CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Check out the latest in faculty, student and alumni news in our Winter 2025 Chemistry and Biochemistry Newsletter!

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - How do we solve big problems like the looming energy crisis? Undergraduate researcher Favour Foday seeks solutions to the work's most pressing problems—like antibiotic resistance in livestock to energy usage—using biochemistry and bioengineering.

In UO’s materials characterization labs, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what can be observed through a microscope. Equipped with some of the most powerful electron microscopes on the West Coast, CAMCOR is arguably the University of Oregon’s most comprehensive and cutting-edge core science facility. Funded by the Office of Research and Innovation, it was the first institute in North America to install a multi-ion source plasma-focused ion beam, which can analyze and mill materials at the nanometer level.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - We are pleased to announce that Melanie Kascoutas, Willow Davis, and Keyan Li have been selected as the recipients of this year’s UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Department doctoral fellowships.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - The Chemistry and Biochemistry department is pleased to introduce the recipients of our 2024 undergraduate scholarships! The department offers five annual scholarships for our undergraduate majors, with the application and selection process taking place each spring.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Bioengineers and chemists design fluorescent 3D-printed structures with potential medical applications. The discovery emerged from a collaboration between Paul Dalton’s engineering lab in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Ramesh Jasti’s lab in the chemistry and biochemistry department in the UO’s College of Arts and Sciences. The researchers describe their findings in a paper published this summer in the journal Small.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Hear about Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Christopher Hendon's coffee lab, his ongoing quest for better coffee through chemistry, and tips for at-home baristas. Link goes to Spotify.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - As Teresa Rapp and Matthias Agne enter their second year as members of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department’s research faculty, we thought we’d ask them for some thoughts and highlights from their first year at the University of Oregon.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Justin Svendsen has been awarded an F31 NRSA fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for his project, "Development of Affinity-Based Delivery Systems for Angiogenic Growth Factors." The three-year $145,000 award supports a mentored research experience for promising graduate student researchers. Svendsen is a researcher in the Knight Campus lab of of Dr. Marian Hettiaratchi.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Vickie DeRose, professor and head of chemistry and biochemistry, has been awarded a creativity extension by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research into the structure and function of ribonucleic acid (RNA) through its interactions with metal ions. Fellow chemist Mike Pluth was awarded an NSF creativity extension in 2023 for his work on the role small sulfur-based molecules play in many biological processes. These molecules were likely key species involved in evolution, especially before there was oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Check out news highlights from 2024 and catch up with alumni in the latest issue of the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry newsletter!

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - We are pleased to announce the recipients of our 2024 Graduate Student Community Builder Award - Ashley Mapile and Harrison Reid. The award recognizes graduate students for their exceptional contributions to building an inclusive, supportive, collaborative, and respectful environment within our Department.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - UO Chemistry and Biochemistry is pleased to welcome three new faculty members to the department in 2024! Meet Assistant Professors Dhiman Ray, Romila Mascarenhas, and Paul Kempler and learn more about the research they'll be conducting in their labs.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Professor Darren Johnson is among 11 accomplished researchers selected to receive Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Cottrell Plus SEED Award for 2024. Johnson is an academic expert in green chemistry. He studies water pollution and purification, especially agriculture and industrial waste water.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - In July, the Teresa Rapp Lab received a $100,000 grant from the Donald E. And Deliah B. Baxter Foundation, a charitable institution established to advance medical and scientific research at institutions of higher learning. In the Rapp Lab, the funding will support a new project modeling late-stage fibrosis with light-responsive biomaterials.