Nursing Grad, ROTC Cadet Turns Heartbreak Into Triumph
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 17, 2021) — COVID-19 has taught us many things, including the power of nurses. Yuri Maisel is graduating from the University of Kentucky College of Nursing determined to show others the kind of care she knows can make a difference.
Students: Submit Proposals for 2022 UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Appalachian Studies program and the UK Appalachian Research Community (formerly the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community, or GARC) are inviting students to submit proposals for the upcoming UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase.
Nikky Finney to Receive Honorary Degree From UK
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2021) — Nikky Finney , the John H. Bennet Jr. Chair in Creative Writing and Southern Letters at the University of South Carolina, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities. She will be awarded her honorary degree at a future ceremony.
WUKY Radio Program 'Last Minute Gifts' to Feature Holiday Stories, Kentucky Writers
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2021) — A local theatre company and University of Kentucky’s public radio station is presenting the Commonwealth with a “last minute” holiday gift.
Now you can get into the spirit of the season by listening to some of Kentucky’s favorite voices.
Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition

To comply with University of Kentucky COVID-19 protocols, all presenters and attendees are required to wear masks during the competition.
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky will hold its annual Regional Poster Session for Undergraduates on Friday, April 15, 2022. The 2022 competition format is scheduled to be in-person. Come participate in this opportunity to share your research and network with other undergraduate researchers in the region. There is no registration fee!
Abstracts are due by March 25, 2022 at 5pm. To submit an abstract and register, click here.
To view a copy of last year's abstract booklet, click here.
Note to UK students: Students in CHE 395 planning to graduate or otherwise conclude their research are required to participate in the Poster Session if they have not done so in the past.
| Schedule of Events | |
|---|---|
| 11:30am-12:00pm |
Check-in and set up posters
Jacobs Science Building (JSB), Room 261M
Posters should remain on display 12:00pm-3:00pm
|
| 12:00pm-1:30pm |
Group A Presents
Posters located on the first and second floors of JSB |
| 1:30pm-3:00pm |
Group B Presents
Posters located on the first and second floors of JSB |
| 3:00pm-3:30pm | Networking Break |
| 3:30pm |
Awards Ceremony
Jacobs Science Building (JSB), Room 261M |
The poster size should be limited to 4 feet wide and 5.5 feet tall.
The 2022 Undergraduate Poster Competition will take place in the hallways of the Jacobs Science Building. You will each have assigned areas on a wall-mounted rail system to hang posters. Simply find your name and insert the poster nearby. Please be aware, thumbtacks are prohibited. Tape deemed appropriate for the walls will be available to secure the corners of the poster.
| Awards | |
|---|---|
| First Prize | $300 |
| Second Prize | $200 |
| Honorable Mention | 3 @ $100 each |
Recent winners include students from:
Centre College
Indiana University Kokomo
Transylvania University
University of Kentucky
Western Kentucky University
We thank the Lexington Section of the American Chemical Society for graciously funding the awards for this poster session.
Please contact the department if you have questions.
Inaugural Susan A. Odom Lecture
This lecture series commemorates the life and legacy of Professor Susan Odom, an energetic, productive, and driven faculty member in the Department of Chemistry from 2011 to 2021. It features speakers noted for outstanding research in Professor Odom’s fields of synthetic and materials chemistry.
Visit this page for more information on the Susan A. Odom lecture series.

Jodie L. Lutkenhaus
Bio: Jodie L. Lutkenhaus is holder of the Axalta Chair and Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Lutkenhaus received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Current research areas include polyelectrolytes, redox-active polymers, energy storage, and composites. She has received recognitions including World Economic Forum Young Scientist, Kavli Fellow, NSF CAREER, AFOSR Young Investigator, 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award. She is the past-Chair of the AICHE Materials Engineering & Sciences Division. Lutkenhaus is the Deputy Editor of ACS Applied Polymer Materials and a member of the U.S. National Academies Board of Chemical Sciences & Technology.
"Redox-active Macromolecular Radicals for Metal-Free, Degradable Batteries"
Abstract: Because of the projected shortages of elements used in Li-ion batteries and limited battery recycling, alternative electrode chemistries are gaining interest. Ideally, this future battery would contain materials that are easily sourced with little environmental impact, would be degradable of recyclable, and would bear similar or better energy storage characteristics in comparison to Li-ion batteries. This talk will examine one such promising battery chemistry, that of macromolecular radicals. These polymers generally contain redox-active nitroxide radical groups that reversibly exchange electrons at rates much higher that of current metal oxide cathodes. This manifests as a higher power or a high charging rate. The current challenges for macromolecular radical batteries are to understand the redox mechanism, to increase the energy density in metal-free or aqueous conditions, and to consider a circular life cycle. Insight into the polymer’s redox mechanism is provided using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, in which mixed electron-ion-solvent transfer is quantified. This knowledge reveals why certain metal-free, aqueous electrolytes are well-suited to this polymer class. Last, an organic peptide battery that degrades on command into amino acids and byproducts provides a path forward toward recycling for a circular life cycle. Collaborative work on polypeptide redox flow batteries with the late Susan Odom is highlighted.
47th Annual Naff Symposium
|
Innovation in Molecular Neuroscience Schedule of Events - April 1, 2022 |
|
|---|---|
| 8:00am |
Registration and Continental Breakfast |
| 8:50am |
Welcome - TBD |
| 9:00am |
Dr. Erin Calipari |
| 10:00am |
Break |
| 10:30am |
Dr. Tim Harris |
| 11:30am |
Lunch & Break |
| 1:00pm |
Dr. Elizabeth Hillman |
| 2:00pm |
Break & Poster Session Set-Up |
| 2:30pm |
Dr. Baljit Khakh |
| 3:30 - 5:00pm |
Poster Session |
|
Speakers |
|
|---|---|
|
|
Dr. Erin Calipari Vanderbilt University Dr. Calipari received her PhD in Neuroscience in 2013 in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Jones at Wake Forest University School of Medicine where she studied how self-administered drugs altered dopaminergic function to drive addictive behaviors. She then went on to complete her postdoctoral training with Dr. Eric Nestler at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she used circuit probing techniques to understand the temporally specific neural signals that underlie motivation and reward learning. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Pharmacology. Her independent work seeks to characterize and modulate the precise circuits in the brain that underlie both adaptive and maladaptive processes in reward, motivation, and associative learning. |
![]() |
Dr. Tim Harris Johns Hopkins University Timothy Harris is a research professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He leads the Applied Physics and Instrumentation Group at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus, and is the originator of the project that produced the Neuropixels Si probe for extracellular recording in animals, mostly mice, and rats. He shares his time between Janelia and Johns Hopkins and is working on projects to enable recording 10-20,000 neurons in rodents and 30-50,000 neurons in non-human primates, as well as stimulate with high resolution. He received a BS in Chemistry at California Polytechnical State University, San Luis Obispo, and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry at Purdue University. |
![]() |
Dr. Elizabeth Hillman Columbia University Elizabeth Hillman is professor of biomedical engineering and radiology at Columbia University and a member of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia. Hillman received her undergraduate degree in physics and Ph.D. in medical physics and bioengineering at University College London and completed post-doctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. In 2006, Hillman moved to Columbia University, founding the Laboratory for Functional Optical Imaging. Hillman’s research program focuses on the development and application of optical imaging and microscopy technologies to capture functional dynamics in the living brain. Most recently, she developed swept confocally aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy, a technique capable of very high speed volumetric imaging of neural activity in behaving organisms such as adult and larval Drosophila, zebrafish, C. elegans and the rodent brain. Hillman’s research program also includes exploring the interrelation between neural activity and blood flow in the brain, as the basis for signals detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Hillman is a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the society of photo-optical instrumentation (SPIE) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). She has received the OSA Adolf Lomb Medal for contributions to optics, as well as early career awards from the Wallace Coulter Foundation, National Science Foundation and Human Frontier Science Program. |
![]() |
Dr. Baljit Khakh University of California, Los Angeles Baljit Khakh completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in the laboratory of Patrick PA Humphrey. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in the laboratory of Graeme Henderson at the University of Bristol, and then in the laboratory of Henry A. Lester and Norman Davidson at California Institute of Technology. In 2001, Khakh became Group Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, and in 2006 he moved to the University of California, Los Angeles where he is Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology. Khakh’s work has been recognized, including with the NIH Director's Pioneer Award, the Paul G. Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, and the Outstanding Investigator Award (R35) from NINDS. |
2022 Naff Symposium Committee
Dr. Chris Richards - Chair


