Month: January 2021

Congratulations to Jeff Anker  for receiving funding for a Phase I NIH STTR proposal with SpineFrontier, Inc., “X-ray Visualized Interbody Spacer Indicating Biomechanical Load (X-VISIBL) Fusion Device” . Clemson gets $127,271 /1 yr going to John DesJardins (MPI) and him (co-I), and total grant with SpineFrontier is $252,127. Importantly this makes them eligible to apply for a Phase II proposal ($1.7 M /2 yr), and helps in developing a commercial product. The goal of the grant is R&D on an intervertebral spacer to detect spine fusion using standard X-ray imaging. It based on an issued patent that CURF licensed my startup company Aravis Biotech and SpineFrontier sublicensed the spine aspects of the patent from Aravis.

Please join us in congratulating alumnus (B.S. Chemistry/math minor, ’68) and long-time friend and supporter of our Department and the University, Dr. Kenneth B. Wagener, Butler Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida for receiving the ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry!

Ken and his brothers, Earl (Founder of Tetramer Technologies) and Ben, created the Hattie B. Wagener Award in honor of their mother, Boonie, a long-time secretary in Electrical Engineering at Clemson. The annual award honors the top administrative staff member in the College of Science. Congratulations, Ken, and thank you for all your support of our department, college and university!

More info on the awards can be found at https://cen.acs.org/people/awards/ACS-2021-national-award-winners/98/i31

The Department of Chemistry would like to announce the recipients of the 2021 Spring Mandel Fellowship, an award made possible by a gift established in honor of Dr. Frederick Mandel.

The recipients are:

Apeksha Rajamanthrilage is a PhD candidate in Prof. Jeffrey N Anker’s group. Her graduate research has been focused on developing X-ray interrogated biomechanical and biochemical sensors for monitoring fracture healing and implant associated infection. She developed a liquid-level gauge with hydromechanical amplification to monitor minute changes in orthopedic plate bending in fracture healing and is working on developing a pH sensor to image implant associated infections via X-ray Excited Luminescence Chemical Imaging (XELCI). Moreover, she is working on developing a lateral flow assay to detect other analytes of interest at the fracture site with XELCI. Before enrolling in Chemistry graduate program at Clemson University, she received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Ebube Oyeka obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Nigeria and Master of Science degrees from University of Nigeria and Tohoku University, Japan. In University of Nigeria, Ebube worked on the synthesis of metal complexes for biological applications, and in Tohoku University, he worked on the design of ternary inorganic oxides such as La-doped SrTiO₃ from bimetallic complexes. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Chemistry in Professor Tran’s group and his research is focused on the design and characterization of new materials exhibiting topological magnetic spin textures with potential applications in spintronics technology.

Tatiana Estrada-Mendoza (Dr. Chumanov’s group). Originally from Ecuador, Tatiana came to Clemson via Louisiana where at McNeese State University she earned her bachelor’s and master’s in chemical and environmental sciences. Her research has varied from natural products to nanoscience. Currently, she is investigating novel synthetic methods for semiconducting nanoparticles. Another highlight of her time at Clemson has been teaching undergraduate labs, mentoring undergraduate researchers and conducting outreach.

Join me in congratulating the awardees, who have achieved an outstanding level of productivity since their arrival to our program. Each of them has earned a fellowship of $4000 that will be added to their stipends. We are thankful for their contribution and we expect that this award contributes to their professional development and success.

Congratulations to our graduate student, Andrew Peloquin (co-advised between Dr. Pennington and Dr. McMillen), for winning one of four Veteran Alliance Fellowship Awards granted by Clemson University this year (there are 146 graduate student veterans enrolled at Clemson)!

Andrew is a second-year graduate student (M.S. from University of Florida) and already has six publications at Clemson (four as first author)! This is certainly well-deserved recognition for his outstanding academic progress. Well done, Andrew!

You can read more about his publications in Google Scholar and the official announcement about the program