UK Biomacromolecular Self-Assembly Lab News
2025, January – Congratulations to Md Nasir Uddin for their paper in Biomacromolecules! This work explores the impact of PEI modifications and pH on DNA structure in polyplexes, key to advancing nonviral gene delivery. Notable findings include the nuanced role of succinylation in DNA packing and the critical influence of acidic environments on polyplex stability and PEI release.
2024, October – REU student first place poster presentation at 2024 AIChE Meeting in San Deigo, CA. Congratulations to former REU undergraduate lab member, Savanna, for winning the first place poster presentation award in her division presenting her work on "Evaluation of Reaction Conditions to Synthesize a Library of Hyaluronic Acid Co-Polymers for Mitochondrial Transplantation" at the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Diego this month. We're proud of her accomplishments!
2024, October – Jason DeRouchey was awarded a $25k Pilot Award from the Bioelectronics and Nanomedicine Research Center (BNRC), in consultation with the NCI Comprehensive Markey Cancer Center. The funded project, "Innovative Mixed Charge Polymers for Targeted siRNA Delivery in Breast Cancer Treatment," aims to advance the targeted delivery of siRNA therapies.
2024, July – A big congratulations to visiting undergraduate student Savanna Sheffield for winning the REU Best Poster Competition! Well deserved, Savanna!
2024, May – Welcome to Savanna Sheffield (URI), who joins us through the UK's NSF REU Program on Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Savanna will be working on an exciting multi-group project focused on developing copolymers for mitochondria transplantation.
2024, April – Congratulations to Ehi Oikeh for their paper in Journal of Physical Chemistry B! In collaboration with the Wang lab, our study explored the role of condensing agents and DNA packaging densities in protecting DNA from free radical oxidation. The results reveal a complex relationship between polycation properties and DNA stability in condensed states.
2023, December – Welcome to Davis Anum, our newest lab member! Davis will be developing hydrogels for mitochondrial transplantation, and we’re excited to have him on board.
2023, May – Congratulations to Richard Mitchell on his paper in RSC Chemical Biology! The work, in collaboration with the Glazer lab, highlights the design of a Ru(II) agent that mimics the biological effects of phenanthriplatin, offering new insights into metal-based therapeutics.
2022, November – Congrats to Hossain Shadman on his publication in ACS Omega! This joint study with the Wang lab at Memphis used molecular dynamics simulations to model the structure of protamines, revealing a charged center surrounded by disulfide-bond-stabilized loops.
2022, July - A huge congratulations to Dr. Ehigbai Oikeh for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation
Ehi’s research delved into understanding the effects of free radical and radiation damage in condensed DNA; an exciting contribution to our understanding of DNA stability within polyplexes.
2022, July - Hats off to Zoe Gallegos, our outstanding undergraduate researcher, for receiving the prestigious Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Award from UK A&S. Zoe’s summer project focuses on developing hydrogels for mitochondria delivery to the spinal cord. Way to go, Zoe!
2022, May – Congratulations to Samir Patel and collaborators for their paper in Mitochondrion! This multi-lab study, including work from the Rabchevsky, Patel, Dziubla, and DeRouchey labs, developed a thermal-gelling, erodible hydrogel system for localized delivery of viable mitochondria in vivo. A great team effort!
2022, April - Congratulations to Md Abu Monsur Dinar for winning the 2022 Outstanding TA Award from the UK College of Arts and Sciences. Dinar’s dedication to teaching and mentoring has truly made an impact. Well deserved!
2021, November - Congratulations to Dr. Md Nasir Uddin for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation!
Nasir’s work on succinylated PEI gene delivery agents represents a significant advancement in gene therapy research. Well done, Dr. Uddin!
Congratulations to Nasir on his successful Ph.D. defense on succinylated PEI gene delivery agents.
2021, August - Congratulations to Nasir and Logan for their paper in Molecular Pharmaceutics!
This collaborative work between the Pack and DeRouchey labs demonstrates significant advancements in gene delivery and CRISPR/Cas9 repair in the presence of serum proteins, achieved with minimal polymer modifications.
2021, May – A big congratulations to Dr. Kanthi Nuti for successfully defending her Ph.D. dissertation! Kanthi’s research focused on the fascinating world of charge-charge interactions in particle transport through biopolymer solutions. Well done, Dr. Nuti!
2021, April – Congratulations to Wesley Saintilnord for their paper in Toxicological Sciences! This collaborative study with the Fondufe-Mittendorf and Pearson labs provides a detailed analysis of how chronic cadmium exposure affects the sperm methylome in mice.
2021, April – Kudos to Md Abu Monsur Dinar for winning the 2021 Charles H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award! This prestigious recognition, based on faculty and supervisor nominations, celebrates Dinar’s outstanding contributions to teaching in the General Chemistry program. Way to go!
2020, October – Hats off to Kanthi Nuti for taking third place in the UK GradResearch Live! 2020 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Great job, Kanthi, for standing out in this highly competitive event!
2020, September – New NIH R01 Award! Congratulations to Sasha Rabchevsky and Samir Patel (UK) for securing a NINDS award for "Enhanced Mitochondrial Viability via Engineered Hydrogels for Intrathecal Spinal Cord Delivery." I’m thrilled to be a Co-I on this innovative research, which has the goal to develop and optimize a thermo-gelling erodible hydrogel system for the localized delivery of viable mitochondria to test the neuroprotective efficacy of combined MitoTxp and pharmaceutical interventions after contusion SCI
2020, April – Congratulations to Stuart on his latest publication in Environmental Science: Nano! This collaborative study with the Unrine and Tsyusko labs shows how environmental factors like pH and natural organic matter dominate the efficacy of chitosan/dsRNA nanoparticles in realistic agricultural applications.
2020, April - Congrats to Christian for his new paper in BMC Genomics. Shoutout to Christian Powell, who published a new paper in BMC Genomics as first author while still an undergraduate! Christian’s study, done in collaboration with the Moseley lab, offers phylogenetic insights into sperm protamines, revealing potential novel crosslinks involving cysteine-tyrosine and tyrosine-tyrosine bonds.
2020, April - Kanthi Nuti was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. Congratulations Kanthi!
2020, March - Congrats to Xu Fu for paper in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
This joint study between the Richards and DeRouchey labs advances the use of high-throughput FCS to characterize cell-derived vesicles and as a screening assay to assess surface receptor composition on exosomes.
2020, February - DOD award from the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Congratulations to Sasha Rabchevsky (UK) on leading a successful DOD grant on mitochondrial transplantation to treat spinal cord injury. Thrilled to be a CoI and participate in this exciting work.
2019, October - UK GradResearch Live! in the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition Finalist
Congratulations to Kanthi Nuti who has advanced to the finals of UK GradResearch Live! in the 3MT competition.
2019, October - SERMACS Fall Meeting, Savannah, GA
Congratulations to Kanthi, Nasir, and Ehi for presenting work with Dr. D in Savannah this Fall.
2019, August - ACS National Fall Meeting, San Deigo, CA
Congratulations to Kanthi & Ehi who presented work in San Diego this summer.
2019, May – Welcome to Leelee Sands (UMBC), who joins us through the UK's NSF REU Program on Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Leelee will be working on nanoparticle transport and recruitment in Tau based membrane-less organelles.
2019, May - Daniel Kirchhoff successfully defends his Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Kirchhoff!
Congratulations to Daniel, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his dissertation defense.
2019, April- Graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2019-2020
DeRouchey group graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. Kanthi's work is focused on membraneless-organelles.
2019, April- Undergraduate student Christian Powell was awarded honorable mention at the RUPC
Christian Powell, an undergraduate working in the DeRouchey and Hunter Moseley Labs, was awarded honorable mention at this year's Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition for his excellent work on MSA analysis of eutherian and metatherian protamines. Congrats Christian!.
2019, April- Graduate student Kanthi Nuti awarded People's Choice Award at UK GradTeach Live
DeRouchey Lab member, Kanthi Nuti received the People’s Choice Award at the inaugural event of UK’s GradTeach Live Competition. Congratulations, Kanthi!
2018, December - Hope Abdalla successfully defends her Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Hope Cook Abdalla, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her Master's thesis defense on investigations of amyloid β peptide oligomer dissociation mechanisms by single molecule fluorescence techniques.
2018, November - Renovations to Chem-Phys is underway
The Chem-Phys Building is undergoing a two-phase construction project focused on a complete renovation of the third floor and a new exterior facade for the building. More information can be found here. [LINK]
2018, October - DeRouchey group members present at SERMACS in Augusta, GA (Oct 31-Nov 3, 2018). DeRouchey group members (Daniel Kirchhoff, Ehigbai Oikeh and Kanthi Nuti) presented three posters during the poster sessions.
2018, August - Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Kevin Pearson and Jason DeRouchey were awarded a UK-CARES Pilot Grant Award through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS/NIH). This pilot study is focused on studying epigenetic rearrangements in sperm caused by chronic cadmium exposure.
2018, June - Don Frazier and Brett Spear were awarded a Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT) Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Jason DeRouchey, Sarah D'Orazio, Steven Estus, Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Kevin Pearson, Michael Murphy and Alphonso Keaton are serving as coIs on this R25 Research Training and Career Development award to help improve diversity in science and healthcare. [LINK]
2018, April - Ehighai Oikeh was awarded Charles H.H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group graduate student Ehighai Oikeh was awarded the 2017-2018 C. H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. This award is presented every year to presented to an outstanding teaching assistant in the General Chemistry program, based on nominations from the faculty and laboratory supervisors. Congratulations Ehi!
2018, April - Jacquelyn Rhinehart wins prize at Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition in Chemistry. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group undergraduate student Jacquelyn Rhinehart was awarded honorable mention: fourth place prize for her poster presentation at this year's Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition in Chemistry. This year we had over 40 undergraduates present their work. Congratulations Jackie!
2017, November - Joseph Duke successfully defends his Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Joseph Duke, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his Master's thesis defense on the synthesis and development of zwitterionic PEI for optimized delivery of Nucleic acids.
2016, August - Cody Gay successfully defends his Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Cody Gay, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his Master's thesis defense.
2016, April - Jason DeRouchey, Chris Richards and Ruigang Yang awarded a Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new imaging and data collection platform for ht-FCS/TIRF. [LINK]
2016, April- Graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2016-2017
DeRouchey group graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. Spermatozoa are transported through the epididymis during normal sperm development typically lasting weeks. Sperm undergo necessary maturation processes as they transport through three regions of the epididymus: the corpus (head), the caput (body), and the cauda (tail). The maturation is known to be critical but little is known about the development of the DNA packaging in the chromatin during this process. Daniel’s work will focus on understanding DNA packaging in sperm chromatin during these different stages of the spermatozoa maturation process.
2016, April - Min (Amy) An successfully defends her Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. An!
Congratulations to Amy, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her dissertation defense.
2015, December - Xiaolu Zhang successfully defends her Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Zhang!
Congratulations to Xiaolu, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her dissertation defense.
2015, May - Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded Charles H.H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award
DeRouchey group graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the 2014-2015 C. H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. This award is presented every year to presented to an outstanding teaching assistant in the General Chemistry program, based on nominations from the faculty and laboratory supervisors. Congratulations Daniel!
2015, March - Jason DeRouchey awarded Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
[LINK]
2014, May - DeRouchey group welcomes summer REU student Jonathan Gigas
DeRouchey group was selected to host summer research experiences for undergraduates (REU) student Jonathan Gigas from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The NSF-REU Summer research experiences for undergraduates at the University of Kentucky is a multidisciplinary undergraduate summer program in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on cell/protein interactions with materials and incorporation of these systems into devices. Jon's project involves single molecule methods to study the protein corona; the adsorption of a layer of proteins on nanoparticles in contact with biological media due to the high surface energies of these engineered nanomaterials.
2014, May - Jason DeRouchey awarded Igniting Research Collaboration (IRC) pilot project Award from the University of Kentucky
PROJECT: Characterizing ceria nanoparticle-protein interactions to enable optimization of transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis
2014, May- Chen Chen successfully defends her Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Chen Chen, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her Master's thesis defense.
2014, March - Graduate student Xiaolu Zhang was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2014-2015
DeRouchey group graduate student Xiaolu Zhang was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. The diffusible soluble oligomeric amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) has been identified as a toxic agent in Alzheimer’s disease that can cause synaptic dysfunction and memory loss, indicating its role as potential therapeutic targets for AD treatment. The goal of Xiaolu's research is to use single molecule fluorescence methodologies to investigate the kinetics and mechanisms of soluble of soluble oligomer dissociation.
2013, May - DeRouchey group welcomes summer REU student David Harvey
DeRouchey group was selected to host summer research experiences for undergraduates (REU) student David Harvey from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN. The NSF-REU Summer research experiences for undergraduates at the University of Kentucky is a multidisciplinary undergraduate summer program in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on cell/protein interactions with materials and incorporation of these systems into devices. David's project involves elucidating barriers and structure-activity relationships (SARs) in DNA Delivery using single molecule fluoresence methods in collaboration with the groups of Dan Pack and Chris Richards at UK.
2013, April - Undergraduate student James Hutchison Received the Summer Research & Creativity Fellowship
DeRouchey group undergraduate student James Hutchison was awarded the University of Kentucky Undergraduate Summer Research and Creativity Awards from the College of Arts and Sciences. This $2000 awards will be used to support his project on drug-DNA interactions as well as provide travel funds to the upcoming Gibbs Conference in the Fall.
2013, April - DeRouchey group members present at Spring ACS in New Orleans (April 8-11, 2013).
DeRouchey group members (Min An, Xiaolu Zhang, and James Hutchison) presented four posters in the biochemistry and polymer chemistry poster sessions.
2013, March - Graduate student Min An was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2013-2014.
DeRouchey group graduate student Min An (Amy) was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. The goal of Amy's research is to develop basic understanding and predictive capability of how protamine chemistry influences the fundamental protamine-DNA and DNA-DNA interactions in sperm chromatin. Congratulations to Amy on winning this prestigious fellowship.
2024, October – REU student first place poster presentation at 2024 AIChE Meeting in San Deigo, CA. Congratulations to former REU undergraduate lab member, Savanna, for winning the first place poster presentation award in her division presenting her work on "Evaluation of Reaction Conditions to Synthesize a Library of Hyaluronic Acid Co-Polymers for Mitochondrial Transplantation" at the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Diego this month. We're proud of her accomplishments!
2024, October – Jason DeRouchey was awarded a $25k Pilot Award from the Bioelectronics and Nanomedicine Research Center (BNRC), in consultation with the NCI Comprehensive Markey Cancer Center. The funded project, "Innovative Mixed Charge Polymers for Targeted siRNA Delivery in Breast Cancer Treatment," aims to advance the targeted delivery of siRNA therapies.
2024, July – A big congratulations to visiting undergraduate student Savanna Sheffield for winning the REU Best Poster Competition! Well deserved, Savanna!
2024, May – Welcome to Savanna Sheffield (URI), who joins us through the UK's NSF REU Program on Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Savanna will be working on an exciting multi-group project focused on developing copolymers for mitochondria transplantation.
2024, April – Congratulations to Ehi Oikeh for their paper in Journal of Physical Chemistry B! In collaboration with the Wang lab, our study explored the role of condensing agents and DNA packaging densities in protecting DNA from free radical oxidation. The results reveal a complex relationship between polycation properties and DNA stability in condensed states.
2023, December – Welcome to Davis Anum, our newest lab member! Davis will be developing hydrogels for mitochondrial transplantation, and we’re excited to have him on board.
2023, May – Congratulations to Richard Mitchell on his paper in RSC Chemical Biology! The work, in collaboration with the Glazer lab, highlights the design of a Ru(II) agent that mimics the biological effects of phenanthriplatin, offering new insights into metal-based therapeutics.
2022, November – Congrats to Hossain Shadman on his publication in ACS Omega! This joint study with the Wang lab at Memphis used molecular dynamics simulations to model the structure of protamines, revealing a charged center surrounded by disulfide-bond-stabilized loops.
2022, July - A huge congratulations to Dr. Ehigbai Oikeh for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation
Ehi’s research delved into understanding the effects of free radical and radiation damage in condensed DNA; an exciting contribution to our understanding of DNA stability within polyplexes.
2022, July - Hats off to Zoe Gallegos, our outstanding undergraduate researcher, for receiving the prestigious Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Award from UK A&S. Zoe’s summer project focuses on developing hydrogels for mitochondria delivery to the spinal cord. Way to go, Zoe!
2022, May – Congratulations to Samir Patel and collaborators for their paper in Mitochondrion! This multi-lab study, including work from the Rabchevsky, Patel, Dziubla, and DeRouchey labs, developed a thermal-gelling, erodible hydrogel system for localized delivery of viable mitochondria in vivo. A great team effort!
2022, April - Congratulations to Md Abu Monsur Dinar for winning the 2022 Outstanding TA Award from the UK College of Arts and Sciences. Dinar’s dedication to teaching and mentoring has truly made an impact. Well deserved!
2021, November - Congratulations to Dr. Md Nasir Uddin for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation!
Nasir’s work on succinylated PEI gene delivery agents represents a significant advancement in gene therapy research. Well done, Dr. Uddin!
Congratulations to Nasir on his successful Ph.D. defense on succinylated PEI gene delivery agents.
2021, August - Congratulations to Nasir and Logan for their paper in Molecular Pharmaceutics!
This collaborative work between the Pack and DeRouchey labs demonstrates significant advancements in gene delivery and CRISPR/Cas9 repair in the presence of serum proteins, achieved with minimal polymer modifications.
2021, May – A big congratulations to Dr. Kanthi Nuti for successfully defending her Ph.D. dissertation! Kanthi’s research focused on the fascinating world of charge-charge interactions in particle transport through biopolymer solutions. Well done, Dr. Nuti!
2021, April – Congratulations to Wesley Saintilnord for their paper in Toxicological Sciences! This collaborative study with the Fondufe-Mittendorf and Pearson labs provides a detailed analysis of how chronic cadmium exposure affects the sperm methylome in mice.
2021, April – Kudos to Md Abu Monsur Dinar for winning the 2021 Charles H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award! This prestigious recognition, based on faculty and supervisor nominations, celebrates Dinar’s outstanding contributions to teaching in the General Chemistry program. Way to go!
2020, October – Hats off to Kanthi Nuti for taking third place in the UK GradResearch Live! 2020 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Great job, Kanthi, for standing out in this highly competitive event!
2020, September – New NIH R01 Award! Congratulations to Sasha Rabchevsky and Samir Patel (UK) for securing a NINDS award for "Enhanced Mitochondrial Viability via Engineered Hydrogels for Intrathecal Spinal Cord Delivery." I’m thrilled to be a Co-I on this innovative research, which has the goal to develop and optimize a thermo-gelling erodible hydrogel system for the localized delivery of viable mitochondria to test the neuroprotective efficacy of combined MitoTxp and pharmaceutical interventions after contusion SCI
2020, April – Congratulations to Stuart on his latest publication in Environmental Science: Nano! This collaborative study with the Unrine and Tsyusko labs shows how environmental factors like pH and natural organic matter dominate the efficacy of chitosan/dsRNA nanoparticles in realistic agricultural applications.
2020, April - Congrats to Christian for his new paper in BMC Genomics. Shoutout to Christian Powell, who published a new paper in BMC Genomics as first author while still an undergraduate! Christian’s study, done in collaboration with the Moseley lab, offers phylogenetic insights into sperm protamines, revealing potential novel crosslinks involving cysteine-tyrosine and tyrosine-tyrosine bonds.
2020, April - Kanthi Nuti was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. Congratulations Kanthi!
2020, March - Congrats to Xu Fu for paper in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
This joint study between the Richards and DeRouchey labs advances the use of high-throughput FCS to characterize cell-derived vesicles and as a screening assay to assess surface receptor composition on exosomes.
2020, February - DOD award from the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
Congratulations to Sasha Rabchevsky (UK) on leading a successful DOD grant on mitochondrial transplantation to treat spinal cord injury. Thrilled to be a CoI and participate in this exciting work.
2019, October - UK GradResearch Live! in the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition Finalist
Congratulations to Kanthi Nuti who has advanced to the finals of UK GradResearch Live! in the 3MT competition.
2019, October - SERMACS Fall Meeting, Savannah, GA
Congratulations to Kanthi, Nasir, and Ehi for presenting work with Dr. D in Savannah this Fall.
2019, August - ACS National Fall Meeting, San Deigo, CA
Congratulations to Kanthi & Ehi who presented work in San Diego this summer.
2019, May – Welcome to Leelee Sands (UMBC), who joins us through the UK's NSF REU Program on Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Leelee will be working on nanoparticle transport and recruitment in Tau based membrane-less organelles.
2019, May - Daniel Kirchhoff successfully defends his Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Kirchhoff!
Congratulations to Daniel, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his dissertation defense.
2019, April- Graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2019-2020
DeRouchey group graduate student Kanthi Nuti was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. Kanthi's work is focused on membraneless-organelles.
2019, April- Undergraduate student Christian Powell was awarded honorable mention at the RUPC
Christian Powell, an undergraduate working in the DeRouchey and Hunter Moseley Labs, was awarded honorable mention at this year's Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition for his excellent work on MSA analysis of eutherian and metatherian protamines. Congrats Christian!.
2019, April- Graduate student Kanthi Nuti awarded People's Choice Award at UK GradTeach Live
DeRouchey Lab member, Kanthi Nuti received the People’s Choice Award at the inaugural event of UK’s GradTeach Live Competition. Congratulations, Kanthi!
2018, December - Hope Abdalla successfully defends her Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Hope Cook Abdalla, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her Master's thesis defense on investigations of amyloid β peptide oligomer dissociation mechanisms by single molecule fluorescence techniques.
2018, November - Renovations to Chem-Phys is underway
The Chem-Phys Building is undergoing a two-phase construction project focused on a complete renovation of the third floor and a new exterior facade for the building. More information can be found here. [LINK]
2018, October - DeRouchey group members present at SERMACS in Augusta, GA (Oct 31-Nov 3, 2018). DeRouchey group members (Daniel Kirchhoff, Ehigbai Oikeh and Kanthi Nuti) presented three posters during the poster sessions.
2018, August - Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Kevin Pearson and Jason DeRouchey were awarded a UK-CARES Pilot Grant Award through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS/NIH). This pilot study is focused on studying epigenetic rearrangements in sperm caused by chronic cadmium exposure.
2018, June - Don Frazier and Brett Spear were awarded a Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT) Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Jason DeRouchey, Sarah D'Orazio, Steven Estus, Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Kevin Pearson, Michael Murphy and Alphonso Keaton are serving as coIs on this R25 Research Training and Career Development award to help improve diversity in science and healthcare. [LINK]
2018, April - Ehighai Oikeh was awarded Charles H.H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group graduate student Ehighai Oikeh was awarded the 2017-2018 C. H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. This award is presented every year to presented to an outstanding teaching assistant in the General Chemistry program, based on nominations from the faculty and laboratory supervisors. Congratulations Ehi!
2018, April - Jacquelyn Rhinehart wins prize at Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition in Chemistry. Congratulations!
DeRouchey group undergraduate student Jacquelyn Rhinehart was awarded honorable mention: fourth place prize for her poster presentation at this year's Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition in Chemistry. This year we had over 40 undergraduates present their work. Congratulations Jackie!
2017, November - Joseph Duke successfully defends his Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Joseph Duke, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his Master's thesis defense on the synthesis and development of zwitterionic PEI for optimized delivery of Nucleic acids.
2016, August - Cody Gay successfully defends his Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Cody Gay, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing his Master's thesis defense.
2016, April - Jason DeRouchey, Chris Richards and Ruigang Yang awarded a Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new imaging and data collection platform for ht-FCS/TIRF. [LINK]
2016, April- Graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2016-2017
DeRouchey group graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. Spermatozoa are transported through the epididymis during normal sperm development typically lasting weeks. Sperm undergo necessary maturation processes as they transport through three regions of the epididymus: the corpus (head), the caput (body), and the cauda (tail). The maturation is known to be critical but little is known about the development of the DNA packaging in the chromatin during this process. Daniel’s work will focus on understanding DNA packaging in sperm chromatin during these different stages of the spermatozoa maturation process.
2016, April - Min (Amy) An successfully defends her Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. An!
Congratulations to Amy, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her dissertation defense.
2015, December - Xiaolu Zhang successfully defends her Ph.D. Thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Zhang!
Congratulations to Xiaolu, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her dissertation defense.
2015, May - Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded Charles H.H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award
DeRouchey group graduate student Daniel Kirchhoff was awarded the 2014-2015 C. H. H. Griffith Outstanding General Chemistry TA Award from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. This award is presented every year to presented to an outstanding teaching assistant in the General Chemistry program, based on nominations from the faculty and laboratory supervisors. Congratulations Daniel!
2015, March - Jason DeRouchey awarded Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
[LINK]
2014, May - DeRouchey group welcomes summer REU student Jonathan Gigas
DeRouchey group was selected to host summer research experiences for undergraduates (REU) student Jonathan Gigas from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The NSF-REU Summer research experiences for undergraduates at the University of Kentucky is a multidisciplinary undergraduate summer program in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on cell/protein interactions with materials and incorporation of these systems into devices. Jon's project involves single molecule methods to study the protein corona; the adsorption of a layer of proteins on nanoparticles in contact with biological media due to the high surface energies of these engineered nanomaterials.
2014, May - Jason DeRouchey awarded Igniting Research Collaboration (IRC) pilot project Award from the University of Kentucky
PROJECT: Characterizing ceria nanoparticle-protein interactions to enable optimization of transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis
2014, May- Chen Chen successfully defends her Masters Thesis. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Chen Chen, UK Chemistry graduate student in the lab on passing her Master's thesis defense.
2014, March - Graduate student Xiaolu Zhang was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2014-2015
DeRouchey group graduate student Xiaolu Zhang was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. The diffusible soluble oligomeric amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) has been identified as a toxic agent in Alzheimer’s disease that can cause synaptic dysfunction and memory loss, indicating its role as potential therapeutic targets for AD treatment. The goal of Xiaolu's research is to use single molecule fluorescence methodologies to investigate the kinetics and mechanisms of soluble of soluble oligomer dissociation.
2013, May - DeRouchey group welcomes summer REU student David Harvey
DeRouchey group was selected to host summer research experiences for undergraduates (REU) student David Harvey from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN. The NSF-REU Summer research experiences for undergraduates at the University of Kentucky is a multidisciplinary undergraduate summer program in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on cell/protein interactions with materials and incorporation of these systems into devices. David's project involves elucidating barriers and structure-activity relationships (SARs) in DNA Delivery using single molecule fluoresence methods in collaboration with the groups of Dan Pack and Chris Richards at UK.
2013, April - Undergraduate student James Hutchison Received the Summer Research & Creativity Fellowship
DeRouchey group undergraduate student James Hutchison was awarded the University of Kentucky Undergraduate Summer Research and Creativity Awards from the College of Arts and Sciences. This $2000 awards will be used to support his project on drug-DNA interactions as well as provide travel funds to the upcoming Gibbs Conference in the Fall.
2013, April - DeRouchey group members present at Spring ACS in New Orleans (April 8-11, 2013).
DeRouchey group members (Min An, Xiaolu Zhang, and James Hutchison) presented four posters in the biochemistry and polymer chemistry poster sessions.
2013, March - Graduate student Min An was awarded the RCTF Fellowship, 2013-2014.
DeRouchey group graduate student Min An (Amy) was awarded the University of Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) Fellowship for biochemistry. The goal of Amy's research is to develop basic understanding and predictive capability of how protamine chemistry influences the fundamental protamine-DNA and DNA-DNA interactions in sperm chromatin. Congratulations to Amy on winning this prestigious fellowship.