News

Chemists have overcome a major hurdle in synthesizing a more stable form of heterocycle—a family of organic compounds that are a common component of most modern pharmaceuticals.

The research, which could expand the toolkit available to drug developers in improving the safety profiles of medications and reducing side effects, was published in Science by organic chemists at the University of British...

Congratulations for Eileen Wallgrove and Conrad Belzberg for receiving the Undergraduate Chemistry Society Research Laboratory Experience Excellence Award! Both have made outstanding contributions towards undergraduate research in the department. 

A feast cooked up by Assistant Professor Nadine Borduas-Dedekind and her research group, has revealed singlet oxygen indoors for the first time.

Singlet oxygen is an oxidant. These chemical compounds can be beneficial—ozone in the stratosphere is one example—but can also cause stress to our lungs, contributing to the development of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease in the long term.

“Our next steps include determining just how this oxidant might affect humans and how much we’...

UBC Chemistry Lecturer Richard Kil has received the Killam Teaching Prize! This award is presented to those who have been recognized for their outstanding teaching, research and service to the community. Congratulations Richard!

Read more here.

Dr. Katherine Ryan, a professor at UBC Chemistry, has been appointed the new Canadian Research Chair (CRC) in biosynthetic enzymes.

Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on understanding how natural products are made, including those with applications as antibacterial agents and anti-cancer drugs. Her lab works to isolate new biosynthetic pathways from microbes, to engineer enzymes that catalyze new reactions, and to generate natural...

UBC Chemistry professors Drs. Jason Hein and Curtis Berlinguette founded Project Ada, and are powering an AI revolution in clean energy chemistry.

In 2018, an $8 million Natural Resources Canada grant enabled Dr. Berlinguette and Dr. Hein, along with Dr. Alán Aspuru-Guzik of the University of Toronto, to assemble “Ada”, the first self-driving lab for clean energy materials. The multidisciplinary team chose the name in honour of Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer. Self...

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Dr. Tao Huan for receiving the Metabolites 2023 Young Investigator Award! This is an outstanding achievement as a rising star in the field of metabolomics.

Read more here.

Congratulations to the 2023 UBC Chemistry Alumni Award winners, Dr. Mark Namchuk (Alumni Award of Distinction) and Dr. Love-Ese Chile (Young Alumnus Award)!

Alumni Award of Distinction | Dr. Mark Namchuk, PhD '93

This award recognizes an alumnus whose accomplishments are of such excellence that they provide inspiration and leadership to students and other alumni. The recipient has shown significant leadership either in their professional...

Last week at our November 2023 Alumni Reunion, we announced this years Graduate Student Award winners- Congratulations to you all! Our winners are as follows:

F.J. Nicholson Scholarship – Brian Low

Arthur S. Hawkes Scholarshp in Chemistry – Rajneesh Bains

Ed Shuter Scholarship – Seth Keenan

Edward Piers Memorial Award in Organic Chemistry – Ryoga Hojo

Brian and Jane James Graduate...