GROUP NEWS

  • September 2024 – Our latest work is now online! “Secondary Sphere Lewis Acid Activated Heme Superoxo Adducts Mimic Crucial Non-Covalent Interactions in IDO/TDO Heme Dioxygenases” has been accepted for publication in Chemistry - A European Journal! Congrats to Garrett and Birdie, and thanks to our wonderful collaborators!!

  • August 2024 – Welcome to the group, Ayushi!! We are glad to have you join us!

  • August 2024 – Our recent NIH grant is in UA news!! Link

  • August 2024 – Our latest work is now online! “A Cytochrome P450 TxtE Model System with Mechanistic and Theoretical Evidence for a Heme Peroxynitrite Active Species” has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition! Congrats to Pritam and Dhilanka, and thanks to our wonderful collaborators!!

  • June 2024 – Our group's research has been funded by an NIH R35 MIRA Early Stage Investigator Award!! We are excited by all the new possibilities this grant brings to the table! Stay tuned!

  • May 2024 – Welcome back to the group, Steven!! We are glad to have you join us!​​
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  • April 2024 – Congratulations to Samith on successfully qualifying as a PhD Candidate!
 
  • April 2024 – Congratulations to Shanuk on successfully qualifying as a PhD Candidate!
 
  • April 2024 – Congratulations to Richard, on his new journey as a chemistry graduate student at University of South Carolina!​
 
  • January 2024 – Our collaborative work with Dr. Qiaoli Liang  on Nitro Indole Derivatives as Novel Dual-Polarity Matrices for MALDI Mass Spectrometry and Imaging has been published in Analytical Chemistry!!! Congrats to Pritam on his great work!
 
  • January 2024 – Dr. Wijeratne presented a lecture titled “Investigating Heme Superoxo and Peroxo Mediated Pathways of Heme Enzymes Using Functional Synthetic Mimics” at the 6th Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry in Kolkata, India
 
  • August 2023 – Welcome to the group, Osondu!! We are glad to have you join us!
 
  • October 2023 – Congratulations to Samith on receiving the Love of Learning Award from Phi Kappa Phi!!
 
  • October 2023 – Welcome to the group, Will, Richard, Daniel!! We are glad to have you all join us!
 
  • August 2023 – A big congratulations to our outstanding postdoc, Dr. Pritam Mondal, on his new journey as a faculty member at IISER Mohali! Pritam, your contributions over the past four years have been invaluable, and we’re excited to witness the incredible endeavors of the Mondal lab!!​
 
  • July 2023 – Congratulations to Julia on securing an impressive 3rd place at the UAB Summer Expo in the Physical and Applied Sciences category!
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  • July 2023 – Congratulations on your outstanding achievement, Jeydi!! We are thrilled to announce that Jeydi has been selected for the prestigious Postbac IRTA Program at the NIH. We wish him continued success in his academic and research journey!!
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  • May 2023 – We’re thrilled to announce that Kayla will be joining the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University this Fall! Best of luck on this new journey ahead!!
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  • April 2023 – Kate Flowers presented a poster titled “Oxidation of Organic Substrates Using FeTPP-u-oxo Model Complex” at 2023 UAB Expo in Birmingham, AL
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  • April 2023 – Kayla Hay presented a poster titled “Modeling the Secondary Coordination Sphere of Tryptophan Heme-Dioxygenases TDO and IDO” at 2023 UAB Expo in Birmingham, AL
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  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Kate on receiving the Outstanding Performance in General Chemistry Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
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  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Steven on receiving the Outstanding Performance in Analytical Chemistry Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
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  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Steven on receiving the Innovations in Chemistry Instruction Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
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  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Kayla on receiving the Undergraduate Service Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Jeydi on receiving the Undergraduate Service Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Jeydi on receiving the Outstanding Organic Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Dhilanka on receiving the Outstanding Organic Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Mangi on receiving the Outstanding Analytical Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Shanuk on receiving the Excellence in Inorganic Chemistry Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Shanuk on receiving the Innovations in Chemistry Instruction Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Samith on receiving the Graduate Student Leadership in Mentoring Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Samith on receiving the Outstanding Upper Division Lab Graduate Teaching Assistant Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Garrett on receiving the Innovations in Chemistry Instruction Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Congratulations to Garrett on receiving the Innovations in Graduate Research Award at the 2023 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2023 – Jeydi Gonzalez-Guzman presented an oral presentaion titled “Modeling Tryptophan/Indoleamine 2,3- dioxygenase Activity with Water-Soluble Heme Superoxide Mimics” at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
 
  • January 2023 – Dr. Wijeratne presented a poster titled “Bioinspired Reactivity Landscapes of Mid-valent Heme-O2 and Heme-O2/NOx Intermediates and Their Potential Synthetic Utility” at the Gordon Research Conference in Metals in Biology in Ventura, CA
 
  • November 2022 – Dr. Wijeratne has been highlighted in an “introducing author profile” in Angewandte Chemie!
 
  • November 2022 – Our recently published NOS modeling work has been featured on the Angewandte Chemie inside cover! Congrats to all the authors!!
 
  • September 2022 – Our latest work is now online! “The Role of Heme Peroxo Oxidants in the Rational Mechanistic Modeling of Nitric Oxide Synthase: Characterization of Key Intermediates and Elucidation of the Mechanism” has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition! Congrats to Pritam, and thanks to our wonderful collaborators!!
 
  • August 2022 – Pritam Mondal presented a lecture titled “Biomimetic Monooxygenation of Indoles Using Synthetic Compound-I and Activated Compound-II Complexes” at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Chicago, IL
 
  • August 2022 – Welcome to the group, Steven!! We are glad to have you join us!
 
  • August 2022 – Congratulations to Julia on winning the Promising Scientist Award at the UAB CORD summer research awards symposium!!
 
  • July 2022 – Dr. Wijeratne presented an invited lecture titled “Modeling Mechanistic Subtleties of Nitric Oxide Synthase: A Missing Link in Understanding Human Pathogenesis” at the Gordon Research Conference in Chemistry and Biology of Tetrapyrroles in Newport, RI
 
  • July 2022 – Dr. Wijeratne presented an invited lecture titled “Learning How Nature Handles Indoles: Mapping the Mechanistic Intermediates of Heme Enzyme mediated Dioxygenation, Monooxygenation, and Nitration of Indole Motifs using Synthetic Model Systems” at the International Conference in Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines in Madrid, Spain
 
  • July 2022 – Shanuk Rajapakse presented a poster titled “Elucidating the Role of Axial Coordination in the Reactivity Patterns of Heme Peroxo Model Systems With Relevance to the Mechanism of Nitric Oxide Synthase” at the Gordon Research Conference in Chemistry and Biology of Tetrapyrroles in Newport, RI
 
  • June 2022 – Pritam Mondal presented a poster titled “Biomimetic Monooxygenation of Indoles Using Compound-I and Activated Compound-II Complexes” at the Gordon Research Conference on Metallocofactors in Newport, RI
 
  • May 2022 – Welcome to the group, Julia!! We are thrilled to have you on board!
 
  • May 2022 – Congratulations to Garrett for getting his graduate research proposal funded by the Alabama EPSCoR Graduate Research Scholars Program (GRSP). This grant will fund his research efforts throughout the next year, and will allow him to work as a fully funded graduate research assistant in our lab. Well done, Garrett!!
 
  • May 2022 – Welcome to the group, Dhilanka, Akhil, Kayla and Jeydi!! We are thrilled to have you all join us!
 
  • April 2022 – Congratulations to Samith on receiving the Outstanding Upper Division Lab Graduate Teaching Assistant Award at the 2022 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • April 2022 – Congratulations to Garrett on receiving the Excellence in Inorganic Chemistry Award at the 2022 Chemistry Department Award Ceremony!!
 
  • February 2022 – Our recent publication in JACS is featured on a supplementary cover!!
 
  • January 2022 – Our most recent study on high-valent heme mediated selective, high-yielding indole monooxygenation giving 2-oxindole has been accepted for publication in JACS!!! Congrats to Pritam and Shanuk on their great achievement!
 
  • December 2021 – Welcome Mangi to the Group!! We are glad to have you onboard!
 
  • November 2021 – Congrats to Garrett on passing his qualifier exams!!
 
  • November 2021 – Dr. Wijeratne organized a bioinorganic symposium titled “Small molecule activation at biological or bio-inspired metal centers” for the 72nd Southeastern Regional Meeting of the ACS held in Birmingham, AL. Both Pritam and Dr. Wijeratne delivered research presentations at this symposium.
 
  • November 2021 – Research presentations by Garrett Tolbert and Dr. Wijeratne at the 77th Southwestern Regional Meeting of the ACS held in Austin, TX
 
  • October 2021 – Our contribution to the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry special issue in honor of Prof. Ken Karlin has been accepted for publication!! Congrats to Pritam and Garrett!
 
  • September 2021 – Congratulations to Pritam on winning the “Dr. Congeniality Award” presented by the UAB Office of Postdoctoral Education!!
 
  • May 2021 – Congratulations to Garrett on winning the “2021 Innovations in Chemistry Instruction Award” at the Department of Chemistry Award Reception!!
 
  • May 2021 – Our work on proton-coupled electron transfer reactivities of electronically divergent heme superoxide intermediates is now out in Chemical Science!!! Big congrats to Pritam, Eunice, and our awesome collaborators!
 
  • March 2021 – Our recent NSF CAREER funded research is in UAB News! Thanks UAB Reporter for the highlight!
 
  • February 2021 – Our group has received a prestigious NSF CAREER award that will fund our work through 2026!!! We’re extremely excited for all the new science and outreach activities that are in the making!!
 
  • January 2021 – Welcome to the group Shanuk and Samith! We are excited to have you guys onboard!!
 
  • May 2020 – Our research has been funded by the UAB Faculty Development Grant Program!!
 
  • April 2020 – New research by Dr. Wijeratne published in Inorganic Chemistry – Electronic Structure and Magnetic Properties of a Titanium(II) Coordination Complex
 
  • February 2020 – Research presentation by Pritam Mondal at the UAB Postdoctoral Research Day
 
  • February 2020 – Our recent publication has been highlighted in the UAB Faculty Senate Spotlight!!
 
  • January 2020 – Research presentation by Eunice Lim at the Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference
 
  • December 2019 – Our very first paper is accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society!!!! A big congrats to our awesome postdoc Pritam!!
 
  • November 2019 – Graduate recruiting seminars by Dr. Wijeratne at Samford University and Tennessee Tech University. As always, motivated graduate students are welcome to join our lab!
 
  • October 2019 – Research presentation by Dr. Wijeratne at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the ACS (SERMACS) held in Savannah, GA.
 
  • October 2019 – New research by Dr. Wijeratne published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society – Copper(I) Complex Mediated Nitric Oxide Reductive Coupling: Ligand Hydrogen Bonding Derived Proton Transfer Promotes N2O(g) Release
 
  • August 2019 – New research by Dr. Wijeratne published in Dalton Transactions – Steric control of dioxygen activation pathways for Mn(II) complexes supported by pentadentate, amide-containing ligands
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  • May 2019 – Congrats to Eunice on being awarded the UAB Honors College Presidential Summer Fellowship 2019!