View Article Online / Journal Homepage / Table of Contents for this issue ChemComm Dynamic Article Links Cite this: Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 1350–1363 www.rsc.org/chemcomm PROFILE Contributors to the Emerging Investigators Issue 2012 DOI: 10.1039/c1cc90228h Paramjit Arora was born in New Delhi and relocated to Los Angeles in his early teens. He obtained his BS in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and his earliest research experience in the lab of Professor Richard Mathies. He received his PhD in Chemistry under the guidance of Professor James Nowick at UC Irvine and pursued an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Peter Dervan at Caltech before joining the faculty of NYU in 2002. He is interested in using the principles of physical organic chemistry to regulate biological phenomena, in particular to develop synthetic approaches to target protein interfaces. His group’s research Jared L. Anderson obtained his BS Guillem Aromı´graduated in Chemistry from efforts have been recognized by the degree in chemistry at South Dakota the Universitat de Barcelona. He received James D. Watson Investigator Award, State University in 2000 and his PhD in his PhD in 1999 from Indiana University, Published on 11 January 2012. Downloaded 26/10/2014 23:31:13. the Cottrell Scholar Award and the analytical chemistry at Iowa State with Prof. George Christou, and worked as Whitehead Fellowship for Young Faculty University in 2005. He joined the chem- a Marie-Curie Postdoctoral fellow with in Biomedicine. istry department at The University of Prof. Jan Reedijk (Leiden University) and Toledo in August 2005 as an assistant later with Prof. Richard Winpenny professor. He was granted tenure and (Manchester University). In 2003, he was promoted to associate professor in awarded a Fellowship ‘‘Ramo´ n y Cajal’’ at August 2009. He is the recipient of the theUniversitatdeBarcelona,wherehehas 2012 Young Investigator in Separation been an Assistant Professor since 2007. He Science Award given by the American received the 2008 ICREA Academia prize Chemical Society. His research interests for excellence in research and is the recipient include all aspects of separation science, of an ERC Starting Grant since 2011. the synthesis of new classes of ionic His research interests are the design and liquids and materials derived from synthesis of coordination complexes with polymeric ionic liquids, the use of ionic functional properties. liquids as catalytic solvents, and the use of ionic liquids in analytical extractions, purification, and chromatography. Gonen Ashkenasy earned his PhD in 2001 from The Weizmann Institute of Science. From 2001 to 2006 he was a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA). He joined the Depart- ment of Chemistry at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in 2006, and in April 2011 was promoted to Associate Professor. His lab interests are focused 1350 Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 1350–1363 This journal is c The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012 View Article Online on the design, synthesis and analysis of Luca Bernardi studied Industrial Chem- functional peptides and proteins for istry at the University of Bologna (Italy) Systems Chemistry. Prof. Ashkenasy is (MSc, 2000). He then carried out his a recipient, among others, of the HFSP PhD studies in synthetic organic chemistry Career Development Award (2007) and (Prof. A. Ricci) in Bologna, which were ERC Starting Grant (2010). completed in 2004. After a post-doctoral stay in Aarhus (Denmark, with Prof. K. A. Jørgensen) he went back to Bologna, where he was appointed assistant professor in 2011. Luca is mainly working on the development of new organocatalytic enantioselective reactions and on the observation of chemical processes occurring in biological settings to develop new chemistry. He believes that many key issues in synthetic organic Craig Banks is currently a Reader in chemistry are still waiting for a satis- Chemistry at The Manchester Metro- factory solution. politan University and has published over 200 papers with an h-index of 35 (as of Jan 2011), inventor of 13 patents and recently co-authored the book Understanding Voltammetry (1st Edition Omar Azzaroni studied chemistry at the Sept 2007; 2nd Edition Dec 2010). Craig Universidad Nacional de La Plata is a Fellow of The Royal Society of (Argentina), receiving his PhD in 2004 Chemistry (FRSC) and an Editorial for research involving the use of self- Board Member of the RSC journal assembled monolayers in alternative Analytical Methods. Craig was awarded nanofabrication techniques. For his the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize in thesis work he was awarded the 2005 2011 for his contributions to the under- Honorable Mention of the IUPAC Prize standing of carbon materials, in parti- for Young Chemists. His postdoctoral cular graphene and its application as an studies were carried out at the University electrode material. Craig’s research is Published on 11 January 2012. Downloaded 26/10/2014 23:31:13. of Cambridge (2004–2006, Marie Curie diverse ranging from Forensic Science Research Fellow) and the Max Planck (BloodPattern Analysis and drug of Institute for Polymer Research (2007, abuse detection) through to micro- Alexander von Humboldt Research fabrication utilising screen printing and Michael Best received his BS in Chemistry Fellow). In 2008, he moved back to the pursuit of studying the fundamental from Boston College, where under- Argentina as a staff scientist of understanding and applications of graduate research involved the synthesis CONICET and established the Soft nano-electrochemical systems such as of fullerene derivatives in the lab of Prof. Matter Laboratory of the Instituto de graphene, carbon nanotube and nano- Laurence T. Scott. He next obtained his Investigaciones Fisicoquı´ micas Teo´ ricas particle derived sensors. PhD from the University of Texas at y Aplicadas (INIFTA). Since 2009, he is Austin working with Prof. Eric V. also the head of a Max Planck Partner Anslyn on the development of molecular Group working in INIFTA and Assistant sensors for analyte detection. Following Professor of Physical Chemistry at this, he performed post-doctoral work at UNLP. His research interests include the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla thin polymer films, biorecognition- with Prof. Chi-Huey Wong, which driven assembly on surfaces, nano- focused on the development of carbo- structured hybrid interfaces, supra- and hydrate microarrays and inhibitors of macromolecular materials science and sulfotransferase enzymes. In 2005, he soft nanotechnology. More information joined the faculty at the University of can be found at: http://softmatter.quimica. Tennessee at Knoxville, where his unlp.edu.ar group’s research generally involves the design, synthesis and study of synthetic probes of use for understanding bio- logical processes, particularly those involving lipids. This journal is c The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012 Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 1350–1363 1351 View Article Online (2005) with Prof. T. Don Tilley. After a Stephen Connon was born in 1976. He post-doctoral fellowship with Prof. received his PhD from University Daniel E. Morse at the University of College Dublin under the supervision of California, Santa Barbara, he began his Prof. A. F. Hegarty in 2000. After being independent career in 2007 at the Uni- awarded an Alexander von Humboldt versity of Southern California where he is fellowship he spent two years at the currently an Assistant Professor of Chem- Technische Universita¨ t Berlin with Prof. istry. The Brutchey group focuses on the S. Blechert. In 2003 he was appointed to synthesis, surface chemistry, and applica- the staff of Trinity College Dublin and tions of inorganic nanocrystals for solar was elected a fellow of TCD in 2007. In energy conversion and energy storage. He 2008 he received a European Research is the recent recipient of a Cottrell Scholar Council Starting Grant Award and in award by the Research Corporation for 2010 he was appointed Associate Profes- Science Advancement (2010). sor and later that year, Professor of Synthetic Chemistry. His research inter- Je´roˆ me Boisbouvier studied at Ecole ests include organocatalysis, the develop- Normale Supe´ rieure — Paris, where he ment of novel synthetic methodology received an interdisciplinary education in and the design of new chemotherapeutic chemistry, biology and physics. He agents. obtained his PhD from University of Grenoble in 2000 for research with Dominique Marion. He was a post- doctoral fellow in the research group of Dr Ad Bax at National Institute of Health in Bethesda (2001–2004), before initiating his independent career in Hongyu Chen was born in 1976 in France as a CNRS researcher. In 2010, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. He he was promoted to Research Director at obtained his BSc from the University of CNRS and he is leading a team at the Science and Technology of China (USTC) Structural Biology Institute of Grenoble. in 1998 under Prof. Yitai Qian. He then His recent awards and distinctions moved to Yale University and studied Mn Jeroen J. L. M. Cornelissen is Professor include the bronze medal of CNRS for and water oxidation chemistry under the in Biomolecular Nanotechnology at the both chemistry and biology department, joint supervision of Prof. Gary W. Brudvig University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands. He studied chemistry at Published on 11 January 2012. Downloaded 26/10/2014 23:31:13. the Paoletti Prize for Life Sciences and and Robert H. Crabtree. After obtaining an ERC starting grant. His main his PhD degree in 2004, he worked as a the Radboud University Nijmegen, the research interests are in the field of post-doctoral fellow with Prof. Carl A. Netherlands where he received his PhD NMR Spectroscopy development and Batt in Cornell University on the topic of (cum laude) in 2001 for research carried application to the studies of complex protein-nanoparticle hybrids. In 2006, he out under the supervision of Prof. biological machineries. joined the Division of Chemistry and R. J.