The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky organizes an annual Symposium on Chemistry and Molecular Biology.  This Symposium was established in honor of Anna S. Naff, a University of Kentucky graduate, through the generous support of Dr. Benton Naff of NIH. The Symposium has an interdisciplinary character and is attended by students and faculty from Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Pharmacy, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine. The Symposium features renowned experts from around the world, including Nobel prize-winning scientists and is attended by faculty and students from colleges and universities in Kentucky and the contiguous States.

The Symposium will be held in the William T. Young Library on the University of Kentucky campus. A poster session will be held in conjunction with the Symposium in the Jacobs Science Building.

Dr. John B. Ingram

John (Brad) Ingram is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in Jackson, MS.  He is also the Director of the Pediatric Neurophysiology Lab.  In addition to his administrative positions, he is the Associate Program Director for both the Child Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology programs, and is the Assistant Medical Student Clerkship Director for Pediatrics.  He is also the Assistant Dean of GME for Faculty Development and Resident/Fellow Wellbeing. He is the PI for the Cannabidiol in Refractory Pediatric Epilepsy trial at UMMC, the first study of its kind. He has testified before the US Senate and been featured in the New York Times for issues related to Cannabis derived therapies in the US.  Dr. Ingram is a member of the Child Neurology Society, the Professors of Child Neurology, the American Epilepsy Society, and is Secretary of the Southern Pediatric Neurology Society.  He is a past Vice President of the Epilepsy Foundation of Mississippi and currently serves as the President of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Epilepsy Foundation of Mississippi. He is married and has three children.

Mr. Andrew Freedman

Andrew is a partner at Freedman & Koski, Inc, a consulting firm dedicated to helping governments and ancillary businesses successfully implement cannabis legalization. His firm has worked directly for 17 governments including California, Canada, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Illinois state senate, and Mexico; and testified in front of almost all governments considering legalization. He has been a featured speaker at dozens of conferences including Code Conference, Summit, and Aspen Ideas Fest. Andrew brings vast experience from his three years as the State of Colorado’s first Director of Cannabis Coordination. During this time, he developed distinctive experience effectively implementing voter-mandated legalized adult-use and medical cannabis while protecting public health, maintaining public safety, and keeping cannabis out of the hands of children. Andrew’s role in developing a successful operating model for cannabis regulation and stakeholder collaboration was identified as one of the reasons for the State of Colorado’s success in implementing adult-use cannabis legalization by the Brookings Institution. Governor Hickenlooper has gone so far as to praise Andrew’s work while on national television, stating, “Andrew Freedman, who came in and helped us once it was passed . . . [has] done a remarkable job of creating a regulatory framework.” Andrew has received national recognition for his leadership. Men's Health Magazine named him one of the 30 most influential health influencers of the last 30 years. He was recognized as one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” in 2016. He has been featured on 60 Minutes, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Governing Magazine, and dozens of local stories throughout the nation and internationally. Andrew holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in philosophy and political science from Tufts University.

Dr. Christopher Hudalla

Dr. Hudalla is a Ph.D. analytical chemist with more than 25 years of research experience in analytical chemistry, spectroscopy and chromatographic method development.  He is recognized worldwide as an expert in the field of traditional Reverse Phase Liquid, Supercritical Fluid and Convergence Chromatography and an active leader in the development and implementation of the UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography instrumentation.  Dr. Hudalla is a founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ProVerde Laboratories, Inc., a premier analytical testing, CO2 extraction and derivative product formulation consultancy for the regulated medical cannabis and hemp industries.  ProVerde is one of the first laboratories in the U.S. to receive an ISO 17025 accreditation that specifically governs hemp and medical cannabis testing.  ProVerde Laboratories operates at the cutting edge of medical cannabis extraction, purification and product formulation techniques, supported by expert analytical testing, with expertise that will move research into cannabis and its effects on various medical conditions forward as the medical cannabis industry progresses.  Dr. Hudalla plays an integral part in providing clients operating in the Medical Marijuana and hemp industries the ability to deliver new products and product formulations that meet the highest standards for quality, consistency, safety and labeling.  Dr. Hudalla received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Eppley Institute for Cancer Research within the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  Dr. Hudalla has delivered presentations all over the world in his areas of expertise, including analytical testing and research specific to medical cannabis and serves on the Cannabis Expert Panel with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

2020 Naff Committee Members:

Professor Bert Lynn (Chemistry, Committee Chair)

Professor Chris Richards (Chemistry)

For more information, contact Dr. Bert Lynn.

This presentation will describe our group's recent advances in developing metal-mediated/catalyzed methods for introducing fluorine into organic molecules. Our efforts into this area are guided by detailed fundamental studies of stoichiometric organometallic bond-forming reactions. These fundamental studies will be described in detail, and their translation to practical applications (particularly in the context of the synthesis of PET imaging agents) will be discussed.

                                                       Dr. Melanie Sanford

Melanie S. Sanford is currently the Moses Gomberg Distingished University Professor of Chemistry and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees at Yale University in 1996 where she carried out undergraduate research in the laboratory of Professor Robert Crabtree. She pursued graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology working with Professor Robert Grubbs. Following postdoctoral work at Princeton University with Professor John Groves, she joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in the summer of 2003 as an Assistant Professor of chemistry. She was promoted to associate professor in 2007, to full professor in 2010, to Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry in 2011, and to Moses Gomberg Collegiate Professor of Chemistry in 2012. She has won a number of awards, including the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry, the Sackler Prize, the Blavatnik Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the ACS. Research in the Sanford group aims to develop new chemical reactions that enable the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and fuels in a more efficient and environmentally friendly manner. 

During the afternoon of October 24, 2019 the Chemistry Department will celebrate the 100^th birthday (on December 9) of William Nunn Lipscomb, Jr., who is perhaps our most illustrious graduate.  Lipscomb grew up in Lexington, graduated in 1941 from the University of Kentucky with a major in chemistry, and earned his Ph.D. from CalTech in 1946, where his mentor was Linus Pauling.  After 13 years as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Lipscomb was hired away in 1959 by Harvard University.  In 1976 Lipscomb was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the structures and bonding of boranes, which are compounds composed of boron and hydrogen atoms.  Later Lipscomb was equally well known for his pioneering studies of atomic-level structures of enzymes.

The celebration promises to be interesting and fun.  There will be three speakers:  Marjorie Wikler Senechal is a Lexington native who took piano lessons from Lipscomb’s sister and remained close to the family.  She is Professor Emerita in Mathematics and History of Science and Technology at Smith College.  The other two speakers earned their Ph.D. degrees at Harvard under Lipscomb’s direction.  Irving R. Epstein, a professor at Brandeis University, will talk about Lipscomb's experimental and computational studies of boron compounds.  Douglas C. Rees, a Lexington native who is now a professor at CalTech, will discuss Lipscomb’s biochemical work.  All three will include anecdotes about Lipscomb, who was known to all as The Colonel, who made a YouTube video about how to tie a string tie (which had become his trademark), and who regularly found ways to slip amusing bits into his scientific papers.

The celebration, which will take place from 1-5 PM at the W. T. Young Library Auditorium, will be open to the public. 

For a detailed schedule and information about the speakers, click here.

For information related to parking, please refer to the Transportation Services website at https://www.uky.edu/transportation/

Alyson Ackerman - Alyson Ackerman graduated from UK in May 2018 with a B.S. in Biochemistry.   While at UK, Alyson participated in the professional chemistry fraternity, Alpha Chi Sigma, and conducted research with Dr. Lodder from the College of Pharmacy.  Shortly after graduating, Alyson started working for Murty Pharmaceuticals. In her role as a QC chemist, Alyson tests raw materials, finished products, and performs various calibrations to ensure the lab equipment is qualified for use. She frequently works with HPLCs, UV-vis, FT-IR, and Laser Diffraction Particle Sizing.

Susan Griffith - J. Susan Griffith MD has been a College Health physician at U.K. since 1992.  She is a Board-Certified Family Physician and previously worked in Urgent Care in Cincinnati OH and as a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine at UK.  She received her B.S. in Physical Anthropology in 1977 from UK and completed her MD in 1982 at UK. Her residency in Family Medicine was from 1982-85 at UK and she was the Chief Resident from 1984-85.    Dr. Griffith enjoyed her time in the Chemistry-Physics building, taking 20 hours of Chemistry courses and 10 hours of Physics courses as part of the Pre-Med requirements.  It was also an interesting experience for her to have her father as a teacher.  Her dad, Charles H.H. Griffith, was the Lab Supervisor for Chem-115 from 1964-1993.  At University Health Service at UK, she does all the minor surgical procedures in addition to regular medical care for UK students and employees.  Her volunteer work includes being the Research Chair for the International Council of Multiple Birth Organization and the Research Interpreter for Multiples of America.  Dr. Griffith adds , “As part of the eulogy I gave for my dad, I told everyone how much my dad loved Chemistry and how much he loved teaching the students of the University of Kentucky.  I want to honor his memory by doing whatever I can to help the UK Chemistry Department continue to be a strong scientific department that cares about the students of UK.”

Jeffrey R. Lomprey - Dr. Jeff Lomprey is a partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP where his practice focuses on patent preparation, both U.S. and foreign prosecution, counseling, due diligence, and litigation support. He is a member of the firm’s Chemical, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Practice as well as the Life Sciences Industry Team. Jeff’s interests span a diverse array of chemical and mechanical technologies. He has significant experience in the areas of small molecule chemistry, pharmaceuticals, batteries, catalysts, polymers, electrochemistry, organic light emitting diodes, mechanical devices, and medical devices. Prior to joining Foley, Jeff was a senior research chemist at Gentex Corporation from 1997-2002, where he was involved in the development and production of automatically dimming automobile mirrors. Jeff earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Law School (cum laude, 2005), where he was a member of the Dean’s list. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Kentucky (1993), and was the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Researcher Award. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (1988). Dr. Lomprey is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is a member the Wisconsin and American Bar Associations, the American Chemical Society and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Tanea Reed - Dr. Reed received her PhD in biological chemistry from the University of Kentucky and worked under the guidance of Dr. D. Allan Butterfield. While at UK, she received the Lyman T. Johnson Minority Fellowship and the UK Woman’s Club Endowed Fellowship. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In 2010, Dr. Reed received the Hermann Esterbauer award in Turin, Italy for her work on lipid peroxidation in Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently a member of the international selection committee for this award. Dr. Reed is currently an associate professor of biochemistry at Eastern Kentucky University, where she serves as a research mentor for undergraduate and graduate students. She was recently awarded an area enrichment award from the National Institutes of Health for her research which focuses on post injury treatments for moderate traumatic brain injury.

Vince Stapp - Vince earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky in 1991, and received the Undergraduate Service Award with focused interests in Mass Spectrometry and Separation Science.  During his time as an undergraduate, he was a freshman chemistry lab teaching assistant and he conducted his undergraduate research with Dr. John Patterson on new synthesis routes for n-substituted pyrroles.  Vince spent one year as a staff scientist at PTRL, Inc. in Richmond, KY developing quantitative GC/MS methods for environmental fate studies of pesticides and herbicides.  He then began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1992, and has worked as an analytical chemist and technical leader in several different P&G business units including Skin/Beauty Care, Corporate Research Division Mass Spectrometry group, and Upstream Paper Technology.  His focus during this time was developing MS(n), accurate mass, GC/MS, and LC/MS methods for structure elucidation and quantitative analysis, and worked in close partnership with P&G technologists on biodegradable polymer feedstocks (Nodax), bleach catalysts, phospholipids (Olestra), and adhesives.  Vince has a broad background in material science, volatiles analysis and olfaction, mass spectrometry, separation science, and complex technical problem solving.  His last 17 years has been in the Baby Care business as a Senior Scientist where he has been an analytical leader for the polymer films and nonwovens material development area.  Vince’s passion is people development.  He is active as a technical and career mentor both inside and outside of P&G.

The Department of Chemistry hosts an annual Graduation Celebration and Awards Ceremony to recognize the outstanding acheivements of our students on an annual basis. This year we would like to recognize the following graduates of our PhD, Masters, and Undergraduate programs:

Doctor of Philosophy

Wenjin Cao

Kai Ding

Alexis Eugene

Zhen Fang

John Hoben

Daniel Kirchhoff

Ryan Loe

Faruk Moonschi

Anthony Petty

Daudi Saang'onyo

Yang (Vanessa) Song

Laura Walther

Zhihui Zhang

Master of Science

Hope Cook Abdalla

Amber Bowman

Andrew (AJ) Bradley

Nandini Gundaram Suresh

Edward (Kirkbride) Loya

Xiao Tan

Bachelor of Arts

Annie Jo Baker

Morgan Louis Blair *

Kevin Russel Eversole

Kevin P Kelley, II

Musab Mohammad Shalash

Eashwar Vellaiappan Somasundaram *

Bachelor of Science

Tanner Wetzel Adams

Eve Deva Aldridge

Melissa Lynn Becker

Joshua Michael Betts

Jamie Elizabeth Boggs

Kyle T Brutscher

Haley Whitney Carroll

Katherine Rose Clowes *

Keisten T Collins

Cassadi Jordan Cordea *

John Gregory Davis

Mike Alfred Dittert

Lilly Do

Matthew Brady Ekman *

Logan John Eslinger *

William Eubanks, III

Madison Paige Ginn *

Heba Rasheed Hanbali

David Andrew Harris *

Sarah Elise Hodges

Sirui Huang

William C Jennings *

Sarah E Johnson

Morgan L Keyser

Brenna Kirkpatrick

John Klein *

Katherine Anne Kloska

Alysia Joy Kohlbrand

Don Edward Laird

Allison Carol Lane

Lyric Jasmine Lane

Harrison Evans Lee

Zi En Lee

Jumanah Mahmoud *

Gregory Nathaniel Milburn *

Jonathan Steele Nelson

Sara Ann Novotny

Jacquelyn Estes Rhinehart *

Antonela Rodriguez

Chia-Hsuan (Jessica) Shen *

Olivia Marie Tholt *

Caroline Elizabeth Thornbury

Matthew Thomas Wasmund

Liying Wu *

*Denotes Chemistry Department Honors