Congratulations to Professor Alexander Spokoyny on his promotion to full professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2024. Spokoyny is a prominent chemist specializing in inorganic, main group and organometallic chemistry, with a particular focus on the applications of these fields in energy storage and biomedical technologies. He currently serves as the Chair of the UCLA […]

Congratulations to Professor Keriann Backus on her promotion to associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2024. A prominent chemical biologist known for her groundbreaking work in chemoproteomics and chemical probe development, Backus’ research seeks to advance our understanding of protein function and guide discovery of therapeutic targets with innovative mass spectrometry techniques and multi-omic […]

Dr. Eugenia S. Vasileiadou, a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Justin Caram’s group, has received the prestigious University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (UC-CPFP) for the 2024-2025 academic year.  The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (CPFP) provides postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars whose research, teaching, and service promote diversity and equal opportunity at […]

On May 14, 2024, 38 undergraduate students presented research posters at the first annual SMACS and UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Poster Session, hosted jointly by the Student Members of the American Chemical Society (SMACS) and the chemistry department. After welcoming remarks given by SMACS board members in the Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Hall, […]

In April, the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry launched Fran Zone’s Chemistry of Compelling Communication Series. The inspiration for the series was sparked in 2019 when department chair, Professor Catherine Clarke (the first female to chair the department), invited Dr. Michael Varney (UCLA grad, 1980) to deliver the commencement speech that year. Dr. Varney […]

Dr. Kevin E. Rivera Cruz, a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Hannah Shafaat’s group, has received the prestigious University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (UC-PPFP) and the National Science Foundation Math and Physical Sciences ASCEND Postdoctoral Fellowship (NSF-MPS-ASCEND) for the 2024-2025 academic year.  The UC-PPFP is a one-year fellowship that covers the annual salary for postdoctoral […]

The Van der Waals Thin Film Team, co-led by Professor Xiangfeng Duan, Professor Yu Huang (Materials Science and Engineering), and Professor Jun Chen (Bioengineering), receives the RSC 2024 Materials Chemistry Horizon Prize for the development of van der Waals thin films with high electronic performance, mechanical stretchability, and permeability for highly flexible, which offer a […]

The Electrical Transport Spectroscopy Team, co-led by Professor Xiangfeng Duan, Professor Anastassia Alexandrova, and Professor Yu Huang (Engineering), receives the RSC 2024 Faraday Horizon Prize for the development of electron transport microscopy to experimentally determine the platinum-surface hydronium pKa and its role in pH-dependent hydrogen evolution reactions. The Faraday Horizon Prize recognizes significant and novel […]