Following his recent publication (Heidarsson, Mercadante, et al., Release of linker histone from the nucleosome driven by polyelectrolyte competition with a disordered protein. Nat. Chem. 2022, 14(2), 224-231), Davide Mercadante will be an AI in a project successfully funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant. The 1.5M Euro grant will be used to study the activity of pioneer factors in genetic transcription, with the Mercadante group running the computational side of the project and interfacing simulations with NMR experiments performed in Copenhagen (Kragelund group) and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer spectroscopy carried out in Reykjavík (Heidarsson group).
Several staff obtained UoA-based Marsden grants:
- Chris Larsen (Fast Start): “A molecular machine-based approach to artificial photosynthesis”.
- Tristan de Rond (Fast Start): “Elucidating the biosynthesis of bioactive, chemically-unique terpenoid natural products in a New Zealand marine sponge”.
- Jon Sperry (Standard) with Erin Leitao and Tilo Sohnel as AIs: “A green awakening for radical chemistry”.
- Dan Furkert as co-PI with Michelle Glass (University of Otago): “Unlocking the therapeutic potential of the human cannabinoid CB1 receptor: rational design of novel allosteric modulators”.
- Cameron Weber as an AI with Patricia Hunt (VUW): “Unravelling the electronic structure of highly charged hydrogen- and halogen-bonds; rational chemical design and the creation of novel ionic liquid materials”.
- Geoff Waterhouse as an AI with Prasanth Gupta (GNS Science) for the Fast Start project: “Harnessing the power of thermal spikes – a new pathway to fabricate size-controlled transition metal carbide nanoparticles for energy conversion and storage”.
- Bruno Fedrizzi as an AI with Maxence Plouviez (Massey University) for the Fast Start project: “Understanding the mechanisms of microalgal self-aggregation for economic and sustainable harvesting”.
- Alan Cameron received an MBIE Smart Ideas grant for his project, “Developing biodegradable quaternary ammonium biocides for sustainable NZ marine biosecurity”. Paul Harris received an MBIE Smart Ideas grant for his project, “Boosting crop growth and yield by improving nitrogen uptake and use”. Margaret Brimble is an AI on both proposals.
- Ziyun Wang was awarded a Catalyst: Seeding grant to develop a collaboration with colleagues at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the project, “Understanding and designing of bipolar membrane CO2 electrolyser”.
Farewells
Tanya Groutso retired after nearly twenty years’ service with the School of Chemical Sciences as our XRD technologist. After gaining a Masters degree in solid state physics from the State University in Belarus and working in the local surface science and metallurgy industry for sixteen years, Tanya moved to New Zealand with her family where she has spent the majority of her time working for the School of Chemical Sciences with stints with Chemical and Materials Engineering and the Light Metals Research Institute.
Publications
- McIvor, J.A.P; Larsen, D.S.; Mercadante, D. Simulating polyproline II-helix-rich peptides with the latest Kirkwood-Buff force field: a direct comparison with AMBER and CHARMM. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2022, 126, 7833-7846.
- Tian, P.; Lemaire, A.; Sénéchal, F.; Habrylo, O.; Antonietti, V.; Sonnet, P.; Lefebvre, V.; Marin, F.I.; Best, R.B.; Pelloux, J.; Mercadante, D. Design of a protein with improved thermal stability by an evolution-based generative model. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202202711
Student Successes
PhD student prizes
- Rebekah Bradley was runner-up (and also winner of the People’s Choice Award) in the NZ Inter-University Masters 3 Minute Thesis competition for her presentation on, “Assessment of the MinION as a platform for forensic sequencing of mitochondrial DNA”.
- Ryan England (supervisors: Associate Professor SallyAnn Harbison and Dr Douglas Elliot) was placed on the Dean of Graduate Studies List (“Dean’s List”) in recognition of excellence achieved with his PhD thesis entitled, “The development and validation of Massively Parallel Sequencing marker panels for use within a New Zealand population in forensic science”.
- Wenyao Zhu (supervisor: Professor Paul Kilmartin) was named on the Dean’s List in recognition of his excellent PhD thesis on characterising and differentiating wines based on their volatile composition.
- PhD student Stefy Gi Peediakal was awarded the best poster prize within the thematic session “Coordination compounds for energy applications, sustainable and environmental chemistry” at the 44th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC 2022) held in Rimini, Italy. Stefy’s poster was entitled, “Water purification using a green science approach”. This award comes on top of another award Stefy received for best poster in the “Future/Green Energy Materials” session at the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) 2022 National Congress held in Brisbane in July.
PhD Completions
- Yimei Wu successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled, “Synthesis of novel photopolymers of additive manufacturing” supervised by Dr Jianyong Jin and Professor Cather Simpson.
- Hugh Glossop, a member of Viji Sarojini’s group, successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled, “Studies toward ultrashort peptides as supramolecular biomaterials and fluorinated antimicrobials”.
- Che Wang defended her PhD thesis entitled, “Development of spectroscopic non-invasive assessment for quality of dairy powders” supervised by Dr Marlon Reis and Dr Mariza Gomes Reis (AgResearch), Geoff Waterhouse and Yacine Hemar.
