to characterize and tune the selective binding of man-made, f-block metal ions by natural and biomimetic ligand architectures. These studies will be discussed with a focus on emerging applications in separation, isotope production, and medicine.

Chemistry and Biochemistry Departmental Award Ceremony
2023-05-31 15:00 - 18:00 | CNSI Auditorium
Join the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for our annual Departmental Award Ceremony!
We are honored to recognize the achievements and research done by our Undergraduate/Graduate/Postdoctoral Researchers, as well as the leadership and administrative contributions from our Faculty and Staff throughout the 2022-2023 Academic Year.
We hope to see you at this celebratory Award Ceremony!

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Danny Robertson
2023-06-01 12:00 - 13:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Houk-Jung Organic Colloquium 247: Andrei Yudin
2023-06-01 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Yudin Flyer
Synthetic Half-Reactions
Abstract: This lecture will describe the concept of synthetic half-reactions and its applications towards understanding the interplay of chemical reactivity and conformational interconversions. Apart from electrochemistry, which offers half-reaction formalism to predict reactivity, there is no accepted system that dissects chemical transformations into simple components with the goal of matching uphill steps with cognate downhill processes. Such a system would allow one to look at organic reactivity from a different perspective, deemphasizing the role of molecular orbitals in favor of more intuitive enthalpic arguments. Given the frequent, although often questionable, use of the term “driving force” in organic chemistry, it stands to reason that such treatment of reactivity is long overdue. I will describe the origins of the theory of synthetic half-reactions and demonstrate their utility on examples from our and others’ laboratories.

Dickerson Biochemistry Seminar - Lily Taylor and Cindy Wang
2023-06-02 15:30 - 16:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

MACS Careers in Chemistry Seminar Series | Dr. Selma Duhovic | Prepel (X)
2023-06-02 16:00 - 17:00 | Mol Sci 3440, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
2June2023 MACS Careers in Chemistry Seminar

Physical Chemistry Seminar 228: Scott Cushing
2023-06-05 16:00 - 17:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Prof. Cushing Flyer
Title: From Batteries to Photoelectrochemistry: Exploring Ultrafast Phenomena with Electrons, X-rays, and Entangled Photons
Abstract: The Cushing lab focuses on ultrafast instrumentation building that ranges from tabletop X-rays, entangled photon spectroscopy, ultrafast TEM/EELS, to new forms of battery spectroscopy. In this talk, I will give a brief introduction to our research areas, mentioning the increasingly “null” space explored with entangled photons, and then focus on two of the techniques – table top X-ray spectroscopy and our newly created laser-driven ultrafast impedance method. First, we use transient X-ray techniques to element-specifically explore complex photodynamics in solar to fuel and other solid-state systems. The ultrafast X-ray pulses measure a mix of electronic and structural dynamics, and using our excited state Bethe-Salpeter equation approach, we can extract everything from time-resolved electron and hole energies, defect state occupations, phonon and polaron modes, and transport in multi-layer junctions. New examples include measuring a lattice’s coherent response to polaron formation and dynamic localization in superatomic crystals. Second, we use our newly developed, laser-driven ultrafast impedance method to investigate the ion hopping Hamiltonian of superionic conductors. Picosecond temporal and spectral correlations differentiate electron-ion, electron-phonon, and even potentially ion-ion interactions. Follow up transient XUV studies can then give an atomistic view of how material parameters control solid-state electrolyte and electrode performance.

Special Seminar: Research in Chemical Education and STEM Pedagogy: Dr. Heather Tienson-Tseng
2023-06-06 14:30 - 15:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Dr. Heather Tienson-Tseng Flyer
Title: Using Assessment to Inform Instructional Changes
Abstract: An integral aspect of education is assessment, but what is the purpose of assessment, and what can we do to better assess our students? Two common reasons for assigning assessments include determining what students have learned and assigning grades, yet another purpose of assessments can include providing information about the effectiveness of instruction, both longstanding approaches and instructional innovations. In this seminar we will discuss both formative and summative assessments, as well as how one can use all forms of assessment to inform curricular change. Using examples from my research, we will discuss ways to integrate formative assessment into a course to provide feedback for the instructor as well as learning opportunities for students. We will explore an investigation in which I used a concept inventory to identify chemistry misconceptions held by students at the start of a biochemistry course, and then used the results of that assessment to make targeted instructional changes that succeeded in correcting those misconceptions. In another study, I helped develop an exam-level assessment that was used to evaluate student understanding of metabolic pathways; this provided evidence of systems thinking in student responses and illustrates ways to make assessments more accessible to all students. This assessment data can now serve as a baseline to evaluate future instructional changes in the biochemistry course. Through this seminar, we will see that all forms of assessment can be used to identify areas of instruction that can be improved upon, and that changes to instruction in response to assessments can be as small as a targeted clicker question or as large as redesigning a course. Regardless, instructional changes should be based on evidence from student assessments and continually evaluated for their efficacy through assessment of student learning.

Chem 263 Seminars in Chemical Biology: Mikayla Tan
2023-06-06 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Jeffrey I. Zink Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series: Wenyu Huang
2023-06-07 16:00 - 17:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Flyer: Prof. Wenyu Huang Flyer
Title: From Selective Hydrogenation to Polymer Upcycling: Implementation of Ordered Nanomaterials in Heterogeneous Catalysis
Abstract: Catalysis—the essential science for accelerating and directing chemical transformation—is the key to realizing environmentally friendly and economical processes for the conversion of fossil energy feedstocks. Catalysis is also the key to developing new technologies for converting alternative feedstocks, such as waste plastics, biomass, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water, to chemicals and fuels. The two grand challenges of heterogeneous catalysis, understanding mechanisms and dynamics of catalyzed reactions as well as the design and controlled synthesis of catalyst structures, require an atomic and electronic-level understanding of catalysts and catalytic processes. Due to their structural complexity, especially under reaction conditions, the catalytic active site and the molecule-catalyst interaction are often difficult to describe. This presentation will discuss our recent research on the synthesis, characterization, reaction study, and modeling of heterogeneous catalysts that are precisely synthesized at the atomic level using well-defined porous silica nanomaterials, intermetallic compounds, and metal-organic frameworks, which provide the means for meeting the two grand challenges of heterogeneous catalysis. This presentation will demonstrate that ordered nanomaterials could not only help the understanding of catalysis mechanisms but also reveal new catalytic phenomena.

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Helen Huang
2023-06-08 12:00 - 13:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Maya Segal
2023-06-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Organic Graduate Symposium
2023-06-16 09:30 - 16:30 | Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory, 607 Charles E. Young Dr., East, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Chemistry and Biochemistry Commencement Ceremony
2023-06-17 16:30 - 17:45 | Court of Sciences
Join the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for our annual Commencement Ceremony honoring the accomplishments of graduating departmental students as they conclude this chapter of their academic journey.
Tickets are required for those attending in person. We will also be livestreaming the event with live captions activated. Please click below on Saturday, June 17 at 4:30pm to view the event.
