News Archive

Time flies when you are having fun! A month ago, we saw 30 Chemistry and 22 Biochemistry Undergraduate students and 7 Chemistry Graduate students walk across the stage to receive their degrees. Congratulations to each of those students on behalf of the Faculty and Staff of the Chemistry Department! In …

Undergraduate students from this year’s CHEM4000 and BCHM4000 Research Project Course travelled to Western University on Saturday April 6th to deliver presentations about their senior thesis projects at the 52nd Southwestern Ontario Undergraduate Chemistry Conference. The research talks from YorkU Chemistry and Biochemistry undergraduate students Juan Valencia (Wilson Lab), Arman …

Today’s Y-file featured an article on the annual ranking of the world’s most impactful scientists and that 90 York University scientists are featured. The list, compiled by a faculty member at Stanford University, ranks the top 2% scientists in the world based on C-index, which is calculated by a formula …

The Chemistry Society at York (CSY) and the Department of Chemistry at York University co-hosted a career day event on March 4, 2024. Undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry got to learn about diverse career opportunities available to them outside of the academy. Our panelists included York University alumni who …

DNA, Hospital, Laboratory, Speedometer, Bill Kim, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, has received the 2023 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award to support his cutting-edge biological chemistry and genome editing research program. While point mutations in DNA, caused by replication errors or environmental damage, are found in clinical samples …

York University Chemistry students studying advanced separations (CHEM4080/5080) had the opportunity to visit Dalton Pharma Services in November. These students were given a tour of the facilities and engaged with a team of industry experts to learn about the critical intersection of analytical chemistry with the activities conducted at Dalton. …

The department of Chemistry extends congratulations to Alex Akhundov for being selected as an ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Outstanding, Senior Organic Chemistry Student recommended by Professor Christine Le. This recognition is awarded based on formal coursework and research accomplishments done during the student’s undergraduate studies and recognises the student’s …

Congratulations to our graduating students Nicole Frias (Biochemistry) and Alex Akhundov (Chemistry) who were honoured at Thursday night’s (30th March, 2023) CIC Toronto Local Section awards night. Both are recipient of CIC Silver Medals which are given to the graduating student with the highest academic standing in their program.  We …

On February 14th 2023, the Working for Inclusivity (WICYU) group hosted the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast for the first time in 3 years at York University. This global event is intended to act as a catalyst for change towards greater diversity in STEM. With a GWB event having been held …

On January 30th the faculty of science held a ‘Honours and Awards Ceremony’ which celebrated the outstanding achievements of our students in the faculty of Science. The following Chemistry graduate and undergraduate students were honoured; Graduate Student Awards Charles Hantho Graduate Award in Atmospheric Chemistry: Lisa Azzarello (Young) Dalton Pharma …

Congratulations to Chemistry MSc student Bibisomaia Rezaee. She was one of the five winners in the Green Chemistry and Catalysis theme at the Commonwealth Chemistry Posters – Building Networks to Address the Goals poster event. Her poster is “A comparative study between amorphous and crystalline transition metal oxides as catalysts …

Prof. Thomas Baumgartner, currently a visiting professor at the Research Center for Materials Science at Nagoya University in Japan, was awarded the 54th IOCF Lectureship by the International Organic Chemistry Foundation to give three lectures at Kyoto University and Osaka University. The lectureship was created “to provide opportunities for researchers …

Chemistry Professor Kyle Belozerov uses virtual reality (VR) in his classroom. In this insightful Q-and-A, he considers the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in understanding the complexities of our modern world. Kyle Belozerov, an assistant professor of chemistry (teaching stream) and trained biochemist, sees the world through …

Assistant Professor Christine Le in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, has received the 2022 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award to support her organic chemistry research program. The award will provide her with seed funding to develop reaction toolkits that pharmaceutical companies could use to create a variety new fluorine-containing compounds that …

Dear Colleagues:As you know, today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. While this important occasion falls at the end of a busy month for all of us within the university community, I invite you take some time today and in the coming days to reflect on the role …

The 2022 Summer Research Conference for undergraduate students concluded on August 18th, 2022. The first-place winner for best poster presentation was Mayha Rezaeifarimani (4th year CHEM major, pharmaceutical stream) for the project “Synthesis of Monodisperse Silica Nanoparticles and the Incorporation of Fluorophores” under the supervision of Jennifer Chen. Also, Aleeza …

Professors Caputo and Kouyoumdjian participated in the annual Science Rendezvous (2022) organized by YorkU Science Engagement Program on May 7, 2022. The event hosted live events, STEM activities, lab tours and fun chemistry demonstrations. This event was the second highest attended Science Rendezvous event across Canada last year!

The VandenBoer Group is a collaborator in the multinational Fatima field campaign to study marine fog formation towards improving forecasting capabilities. Group members Leyla Salehpoor and Leigh Crilley are measuring aerosol, atmospheric trace gas, and fog water chemical composition. This molecular scale work helps to describe the first interactions between …

The Department is pleased to announce the hire of Dr. Jennifer van Wijngaarden as Full Professor and our new Departmental Chair. The van Wijngaarden research group uses modern state-of-the-art techniques in rotational and vibrational spectroscopy combined with computational chemistry to model the energy landscape of molecules. Of particular interest are …

In environmental chemistry, field measurements are a critical aspect of connecting laboratory studies with simulations from global chemical transport models. These allow us to test our understanding of pollutant fate and transport under the complex conditions found in the real environment. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the team in Trevor VandenBoer …

“A York University research team is collaborating with Inkbox, a Toronto-based startup that uses semi-permanent tattoo technology, to better understand the science behind their revolutionary tattoo technology. The science could support the development of semi-permanent tattoos with different colours. Inkbox was acquired by Bic in January 2022 for U.S. $65 million.” To …

Co-Investigators Profs. Cora Young and Trevor VandenBoer received a grant from Environment and Climate Change Canada entitled “Understanding the composition, sources, and risks of airborne PFAS in Canada”. Poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic compounds found throughout Canada, including remote regions. This grant will help …

Dr. Trevor VandenBoer, Assistant Professor of Environmental Analytical Chemistry was interviewed for his expertise regarding the chemistry and quality of indoor air for the York University Magazine, in their Winter 2022 issue. The story, by Paul Fraumeni and photography by Chris Robinson, touches on the research gap that studying indoor …

Please see the poster advertisement for the upcoming Career Day event being co-ordinated across several groups in the department: Seminars, Recruitment, Chemistry Society (CSY), and Working for Inclusivity in Chemistry (WIC). Sign up now to join us on Zoom for either (or both) events, using the links provided on the …

In collaboration with F. Hoffmann – La Roche, the world’s largest biotech company, the Orellana research group has developed a new method to add pyridines to unsaturated ketones. This allows the preparation of valuable building blocks for the synthesis of small molecule drug candidates under much milder conditions than prior …

During the first COVID-19 lockdown in India, air pollution levels changed dramatically. York University researchers Dr. Leigh Crilley (postdoctoral researcher), Yashar Ebrahimi-Iranpour (undergraduate researcher), and Prof. Cora Young found that while some air pollutants decreased, others increased. Their work was featured in a recent episode of CBC’s The Nature of …

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce that we will be hosting this year’s virtual Graduate Studies Open House on January 22, 2022.  There is no cost to attend the event and registration is simple. Please register by December 12, 2021 using this online form.

Congratulations to Professors Art Orellana and Christine Le for securing major infrastructure funding through the Canadian Foundation of Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) program. Please see the recent YFile article.

Congratulations to Jennifer Chen, Leigh R. Crilly,  Andrea A. Angelucci, Brian Malile, Cora J. Young, and Trevor C. Vandenboer on their latest publication. The research was published recently in the journal Environmental Science: Nano.

Congratulations to Chemistry faculty members Derek Wilson and Sergey Krylov who have received over $2 million in infrastructure funding from the CFI Innovation Fund program. Read the full article.

Congratulations to Kyle Belozerov who has been awarded a YUFA Teaching & Learning Development Grant for his project entitled “Virtual Reality-Based Structure Visualization In The Classroom: A Pilot Project.” The grant will allow him to develop classroom activities that involve visualizing biological macromolecules in virtual reality and to begin testing …

The Department of Chemistry held its first Virtual Graduate Open House on January 23, 2021, which attracted over 40 undergraduate students from within and outside of Canada. The event was hosted using Gather.town, an online conference platform that combines face-to-chat video calling with the nostalgia of retro video games. During the event, prospective students had the opportunity to network with faculty members and current students at the poster session, one-on-one meetings, graduate student ‘ask …