Neil Williams, a 4th year PhD candidate in Professor Sheng Dai’s group, had his research featured in a USA Today article. Williams is part of a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that discovered a method for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from air. This breakthrough in carbon capture was also mentioned by Knoxville News Sentinel and Forbes.
William Bull, also known as Bill Bull, chemistry professor emeritus and former associate head of department at UT, passed away Tuesday, December 27, 2016. The service took place at 10 a.m. December 31 at Second Presbyterian Church. The following obituary was published on the Knoxville News Sentinel website.
William Bull
1933 – 2016
Knoxville, TN
William Earnest Bull, of Knoxville, passed away Tuesday, December 27, 2016, just a few weeks shy of celebrating his 84th birthday. Born during the height of the depression in 1933 on a farm near Lonedell, MO, his family moved to Granite City, IL where he spent most of his childhood. He excelled in school, especially enjoying mathematics and science. Through his hard work he earned academic scholarships and was the first member of his family to graduate from college. While in school at Southern Illinois University, he met and married the love of his long life, Margaret in 1955. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Champaign with a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry, Bill joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After 40 years of service, he retired as Associate Head of the Department. To mark this occasion an audio/visual classroom in Dabney Hall was named in his honor. Bill was a passionate gardener who enjoyed raising vegetables. He turned a rocky, clay-filled patch of dirt into a very bountiful garden at their west Knoxville home. He also built a greenhouse, which was used to grow orchids, poinsettias, cacti and seedlings. In his retirement years, he and Margaret moved to Clinton, TN where he continued to garden. They also traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Mideast and South America. Bill was a strong supporter of the arts and the community. He enjoyed the Knoxville Symphony and Knoxville Opera. He assisted Margaret with volunteer work at the Knoxville Museum of Art Library. In addition, He was a faithful and dutiful member of Second Presbyterian Church.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret; his parents, Everett and Daisy Bull; and his sister, Elizabeth Caschetta. Bill is survived by his sons, Larry, Jeff and his wife Sara, and Greg; grandchildren, Michael and Christina; great-grandson Christian; and his sister Barbara.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 31, 2016, at Second Presbyterian Church with receiving of friends immediately following the service. The family will have a private burial. In lieu of flowers the family requests consideration of a donation to Second Presbyterian Church, 2829 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919 or the University of Tennessee Foundation – Chemistry Enrichment Fund at Arts and Sciences Development, 137 Alumni Memorial Building, 1408 Middle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996, (www.chem.utk.edu/giving). Arrangements by Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. Online condolences at www.rosemortuary.com
Published in Knoxville News Sentinel from Dec. 29 to Dec. 31, 2016- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/knoxnews/obituary.aspx?n=william-bull&p…
In 2016, the National Institutes of Health increased support for projects in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Tessa Calhoun, assistant professor, received funding for her project “Imaging Amphotericin B’s Mechanism of Action with Transient Absorption Microscopy.” David Jenkins, associate professor, is the PI of awarded project “Catalytic C2+N1 Aziridination from Organic and Carbamate Azides.” The third awarded project, “Labeling of Lipid Products Using Synthetic Tagged Metabolite Probes to Analyze Lipid Biosynthesis and Trafficking,” was directed by associate professor Michael Best.
Both Jenkins and Best were also NSF CAREER awardees in 2013 and 2010.
“We are thrilled to see so many new NIH awards in the Department of Chemistry,” said Taylor Eighmy, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement at the UT Office of Research and Engagement. “Since implementing a strategic plan to grow UT’s NIH funding in 2014, we have created a number of new resources and development opportunities through the Office of Research and Engagement to support our NIH researchers and help them submit strong proposals. These calculated efforts are beginning to have a noticeable impact on our researchers’ success with NIH, and we hope this trend continues.”
The following are the descriptions of each awarded project:
Tessa Calhoun, Imaging Amphotericin B’s Mechanism of Action with Transient Absorption Microscopy
The dramatic rise of antimicrobial resistance has created the need for new approaches in the design of novel drug systems. Professor Calhoun’s project focuses on the study of Amphotericin B, an important antifungal therapeutic often used as a last line of defense for systemic fungal infections, which has developed limited cases of clinical resistance despite decades of use. A better understanding of how this drug operates within cells could inform our understanding of the design principles of novel drug delivery systems needed to reduce the occurrences of antimicrobial resistance. In her project, Calhoun will use transient absorption microscopy to directly image how Amphotericin B acts in both model and living systems to achieve its effective behavior.
David Jenkins, Catalytic C2+N1 Aziridination from Organic and Carbamate Azides
Aziridines are biologically active functional groups found in natural products, such as mitomycins and azinomycins, which are critical in biology and synthetic medicinal chemistry due to their antitumor properties. Despite the myriad uses for aziridines in pharmaceutical products, as well as synthetic intermediates, their efficient synthesis has not yet been achieved. In this project, Jenkins proposes to extend research on catalytic aziridination to include new directions relevant to the medicinal chemistry community—in particular, the synthesis of carbamate protected aziridines and chiral aziridines. Chiral aziridines are a useful tool in the synthesis of single enantiomer drugs.
Michael Best, Labeling of Lipid Products Using Synthetic Tagged Metabolite Probes to Analyze Lipid Biosynthesis and Trafficking
While lipids control many of the most critical biological processes that lead to diseases (including cancer), tracking the production of these molecules in cells remains a significant challenge. In his project, Best explores novel approaches for the labeling of lipid structures that will enable tracking of the identity and location of lipids in cells, with a focus on cancer cells. These strategies will significantly enhance our understanding of the biosynthesis and movement of important lipid molecules within their native cellular environments.