Thanks to our many generous donors, the Mani L. Bhaumik Collaboratory and the Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Room, located in Young Hall 4222, are now open!
The former Young Hall library has been transformed into the Collaboratory (also known as the “CoLab”), which features a much-needed lecture hall with 142 seats (the largest in our department), a fully-equipped study lounge, as well as small group meeting and tutoring rooms – all of which will inspire collaboration and help students thrive.
A ribbon cutting for the Collaboratory with Chancellor Gene Block and Dr. Mani L. Bhaumik was held on March 30, 2022. UCLA postdoctoral fellow, physicist, and bestselling author Mani L. Bhaumik’s generous gift helped to make the Collaboratory possible.
A second ribbon cutting for the Collaboratory’s Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Room was held on July 28, 2022. At the event, Dean of Physical Sciences Professor Miguel García-Garibay gave a history of how the former Young Hall library space came to be transformed into the Collaboratory, followed by the inaugural lecture by Professor Michael Jung, UC Presidential Chair in Medicinal Chemistry and a distinguished professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCLA. A video of Garcia-Garibay’s remarks and Jung’s lecture titled “Drug Discovery in Academica: Successful Case Studies” can be viewed here.
The lecture hall was made possible by a generous gift from Professor Dongwon Yoo of Seoul National University. He attended the event with his wife Youngsoon and son Jayden and gave brief remarks after Jung’s lecture. A former postdoctoral associate in the Jung group, Yoo was on the team that developed the drug Xtandi.
A reception was held on the Court of Sciences patio following Jung’s lecture. Several Collaboratory donors attended the event. Select photos from the event can be viewed below and a photo gallery from the event can be viewed here.
We are very grateful to the supporters whose generous donations made the vision of the Collaboratory possible. The Collaboratory Donor Recognition Wall, located in the study hall, displays hexagonal “molecules” engraved with donor names or the names of those they chose to honor with their gift to the Collaboratory. We are continuing to raise funds for the Collaboratory to assure that the space and the state-of-the-art equipment can be maintained for many years to come. For information about contributing to the Collaboratory Donor Recognition Wall, please email chair@chem.ucla.edu.
Construction on the Collaboratory began in March 2018 and was completed in October 2020. A video showing the transformation process, and a virtual tour of the final space, can be viewed here. (1 hr+)
Professor Michael Jung’s discovery of the drug Xtandi (enzalutamide) was instrumental in establishing the Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory and the Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Room.
Xtandi is effective in slowing or stopping the progression of late-stage castration-resistant prostate cancer. Development of the drug in the early 2000s was a team effort between the Jung lab and Dr. Charles L. Sawyers, a former UCLA professor of Medicine, Urology and Pharmacology. The oral medication received FDA approval in August 2012. Jung and his UCLA team, including Dr. Samedy Ouk and Professor Dongwon Yoo, designed and synthesized Xtandi, which was tested by the Sawyers group. Patients with prostate cancer have benefited tremendously from the drug’s development. Read more about Xtandi here.
A portion of the funds gained from selling the patent rights for the drug were used to match the generous gifts provided by UCLA alumni and friends of the department. The availability of these matching funds combined with gifts from our generous donors enabled the wonderful transformation of the old chemistry library into the Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory.
Fundraising for the Collaboratory was headed by Dean of Physical Sciences Professor Miguel Garcia-Garibay, Professor Catherine F. Clarke, who was the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Chair when the fundraising began, and the Department’s current Chair Professor Neil Garg.
We are very grateful to the following donors whose
contributions made the Collaboratory possible:
Ralph and Charlene Bauer
Susan Elizabeth Baumgarten
Mani L. Bhaumik
Larry and Nancy Davis
Patrick Donley and Jeanette Oka
Atsuko and Akira Fujimoto
Dana Gordon
Ka Kit Hui
Beth Hyatt
Michael and Alice Jung
Priscila and Walter Kasha
June Kim
Charles and Carolyn Knobler
Joan Lo, Alan, Rachel, and Megan Go
Kennen Mackay
Larry and Suzanne Margerum
Janet Marott
Andrew and Emily Maverick
Marion Peters and Jonathan Mersel
Donald Miller
Wayne Poon
Dongwon So
Donna Speckman
William and Karen Timberlake
Jim and Barbara Tsay
The Estate of Masuo and Lorraine Toji
Raymond and Dorothy Wilson
Yi Li and Li Zhang
The department’s Operations Manager, Dr. Janette Kropat, oversaw the Collaboratory project. The space was designed by Irandi and Nathan Nutting of The Design Collectiv, an architectural design firm based in Orange County. UCLA Facilities, headed by Steven Chang, oversaw the construction.
Photos by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
