Michael K. Johnson, Distinguished Research Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Metalloenzymes Studies, has received a National Institutes of Health MERIT award ($3.3M over 10-years). The objective of NIH MERIT Awards is to provide long-term, stable support to investigators with “outstanding records of productivity, creativity and impact in biomedical research and outstanding records of service to the scientific community”. Dr.

Three graduate students in the Department of Chemistry recently earned distinction from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia as recipients of distinguished fellowships. Brian Sanders is the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Mary Laraine Young Hines Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research. Sean Marrache and Anthony Prudden are the 2014 recipients of prestigious Grimes Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Natural Sciences.

Robert J. Gilliard, Jr., a 2014 doctoral graduate in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of chemistry, has been awarded a UNCF/Merck Foundation Postdoctoral Science Research Fellowship. The award provides $98,000 and includes a stipend, research grant, and travel funds for up to two years of fellowship tenure.

Gregory H. Robinson, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has been named the University of Georgia's 2014 recipient of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

The award, which is administered by SEC provosts, recognizes one faculty member from each of the 14 SEC schools and includes a $5,000 honorarium. Robinson joined the UGA faculty in 1995 and was named Distinguished Research Professor in 2000, Franklin Professor in 2005 and Foundation Distinguished Professor in 2013.

“For advances in gas phase chemical physics, laser spectroscopy, and molecular quantum mechanics, especially for pioneering contributions to the development and application of helium nanodroplet isolation for the stabilization of transient intermediates in combustion chemistry, and for excellence in student mentoring.”

Karson Brooks, second year graduate student working under the direction of Professor Jason Locklin, has won the 2014 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship award in the category of "macromolecular, supramolecular, and nanochemistry." Karson was one of only eleven UGA students to win an NSF fellowship this year, and the only graduate student in the Chemistry Department to do so. She is the first chemistry graduate student to win the award in many years.

A group of UGA chemists led by Yuzhong Wang and Gregory H. Robinson have prepared the first stable molecule containing diphosphorus tetroxide, P2O4, via a novel approach involving the reaction of molecular oxygen with the base-stabilized diphosphorus. The base involved belongs to an important class of donor bases known as N-heterocyclic carbenes. Diphosphorus tetroxide is the long-sought phosphorus analog of the rocket propellant N2O4.

Iron Carbide, Fe5C2, has long been used in metallic alloys and hard coatings for its superior resilience. Less known is that Fe5C2 also displays strong magnetism and good biocompatibility, making it a promising biomaterial with applications in fields like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic separation. However, these applications require Fe5C2 to be made in the form of colloidally stable nanoparticles, which has proven to be challenging. This problem was solved recently by UGA graduate student Wei Tang, and her advisor Dr.

Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a new prodrug that promises to reduce many of the negative side effects caused by cisplatin, a commonly prescribed chemotherapy treatment.

Cisplatin may be used to treat a variety of cancers, but it is most commonly prescribed for cancer of the bladder, ovaries, cervix, testicles and lung. It is an effective drug, but it often causes severe and irreversible damage to a patient's kidneys, hearing and sense of balance.

The second organic chemistry course a college student takes is often referred to as the "gateway to medical school" because students must learn, synthesize and use knowledge in a rapid fashion to make decisions, much like a doctor.