Two CLAS students and four CLAS faculty — all of whom are in the Honors College — presented their research at the Southern Regional Honors Conference in Savannah, GA, March 27-28.
The students are:

Maggie Chahoud presented “Characterization of Enzymes Involved in V. vulnificus Capsular Polysaccharide Biosynthesis.” She is an undergraduate majoring in biology and chemistry and is in the Biology Honors and University Honors programs.

Lizeth Hernandez presented “Bis(pyridyl)selenoimidazole: Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity.” She is an undergraduate majoring in chemistry and minoring in mathematics, and is in the Chemistry Honors and University Honors programs.

University Writing Programs faculty Connie Rothwell, Robert Arnold, Malcolm Campbell, and Barbara Presnell also presented, along with Honors College faculty member Julie Hicks. The title of their panel was “ePortfolios – The Tie that Binds the Honors Experience.” Rothwell is Director of the University Honors Program in the Honors College, and Arnold, Campbell, and Presnell teach honors courses.

Craig Ogle, the Charles H. Stone Professor of Chemistry, is the 2014 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal. The prestigious award, presented by First Citizens Bank and UNC Charlotte, honors faculty scholarship and intellectual inquiry.

Ogle has made an indelible impact on the field of organic chemistry. Internationally and across the country, scholars and colleagues agree that Ogle is a preeminent leader of Rapid Injection Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (RINMR) spectroscopy research and practice, and he has been a mentor and role model to students and fellow researchers.

An award ceremony was held Tuesday, April 1, at the Harris Alumni Center to formally honor Ogle.

Presented since 1987, the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal is UNC Charlotte’s most prestigious faculty award in recognition of excellence in research.

“Craig has earned the reputation within his discipline and around the world as an effective and respected scholar,” said Chancellor Philip L. Dubois. “He epitomizes what the First Citizens Scholar Medal represents through his innovative research, remarkable scientific impact, and steadfast commitment to preparing undergraduate and graduate students for their future careers.”

Ogle is a world-class researcher in organic chemistry; his studies have answered important questions and provided unprecedented insight and analysis about key synthetic chemical processes that are often central to creating organic compounds like pharmaceuticals and other drugs.

Working with colleagues, Ogle has conducted pioneering studies in the use of RINMR spectroscopy, which allows researchers to observe and measure exactly how two reagents interact during the course of a chemical reaction. As a result of this work, researchers all over the world have a unique perspective into the exact science behind a reaction’s complexities and nuances that always have existed but were never truly understood.

A member of the Chemistry Department since 1984, Ogle was promoted to full professor in 1996. He has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed journal articles; almost all are co-authored by students involved in his work. He has received numerous grants in support of his research from several agencies, most notably the National Science Foundation.  He has served as director of UNC Charlotte’s Regional Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (RACheL) since its inception in 1996.

A graduate of Otterbein College, Ogle completed a master’s and doctorate in chemistry from the University of Arizona. He also served as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

“Our longstanding partnership with UNC Charlotte and the presentation of the Scholars Medal reflect our ‘Forever First’ commitment to the people, businesses and communities who rely on us to the best bank we can be,” said Mark Horgan, area executive for First Citizens Bank in Mecklenburg, Union, Stanley and Cabarrus counties. “First Citizens is proud to help honor an exceptional faculty member’s leadership and scholarship and to further highlight the important contributions UNC Charlotte and its faculty are making in the community, state and world.”

Now in its 27th year, the Scholars Medal was created to spotlight the important contributions UNC Charlotte and its faculty are making – not only in its community but also throughout the Carolinas, the nation and the world. Past award recipients have influenced scholarship in a number of academic disciplines.

Words by Paul Nowell; images by Wade Bruton. More images can be found on flickr.

When Yogin Patel came to UNC Charlotte as an undergraduate biology honors student, he arrived with a mission – to work in a lab with practical implications for its research. Patel, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors in December of 2012, says he found that in the lab of Shan Yan, assistant professor in the Department of Biology.

Patel and other students in the Yan lab uncovered a previously unknown surveillance mechanism used by cells to monitor DNA that is oxidatively damaged. In an unusual opportunity for an undergraduate student, Patel was first author with graduate student Jeremy Willis on a paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Another undergraduate honors student, Barry L. Lentz, joined fellow students and Yan on the paper. The researchers hope their work will open new options in drug development some day.

Patel also was first author on a paper in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) about preparation of Xenopus laevis egg extract.

In high school, as Patel studied advanced levels of biology, he had developed a keen interest in research.  Biotechnology and molecular biology courses opened his eyes to activity at the molecular level. He realized he needed access to a lab and other researchers to pursue his passion.

“I was really excited,” he says. “I wanted to do this myself and apply my ideas. But it is not something you just can go do. Meanwhile my father had colon cancer, and I was in the hospital with him.”

As he observed the oncologists working with his father and continued his independent reading, his enthusiasm for research in genomic instability grew. “I really wanted to become productive,” he says. “I really wanted to get my hands on research.”

Three months after joining Yan’s lab, Patel earned second place in the biology division in the Undergraduate Research Conference and later presented his research at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium at Duke University. He and other students also visited local high schools and hosted students at UNC Charlotte to showcase the scientific method.

After graduation from UNC Charlotte in December 2012, Patel worked at the Levine Cancer Institute Cancer Pharmacology Department as a clinical lab assistant. He joined the lab of Hexin Chen at the University of South Carolina as a Ph.D. student in October 2013, starting research on cancer stem cell approaches for breast cancer.

When Yogin Patel came to UNC Charlotte as an undergraduate biology honors student, he arrived with a mission – to work in a lab with practical implications for its research. Patel, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors in December of 2012, says he found that in the lab of Shan Yan, assistant professor in the Department of Biology.

Patel and other students in the Yan lab uncovered a previously unknown surveillance mechanism used by cells to monitor DNA that is oxidatively damaged. In an unusual opportunity for an undergraduate student, Patel was first author with graduate student Jeremy Willis on a paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Another undergraduate honors student, Barry L. Lentz, joined fellow students and Yan on the paper. The researchers hope their work will open new options in drug development some day.

Patel also was first author on a paper in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) about preparation of Xenopus laevis egg extract.

In high school, as Patel studied advanced levels of biology, he had developed a keen interest in research.  Biotechnology and molecular biology courses opened his eyes to activity at the molecular level. He realized he needed access to a lab and other researchers to pursue his passion.

“I was really excited,” he says. “I wanted to do this myself and apply my ideas. But it is not something you just can go do. Meanwhile my father had colon cancer, and I was in the hospital with him.”

As he observed the oncologists working with his father and continued his independent reading, his enthusiasm for research in genomic instability grew. “I really wanted to become productive,” he says. “I really wanted to get my hands on research.”

Three months after joining Yan’s lab, Patel earned second place in the biology division in the Undergraduate Research Conference and later presented his research at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium at Duke University. He and other students also visited local high schools and hosted students at UNC Charlotte to showcase the scientific method.

After graduation from UNC Charlotte in December 2012, Patel worked at the Levine Cancer Institute Cancer Pharmacology Department as a clinical lab assistant. He joined the lab of Hexin Chen at the University of South Carolina as a Ph.D. student in October 2013, starting research on cancer stem cell approaches for breast cancer.

As part of the 2014 North Carolina Science Festival in late March and early April — with its theme of “Life is Your Lab” — UNC Charlotte will present a Science and Technology Expo, a seven-event public science lecture series, a four-event film festival and a star party. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences students, faculty and staff are deeply involved with these community events, as presenters and volunteers.

All events are free and open to the public. For event locations, maps and more information, visit NC Science Festival or call 704-687-5743. All events are sponsored by UNC Charlotte in association with the NC Science Festival. University sponsors include UNC Charlotte Research and Economic Development, the College of Computing and Informatics, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Education, the College of Health and Human Services and the Graduate School. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and Discovery Place are community partners, and WFAE 90.7 fm is a media partner.

As the culminating event, the Expo will close out the Festival on Sunday, April 13, 10 AM to 2 PM, with activities including robotics, motorsports engineering, rocketry, virtual people, exotic plants and high altitude balloons. The event is for the science-curious of all ages, featuring well over 100 hands-on activities and presentations in chemistry, physics, geology, computer science, engineering and biology developed by the university and a host of industry and community organizations.

Star Party – POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER

POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER – The UNC Charlotte Observatory has postponed its second annual NC Science Festival Star Party, originally scheduled for April 4, starting at 8 PM. The observatory is part of the Department of Physics and Optical Science in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The observatory is located near the Police and Public Safety Department building and North Parking Deck. Once a new date is set, it will be announced on the observatory’s website.

The UNC Charlotte Public Science Lecture Series ushers in the festival when renowned science author and New York Times science columnist Carl Zimmer presents in two free public events on Friday, March 28. Zimmer has written 12 books about science and hundreds of articles for magazines such as The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, Scientific American, Science, and Popular Science. He is one of the world’s leading writers on the marvels of modern biology. At 3 PM, he will lead a panel entitled “What’s Coming in Genomics?” with UNC Charlotte bioinformatics scientists Anthony Fodor, Dennis Livesay and Jessica Schlueter. At 8 PM the same day, he will deliver a free public lecture entitled “You Are Thousands of Species: Discovering The Life Within You.” The lecture is co-sponsored by the North Carolina Science Festival and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Going from the inner microscopic realm to outer space, on Wednesday, April 2, at 7 PM, spaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel will present. Teitel, a science journalist and historian who writes the blog “Vintage Space” for Popular Science, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the history of science. She is a science journalist who writes about space for such outlets as Discovery News Space, Al Jazeera English, Universe Today and AmericaSpace.

The lecture program also includes a series of engaging public talks by UNC Charlotte faculty, discussing science topics that they are intimately familiar with as researchers.

• On April 1 at 7 PM, Mary Lou Maher, professor and chair of UNC Charlotte’s department of software and information systems, will speak on her research in human-computer interaction in a talk “Tangible Creativity.”
• On April 3 at 7 PM, Michael Walter a faculty member in chemistry who researches the potential of organic compounds for solar energy generation, will speak on “Juice It Up: The Earth-Abundant Approach to Converting Sunlight into Usable Energy.”
• On April 8 at 7 PM, architecture professor and director of the Laboratory for Innovative Housing Thomas Gentry will discuss his research work in the field of social sustainability with at talk entitled “Architectural Agriculture: Science, Technology, and Math in Sustainable Communities.”
• On April 10 at 7 PM, the lecture series concludes with professor of science education Ian Binns speaking on “Defending Science Education in the Tar Heel State.”

Recognizing the role that movies play in creating public interest in science, UNC Charlotte has added a Science Film Series to its Festival offerings for 2014. With questions such as  “Is that something that could really happen? How accurate was the science in that film?” in mind, UNC Charlotte has picked four films, ranging from classic science fiction to modern thrillers, to a sensational documentary and has added articulate authorities on the movies’ subjects to discuss where fantasy and reality either diverge or converge. The screenings are free, discussion is encouraged, and popcorn will be served.

The first film in the series is “Contagion” (Warner Bros., 2011) co-hosted by Discovery Place on Saturday, March 29 at 7 PM. This medical thriller concerning a deadly, rapidly spreading epidemic was widely touted on its release for its scientific accuracy, but the final word on that will be discussed by a panel of authorities, including real-life epidemic tracker and professor of bioinformatics Daniel Janies, Charlotte Observer health reporter Karen Garloch, and professor of science education Ian Binns.

From the scary present, the series then continues by exploring what terrified us in the past with “The Invisible Man” (Universal, 1933, starring Claude Rains), a classic horror-scify film. Adding a modern twist to the screening will be discussion led by professor of optical science Greg Gbur, who is both an authority on classic horror and a well-known researcher in…(you guessed it) invisibility and UNC Charlotte chemist Marcus Jones, who does research in chemistry and… light. The free event will be a Sunday matinee on March 30 at 3 PM.

On Sunday, April 6, the Science Film Series will continue with another 3 PM matinee, this time featuring the speculative scify classic “Jurassic Park,” (Universal, 1993) a film that both excited the public’s imagination about the possibilities of genomics and angered critics with its distortions of science. A panel composed of vertebrate biologist and ecologist Susan Peters, evolutionary biologist Adam Reitzel and genomic researcher Jennifer Weller will examine both the film’s wild speculations and its possible truths.

The series will conclude on Wednesday, April 9, with the screening of the critically acclaimed documentary “Chasing Ice” (2012) at 7 PM. This film looks at the controversial topic of climate change by examining apparent recent and rapid decline of arctic ice. A panel composted of climate researchers Matthew Eastin and Martha Eppes, as well as WCNC-TV meteorologists John Wendel and Meghan Danahey will give their takes on the film’s evidence and participate in a broad discussion of the topic.

Michael Fiddy, professor of physics and optical science and of electrical and computer engineering, has been appointed to a two-year term on The Optical Society Board of Directors, beginning January 2014. Founded in 1916, OSA is the leading professional association in optics and photonics. At present, OSA has more than 18,000 members from 100 countries and nearly 275 student chapters in more than 50 countries. Fifty-three percent of OSA members reside outside of the United States. Over the course of OSA’s nearly one hundred year history, 31 OSA members have been awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry or Physiology/Medicine.

Fiddy also serves as Deputy Editor of OSA’s newly launched open access journal Photonics Research Journal, its first joint publication with China. He chairs OSA’s Meetings Council and is on the Board of OIDA, the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association, which recently became a division of OSA. Fiddy also was founding director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications, UNC Charlotte and held the director position from 2002 to 2010. He has been an NSF Industry-University Collaborative Research Center for Metamaterials Site Director since 2011. Fiddy earned his doctorate in physics from the University of London in 1977.

By Mariah Powell, Student Intern
College Office of Communications

In recognition of his efforts to promote diversity, UNC Charlotte Chemistry Professor Daniel Rabinovich received an award from the American Chemistry Society’s Committee on Minority Affairs on Nov. 14.

Rabinovich received the Stanley C. Israel Award during the 2013 Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemistry Society in Atlanta. Award recipients receive a medal and a $1,000 grant to support and further their diversity efforts. The award “recognizes individuals and/or institutions that have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences and significantly stimulated or fostered activities that promote inclusiveness within the region,” according to the society.

“Dr. Rabinovich certainly fits this description,” said Rabinovich’s colleague and friend Gregory Grant. “He has engaged Hispanic and African-American students in his research in chemistry at UNC Charlotte.”

Grant, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, nominated Rabinovich for the award. “His ability to bridge two cultures and speak two languages makes him a natural role model for minority students,” he said.

Rabinovich grew up in Peru, and now is a U.S. citizen. He speaks Spanish and English fluently.

Alison Fout, a former graduate student of Rabinovich who now is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said that he had influenced her and other students. “Professor Dan Rabinovich is an exceptional mentor and someone I hope to emulate within my own research group,” Fout said.

Rabinovich also mentors high school students through the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED, a summer program focused on under-represented minority students. Lizeth Hernandez, one of Rabinovich’s former Project SEED students and now a senior chemistry student at UNC Charlotte, worked in Rabinovich’s lab as a high school student. She credits Rabinovich’s guidance with helping her realize she wanted to pursue graduate school and make chemistry her career.

“Without open-mindedness, students are unlikely to participate and everyone loses with that,” Rabinovich said. “That’s why diversity is a way of promoting participation and integration, and that’s the key to success.”

Yanqing Sun, professor of statistics in UNC Charlotte’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, in June was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society.

To be recognized as a 2013 ASA Fellow, each honoree must make outstanding professional contributions to and have exhibited leadership in the field of statistical science. Sun was honored for outstanding contributions to statistical research on survival and event history data, competing risks data and longitudinal data; for excellence in applications of statistical methodology in biomedical research; and for outstanding service to teaching and the profession.

“I love my job as a statistician and as a professor,” Sun said. “Being elected as an fellow of the American Statistical Association is a great honor. I am very happy about this recognition. I would like to thank my colleagues for their support and UNC Charlotte for providing me a working environment that made this possible.”

Sun will receive her award at a ceremony on August 6 at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Sun’s research interests are in survival analysis, parametric and nonparametric methods, estimation and hypothesis testing. She has 45 publications and is a member of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and permanent member of the International Chinese Statistical Association.

Sun earned her Ph.D. in 1993 and her master’s degree in 1990 from Florida State University. She came to UNC Charlotte in 1994. She was a Visiting Scientist at Frontier Science Foundation in Boston in 2002, and an assistant professor on leave from 1995 to 1996 as a contract statistician for the vaccine safety project at the Centers for Disease Control.

She was a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2005 and a visiting scientist at Frontier Science Foundation in Boston in 1998, 2001, and 2002. Sun has been the principal investigator or a co-principal investigator on eight grants funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Members of the America Statistical Association serve in industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. Their peers in the association membership nominate individuals for this honor.

To be honored, nominees must have an established reputation and have made outstanding contributions in statistical science. The Committee on Fellows evaluates each candidate’s contributions to the advancement of statistical science and places due weight to published works, the position held with their employer, ASA activities, membership and accomplishments in other societies and other professional activities.

Words by Kendall Cook

UNC Charlotte Chemistry Assistant Professor Juan Vivero-Escoto has received the 2013 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associate Universities, a 109-member university consortium affiliated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Vivero-Escoto was among 30 winners in a pool of 147 applicants from the university consortium. Only two faculty members per institution were permitted to apply. Applicants underwent a highly competitive peer-review process organized by ORAU among its members.

Vivero-Escoto’s research interests include the design and synthesis of novel hybrid inorganic-organic materials for biomedical applications. This award will support his research on the development of novel, silica-based, hollow nanoparticles as efficient platforms for intracellular protein drug delivery. This work aims to develop effective protein delivery systems, which are needed to enhance the clinical use of therapeutic proteins. Vivero-Escoto will collaborate on this project with Sheng Dai, group leader of the Nanomaterials Chemistry Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

More information is available on the 2013 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award.

In current health lore, antioxidants are all the rage, as “everybody knows” that reducing the amount of “reactive oxygen species” — cell-damaging molecules that are byproducts of cellular metabolism — is critical to staying healthy. What everyone doesn’t know is that our bodies already have a complex set of processes built into our cells that handle these harmful byproducts of living and repair the damage they cause.

For example, few of us realize that, while our cells’ DNA is constantly being damaged by reactive oxygen species (as well as by other forces), there are also complex mechanisms that constantly assess that damage and make repairs to our fragile genetic material at least 10,000 times a day in every cell in our bodies. The vital biochemical processes by which this constant DNA repair takes place are still only partially understood because of their complexity, speed, and the difficulty of studying complex interactions within living cells. Moreover, it remains unknown how cells sense the oxidatively damaged DNA in the first place.

In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) a research team from University of North Carolina at Charlotte announced that they had uncovered a previously unknown surveillance mechanism, known as a DNA damage checkpoint, used by cells to monitor oxidatively damaged DNA.  The finding, first-authored by UNC Charlotte biology graduate student Jeremy Willis and undergraduate honors student Yogin Patel, was also co-authored by undergraduate honors student Barry L. Lentz and assistant professor of biology Shan Yan.

“DNA damage is the underlying pathology in many major human diseases, including cancers and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, so arriving at a full understanding of the sophisticated mechanisms that cells usually employ to avoid such disastrous outcomes is important,” Yan noted.

Two biochemical pathways, known as ATM-Chk2 and ATR-Chk1, govern the cell’s response and repair of double-strand DNA breaks and other types of DNA damage or replication stress respectively. The molecular mechanisms underlying the ATR-Chk1 checkpoint activation include the uncoupling of DNA helicase and polymerase activities and DNA end resection of double-strand breaks.

“The significance of what we have found is that there is a third, previously unknown trigger for ATR-Chk1 checkpoint pathway, and this novel mechanism is discovered in the context of oxidative stress,” Yan said.

In particular, Yan’s team discovered that under conditions of oxidative stress (in the presence of hydrogen peroxide) a base excision repair protein known as APE2 plays unexpected roles in the checkpoint response: single-strand DNA generation and Chk1 association. The protein was previously known to be involved in the DNA repair of oxidative damage, but not to extent revealed in the study’s findings. The distinct role of APE2 in the single-stand DNA generation in 3’ to 5’ direction is referred to as single-strand break end resection (“SSB end resection”) by the authors.

The study involved experiments performed with Xenopus laves (the African clawed frog, a species commonly used as a lab animal) egg extracts – an experimental system that Yan’s lab has developed for studying DNA repair and checkpoint mechanisms in a cell-free conditions. Xenopus is useful because it is a vertebrate (and thus quite similar to humans in cell biology), and its egg cells can be easily produced and manipulated.

Yan is hopeful that this research will open new avenues to pharmacological strategies in drug development for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

The article appeared in the June 10, 2013 print edition of PNAS:  http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/06/06/1301445110.abstract. The Yan laboratory at UNC Charlotte is funded in part by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a National Institute of General Medical Sciences/National Institutes of Health grant, number R15GM101571.

Source: Shan Yan, 704-687-8528, shan.yan@uncc.edu