News | Chemistry at Illinois

An indoor photo of Becky Simon, left, standing next to Steven Zumdahl, and Dan Hanus with a large window in the background.

02/16/2022 - Alumnus Dan Hanus honors the good work and deeds of Rebecca "Becky" Simon, his advisor in the School of Chemical Sciences at Illinois when he was a student, by establishing a scholarship in the name...

Photo of Deborah Leckband in a white lab coat, turning her face toward the camera while seated in front of lab equipment with a dark background.

'Molecular Velcro' enables tissues to sense, react to mechanical force

02/09/2022 - This study led by Deborah Leckband, a professor in the departments of chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, and bioengineering, found that cadherins that bond with growth factor receptors...

A photo of Lego blocks in the foreground and the automated molecule building machine in the background.

New set of chemical building blocks makes complex 3D molecules in a snap

02/08/2022 - Illinois researchers Martin Burke, professor of chemistry, and Daniel J. Blair, postdoctoral researcher, along with collaborators at Revolution Medicines Inc. have developed a new class of chemical...

Head shot of Lisa Olshansky on blue background

Lisa Olshansky selected a 2022 Cottrell Scholar

02/08/2022 - Research Corporation for Science Advancement, America's first foundation dedicated wholly to science, has named a diverse group of 24 early career scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy as...

Black and white head shot of professor Iain Paul

Remembering Iain C. Paul, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry

02/04/2022 - A member of the Illinois chemistry faculty since 1964, colleagues and alumni share their memories of the Scotland-born professor who was known not only as an accomplished crystallographer and for his...

Visualization of delta SARS-CoV-2 in a respiratory aerosol, where the virus is depicted in purple with the studded spike proteins in cyan. Mucins are red, albumin proteins green, and the deep lung fluid lipids in ochre.

Rommie Amaro (PhD, '05) leads team simulating individual viruses in airborne droplet of water

02/04/2022 - A research team led by Chemistry at Illinois alum Rommie Amaro, who is a University of California San Diego professor, has modeled for the first time the delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus inside...

Researchers simulate behavior of living 'minimal cell' in three dimensions

01/27/2022 - Professor Zaida Luthey-Schulten and graduate students Zane Thornburg, Benjamin Gilbert and Troy Brier developed a three-dimensional, fully dynamic kinetic model of a living minimal cell that mimics...

Portrait of Martin Burke sitting in a chair in his office with pictures of drawings on the wall behind him.

Burke one of 14 faculty members elected AAAS Fellows

01/26/2022 - Fourteen University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members, including chemistry professor Martin Burke, have been elected 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From left, Jeffrey Moore, William Neary and Yunyan Sun stand on campus with the Beckman Institute in the background.

Researchers: First mechanophore to release carbon monoxide triggered by mechanical force

01/21/2022 - The study demonstrates how this NEO multimechanophore not only releases controlled amounts of carbon monoxide but also emits a fluorescence visually showing the amount, making the dual-functioning...

Side by side headshots of Jeffrey Moore and Diego Alzate-Sanchez

Listening to the leaves: bioinspired veins provide structure, transport fluids in foamed polymers

01/20/2022 - Vascular systems found in trees transport vital nutrients from root, to branch, to leaf. In a new study, researchers at the Beckman Institute developed a chemical process to mimic this arboreal...

A photo of Susanna Barrett standing in front of the steps leading into the east entrance to Noyes Lab.

Getting to know: PhD student Susanna Barrett an aspiring mentor, professor

01/20/2022 - A third-year graduate student, Susanna Barrett weaves into her busy schedule time for mentoring other students both outside the lab and in the lab where she is currently doing a lot of foundational...

Side by side head shots of Martin Burke, left, on a dark background, and Taras Pogorelov, right, on a light blue background.

Atomic structure of antifungal drug confirms unusual mechanism, opens door to less-toxic derivatives

12/09/2021 - Illinois chemistry professors Martin Burke and Taras Pogorelov co-led a team that mapped the unusual aggregate structure of the antifungal drug amphotericin B, illuminating the path to develop less-...

Chemistry student is a Fiddler Innovation Undergraduate Fellowship recipient

12/07/2021 - Chemistry undergraduate student Andrew Sunwoo Lee is one of 20 undergraduate and graduate students and faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who were recognized during the 2021 the...

The six researchers pose together in front of a screen showing carbon molecules.

Rodríguez-López leads research team exploring new carbon capture methods

12/01/2021 - A multi-institutional team of researchers will explore how to manipulate an energetically inexpensive electrostatic charge transfer mechanism to capture and release carbon dioxide.

Portrait of Subhendu Pandit in a blue lab coat standing in the lab with arms crossed facing the camera.

Getting to know: Graduate student Subhendu Pandit to pursue R&D work after his PhD

11/30/2021 - Working last summer as a research and development intern with Mediomics, a small biotech start-up company in St. Louis, graduate student Subhendu Pandit discovered how much he enjoys research, design...