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Dr. Elizabeth M. Nolan to join faculty
Elizabeth Nolan's research interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology with particular emphasis on the roles of metal ions in human physiology and disease. She is initiating an exciting new program at MIT that combines bioinorganic chemistry, in vitro enzymology, and cell biology.
Dr. Nolan, who will be joining the Department on July 1, 2009 is an MIT alumna having carried out her Ph. D. studies in the group of Professor Stephen J.
Lippard. |
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Dr. Long Cai to join faculty
Long Cai’s research focuses on the system biology and single molecule approach to signal transduction in living cells. He is interested in developing new microscopy techniques to measure dynamics of biochemical reaction in single cells as well as addressing biological questions in signaling and gene expression from simple eukaryotes to multicellular organisms. Long Cai’s group is strategically placed at the interface of physical and biological chemistry.
Dr. Cai carried out his Ph. D. studies in Physical Chemistry under Professor Sunney Xie at Harvard University. He will join the Department on July 1, 2010. |
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Dr. Christian L. Degen to join faculty
The aim of Christian Degen’s research is the application of magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy at the extreme nanoscale in structural biology and for chemical surface identification. Such a capability will open an entirely new access to structural and chemical investigations of single biological entities, macromolecular assemblies and nanostructured surfaces. Reaching these goals demands the development of novel, high-resolution magnetic sensing tools that are sensitive enough to access the nanometer regime.
Dr. Degen carried out his Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry under Professor Beat H. Meier at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He will join the Department in September 2009. |
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Bristol-Myers Squibb has selected Professor Mohammad Movassaghi for their 2009 Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. The award will be over two years and Professor Movassaghi will participate in their annual Research Symposium in 2010Professor Mohammad Movassaghi |
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Justin Kim and Dr. James A. Ashenhurst of the Movassaghi group report
(Science 2009, 324, 238-241) a concise enantioselective total synthesis of
(+)-11,11'-dideoxyverticillin A via a strategy inspired by their biosynthetic hypothesis for this alkaloid.
The fungal metabolite (+)-11,11'-dideoxyverticillin A, a cytotoxic alkaloid isolated from a marine Penicillium sp., belongs to a fascinating family of densely functionalized, stereochemically complex, and intricate dimeric epidithiodiketopiperazine natural products. Although dimeric epidithiodiketopiperazines have been known for nearly 4 decades, none had succumbed to total synthesis. Justin Kim and Dr. James A. Ashenhurst of the Movassaghi group report (Science 2009, 324, 238-241) a concise enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-11,11'-dideoxyverticillin A via a strategy inspired by their biosynthetic hypothesis for this alkaloid. Their rapid functionalization of the advanced molecular framework aims to mimic plausible biosynthetic steps and offers an effective strategy for the chemical synthesis of other members of this family of alkaloids. |
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