Syracuse University

A researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences has been awarded grants from The ALS Association and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to support his study of protein biosynthesis.

Carlos A. Castañeda, assistant professor of biology and chemistry, is the University’s inaugural recipient of a one-year, $50,000 starter grant from the ALS Association, a nonprofit organization that seeks to find a cure for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Castañeda will use the award to investigate the effects of a protein called Ubiliquin-2 (UBQLN2) on ALS.

Castañeda also is the recipient of ORAU’s 2016 Ralph E. Power Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, whose $5,000 prize is being matched by the University. He will use the grant to study Ufm1, a protein that regulates the cellular stress response of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and is linked to diabetes, migraine, breast cancer and other diseases. ORAU is a national consortium of more than 100 major institutions, committed to groundbreaking research in science, education, security and health. Read the full article at SU News.

Robert Doyle, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Peter Wilcoxen, professor of public administration and international affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will be named as the 2016-19 Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professors of Teaching Excellence at a ceremony on Thursday, April 14, at 4 p.m. in the Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center.  Read more at SU News.

Chemists in the College of Arts and Sciences have made a transformational advance in an alternate lighting source—one that doesn’t require a battery or a plug.

Associate Professor Mathew Maye and a team of researchers from the University, along with collaborators from Connecticut College, have recently demonstrated high-efficiency energy transfer between semiconductor quantum rods and luciferase enzymes. Quantum rods and luciferase enzymes are nanomaterials and biomaterials, respectively. When combined correctly, these materials produce bioluminescence—except, instead of coming from a biomaterial, such as a firefly enzyme, the light eminates from a nanomaterial, and is green, orange, red or near-infrared in color.

The findings are the subject of a recent article in ACS Nano (American Chemical Society, 2016).

“Think of our system as a design project," Maye says. "Our goal has been to build a nanobiosystem that's versatile enough to teach us a lot, while allowing us to overcome significant challenges in the field and have practical applications. The design involves materials from our chemistry and biology labs, as well as various nanoscience and self-assembly tools. It's a true team effort with multiple collaborations.”

Read the full article at SU News.

The new Medicinal Chemistry Track incorporates the principles of chemistry and the biological sciences to help students develop an understanding of the design, synthesis, evaluation, and optimization of pharmaceutically relevant small molecules and biologics. This program provides a strong background for employment as a B.S.-level medicinal chemist in industry, government laboratories and other venues. Download the informational flyer.