A&S Faculty News

July 2017

Batra Awarded Yale Fellowship

Kanika Batra, Associate Professor in the Department of English, has been awarded a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, for her project "Claude McKay and the Fragmented History of Jamaican Sexuality." The awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services July 27.

Nagihara Looks to Land Robots on Europa

Seiichi Nagihara, Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences, anticipates a total award of $320,306 in grant funds from NASA for his project entitled "Heat flow probe for robotic landing missions to Europa and the other icy moons." Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week of July 20-26.

Milam Awarded Grant from U.S. Army

Ron Milam, Associate Professor in the Department of History and interim Executive Director of TTU's Institute of Peace & Conflict (IPAC), received a grant of $296,217, incrementally funded by the U.S. Army. Funds will go toward Graduate Research Assistants (GRA). Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week of July 20-26.

Sagarzazu Receives Grant From Nottingham

 Inaki Sagarzazu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, received $5,011 from the University of Nottingham/Economic and Social Research Council for the project entitled "The legacy of authoritarian regimes on democratic citizenship." The awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week of July 13-19.

Wang, Gao Conduct Genome Editing

Degeng Wang, Associate Professor (left), and Weimin Gao, Associate Professor (right), both in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, received a grant totaling $450,806 for their research proposal to combine CRISPER and CAS9 Genome Editing for Protein Kinase Analysis. The grant came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week of July 13-19.

McKee Talks About Microsoft's Rural Push

Seth McKee, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, weighed in on Microsoft's move to provide better Internet service to rural populations. McKee was quoted in a July 11 NPR/KTTZ-FM program, All Tech Considered, as saying the move is a smart one. "Trump on the campaign trail used rhetoric to speak and resonate with those voters, in these sort of left-behind economies as we talk about them. But has there been anything beyond rhetoric since he's gotten into office? Not that I'm aware of," McKee told the program. "If they were the first ones to really go in this area and actually show some willingness to put some skin in the game, that could go a long ways in terms of politicians taking notice and further bankrolling this sort of thing."

Presley Says Heavy Rains Hatch More Mosquitoes

Steve Presley, Professor and Director of Texas Tech University's Biological Threat Research Laboratory in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, was interviewed by KLBK/KAMC News about the likelihood of increased mosquito populations in the aftermath of recent rains. "We probably will see a significant number because of as much rain as we've gotten over the four day weekend and with the standing water," Presley was quoted as saying in the July 6 article. "A lot of the flood species are going to hatch out; there will be more mosquitoes." Presley recommended staying indoors at dawn and dusk and invest in a good bug repellent. The article also reported that "researchers have tested mosquitoes for the West Nile virus and Zika virus, and all the tests have come back negative." A few days later, FOX-34 News reported on July 10 and updated July 24 that Lubbock Vector Control trucks were fogging for mosquitoes. "I know the city's Vector Control folks are already hitting it hard and heavy or they were getting ready for it last week. And I'd imagine they're probably hitting it hard and heavy right now," Presley told the TV station. A city official confirmed that mosquito fogging was being carried out between 8 p.m. and midnight, and also between 6 and 9:30 a.m.

Latham Shares in President's Collaborative Grant

Michael Latham, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, has received half of a TTU Presidents' Collaborative Research Initiative Grant of $50,000. Latham's proposal, entitled "A Structural Basis for a Form of Mental Retardation," is a collaborative grant with Dr. Clint Macdonald, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Cell Biology & Biochemistry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC); and Dr. Petar Grozdanov, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry at  TTUHSC. This award provides seed money for experiments to understand how a single mutation of a protein found in brain cells can cause a severe form of mental retardation. Latham's research interest lie in the areas of Solution State Biomolecular NMR, Structural Biology, Protein Dynamics, DNA Damage Repair, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Li Research Saves Time, Money on Arlymines

Guigen Li, Paul Whitfield Horn Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, was featured in an ACS Chemical & Engineering News article, "Arylamines Made Easy," published online July 6. The article, subtitled "Reagent featuring an electrophilic nitrogen makes secondary amine synthesis a snap," described Li's research on arylamines, which can be important components of pharmaceuticals or other biologically active molecules, according to the story. But the reactions commonly used to make them require transition metal catalysts and ligands that can be time-consuming to screen and expensive to remove should they contaminate a final product, the story went on to report. Li and fellow researchers László Kürti of Rice University and Daniel H. Ess of Brigham Young University have found a new approach that can save time and money. More on Li's work was published in Global News Connect.

Nes Gets NIH Grant

David Nes, Paul Whitfield Horn Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Director of the Center for Chemical Biology, received $881,354 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a three-year study entitled "Discovery of new anti-amoeba therapeutics." The grant is a continuation award of Nes' current R21 grant that runs through May 2018. The ongoing research program seeks development of new, potent steroidal inhibitors. More specifically, this work is aimed to develop transition state analogs and mechanism-based suicide substrates as anti-amoeba agents that target enzymes (sterol methyltransferases) specific to the amoeba pathogen (Acanthamoeba and Naegleria) not synthesized in the animal host. Nes also received a gift of $125,000 per year for three years. Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Findlater Shares EAGER Grant 

Michael Findlater, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Professor Weile Yan of the Department of Civil, Environmental & Construction Engineering, have been awarded an EAGER grant in the amount of $80,000 by the Engineering Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The development of hydraulic fracturing has led to a glut of natural gas resources in the US; however, water use associated with the process has raised environmental concerns. Findlater and Yan are developing new technology to remediate wastewater associated with hydraulic fracturing. Findlater also received a contract of $8,000 from Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, for a project entitled "Synthesis of 2-Acetylphenanthroline." Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Poirier, Aquino, Eckert Receive $500K from NSF

Bill Poirier, Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Joint Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, received $498,009 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a three-year project entitled "CDS&E: Massively Parallel Quantum Dynamics: Computing many accurate quantum states for real molecular applications." The research is funded jointly through the Chemical Theory, Models, and Computation (CTMC) and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC). Poirier and fellow researchers Adelia Aquino, Adjunct Professor, and Juergen Eckert, Research Professor, both in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, will use the grant to develop methods to scale exact quantum dynamical molecular simulations across the next generation of massively parallel supercomputers. Molecular simulations promise to enable computers to replace expensive and time-consuming laboratory experiments, and are thus used routinely in many areas (energy, drug design, nanomaterials, for instance). However, very few molecular simulations incorporate quantum dynamical effects—even though these can be important—because of the daunting numerical hurdles and difficult mathematics involved. To meet this challenge, Poirier and his colleagues are developing the world's first massively parallel exact quantum dynamics code, which may dramatically improve the accuracy, reliability and true predictive power of molecular simulations. Poirier received the TTU Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award in 2008. Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Pappas to Develop Sepsis Detection for POS

Dimitri Pappas, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, received a CH Foundation gift of $102,126 for his research entitled "A Microchip Sepsis Detection System for Point of Service Healthcare." Pappas is known for his work using new chemical methods to study and detect illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, and has been noted as one of the top bioanalytical chemists in the nation. He also is winner of the TTU Chancellor's Council Research Award for 2017. Awards were announced bu the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

D'Auria Shares in NSF Collaborative Grant

John D'Auria, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, received part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Collaborative Grant of $800,000 over three years for his proposal entitled "Collaborative Research: A systems approach toward understanding the diversification of tropane and granatane alkaloid biosynthesis." TTU's share is the grant is $332,348. D'Auria is the lead Principal Investigator on the project along with Cornelius Barry from MSU and Charles Stewart Jr. from ISU. D'Auria's research interests include Chemical Biology, Metabolic Engineering, and Biochemistry and Evolution of Plant Specialized Metabolism. Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Wylie Awarded $1.7 Million Grant from NIH

Benjamin Wylie, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, received grant funding of $1,745,725 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his 5-year research proposal entitled, "Functional Interplay of Lipid Membrane Components: Activation, Inhibition, and Raft Formation." Wylie's principal research interests involve using state of the art solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) to study the structure and function of membrane proteins. Specifically, research in the Wylie laboratory aims to expand understanding of the structure and function of transmembrane K+ channels and receptors in lipid bilayers and native membranes. The award was announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Mechref Receives NIH Subcontract

Yehia Mechref, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, received a subcontract of $193,781 over five years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The subcontract was part of an NIH R01 grant proposal entitled "Proximal Tubule Albumin Transport in Disease States" awarded to Professor Bruce A. Molitoris of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Awards were announced by the TTU Office of Research Services the week ending July 5.

Hase Works With Exchange Student

Bill Hase, Horn Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, is working this summer with Shreyas Malpathak who is the recipient of the S.N. Bose Scholarship. India's S.N. Bose Program fosters dynamics and transformative student exchange between premier institutions in India and the United States. The program is named in honor of Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974), a visionary Indian physicist best known for his work on quantum mechanics and postulation of the boson in the early 1920s. He received the Nobel Prize in physics for this work. This year there were over 1,500 applications, and only 60 students were short-listed. Malpathak is one of the recipients of this highly prestigious scholarship and requested to work with Hase.