Fifth-year chemistry graduate student Aleksandras “Alek” Lotuzas (Harran group) was one of 10 finalists in the 2026 UCLA Grad Slam competition, held March 11. Lotuzas’ three-minute presentation, “Harnessing Green Tea to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease”, can be viewed as part of the winning videos here. His presentation begins at 1:14:50. As a finalist, Lotuzas will receive […]

A research team co-led by Professor Abigail Doyle, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Simone Gallarati, and graduate student Erin Bucci, together with Professor Matthew S. Sigman at the University of Utah, has used machine learning to build a smarter prediction system that could speed up the drug discovery process at a fraction of the cost. Their study […]

Distinguished Research Professor Ken Houk was the featured guest for Pomona College’s 62nd Robbins Lecture Series, “Computational Organic and Biological Chemistry,” where he delivered four talks from February 24-27. “I had a wonderful visit meeting everyone—from about 80 high school students who attended my first lecture and asked thoughtful questions about both my science and my career, to […]

Michael Jung, Distinguished Professor and UCLA’s Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in Medicinal Drug Discovery, has been selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Medicinal Chemistry (MEDI) to receive the 2026 Gertrude Elion Medicinal Chemistry Award in recognition of his impact on medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. The award honors Gertrude Elion, the […]

True Bruin UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Thuc-Quyen Nguyen (B.S. ’97, M.S. ’98, Ph.D., ’01 chemistry, Schwartz group) is profiled in a recent Chemistry World article. In addition to receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from UCLA, Nguyen earned her Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Benjamin Schwartz. Her thesis […]

Geneticist and biochemist Professor Rachel Green, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, presented the 22nd annual Sigman Symposium on February 27 at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Green’s groundbreaking research on translation and mRNA decay has had a profound impact on the field of molecular […]

Professor Ron Naaman (Weizmann Institute of Science), known for discovering and developing the concept of chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS), visited UCLA on February 19 to give the Winter 2026 Chemistry & Biochemistry Distinguished Lecture. Enthusiastic students, postdoctoral researchers, staff and faculty members attended the lecture in the Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Hall in the Mani […]

A research team led by Professor Abigail Doyle and graduate student Flora Fan, with graduate student Alexander Maertens and Doyle Princeton group alumna Kassandra Sedillo, has uncovered new “metal-like” reactivity with phosphines under light to forge useful carbon–nitrogen bonds. Their study was recently featured in Nature. This research was highlighted in an article in the […]