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2025 Graduate Student Award Winners

Congratulations to this years Graduate Student Award Winners! Our winners are as follows:

F.J. Nicholson Scholarship – Tristan Ruigrok

Arthur S. Hawkes Scholarship in Chemistry – Jiahua Tan

Ed Shuter Scholarship – Rafael Gomez Diaz

Edward Piers Memorial Award in Organic Chemistry – Raksha Kandel

Brian and Jane James Graduate Scholarship in Catalysis Research – Joseph Chang...

Dr. Borduas-Dedekind Receives ACS Rising Star Award

Congratulations to Dr. Nadine Borduas-Dedekind for being one of 9 individuals to receive the 2026 ACS Rising Star Award!

This award recognizes exceptional early to mid-career women chemists across all areas who have demonstrated outstanding promise for contributions to their respective fields. To be given annually, this new award is also intended to help promote retention of women in science.

Read...

Dr. MacLachlan Receives T. K. Sham Award in Materials Chemistry

Congratulations to Dr. Mark MacLachlan for receiving the 2026 Canadian Light Source T. K. Sham Award in Materials Chemistry. This award is presented to an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to materials chemistry both in terms of research and mentoring while working in Canada.

Mark has made significant advances in the field of materials chemistry throughout his career, and especially over the past...

UBC-Seaspan Research Collaboration Investigates Impacts of Biofuels on Climate and Health

Over the past year, a unique research collaboration between interdisciplinary experts at the University of British Columbia and local marine transportation company, Seaspan Ferries, is trying to address unanswered questions key to unlocking decarbonization in the marine industry. The collaboration provides an exciting opportunity for four separate research labs to work together, analyzing real-world emissions and air quality data collected along the Fraser River in multiple studies across...

Dr. Zachary Husdon Receives the 2026 Award for Research Excellence in Materials Chemistry

Congratulations to Professor Zachary Hudson for receiving the CSC 2026 Award for Research Excellence in Materials Chemistry. This award is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding contribution to materials chemistry while working in Canada.

Dr. Hudson joined the Department of Chemistry at UBC in 2015, where he is now a Full Professor. His research program develops luminescent...

UBC Chemist Awarded National Early-Career Fellowship

UBC Chemistry professor Dr. Zachary Hudson, has been awarded an Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship for his work in developing advanced materials that are transforming how we diagnose disease, reduce electricity consumption and reduce plastic waste.

He is among six promising early-career academic researchers honoured with the prestigious fellowships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada this...

DNA-guided Platform Paves Way for More Precise Cancer Treatments

New ‘baited-SELEX’ technology merges small-molecule drug design with chemical biology to potentially improve treatment accuracy and reduce side effects.

A collaborative team of researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) have developed a new method to design safer, more targeted cancer drugs. The platform, called baited-SELEX, uses DNA molecules to mimic antibodies and selectively target cancer cells...

Dr. Eva Nichols Awarded Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Molecular and Interfacial Electrocatalysts

Congratulations to UBC Chemistry Assistant Professor, Dr.Eva Nichols, for being one of five new Canada Research Chairs appointed at UBC Science.

Dr. Nichols’ group’s research centres around the development and understanding of catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of oxidized carbon into valuable products. Her research group works to improve catalyst activity and selectivity using lessons from biology by applying...

Drs. Huan, Schindler, & Stephenson Awarded Funding from CFI JELF Competition

Chemistry faculty members Dr. Tao Huan, Dr. Corey Stephenson, and Dr. Corinna Schindler are among the recipients of a total of nearly $134 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This funding will be used to support research infrastructure projects at 63...

UBC Chemistry Hosts Dr. Shichang Miao

UBC Chemistry recently had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Shichang Miao, a distinguished UBC Chemistry PhD graduate, seasoned biotech drug developer, investor, advisor/consultant, and leader in scientific societies. Dr. Miao, who completed his PhD in organic chemistry under Professor R.J. Andersen and post-doctoral training in biochemistry with Professor S.G. Withers at UBC, returned to the department for an eventful visit.

Dr. Miao toured the department, met with graduate students and...

UBC Enzyme Technology Clears First Human Test Toward Universal Donor Organs for Transplantation

UBC scientists Dr. Stephen Withers (UBC professor emeritus of chemistry) and Dr. Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu (UBC professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine and the Centre for Blood Research) have helped achieve a breakthrough for kidney transplants. In a first-in-human experiment, the enzyme-converted kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead recipient with consent from the family, allowing...

Dr. Tao Huan Research Highlighted in The Analytical Scientist

Congratulations to Dr. Tao Huan, who’s recent work “Why Adduct Choice Matter in Tandem Mass Spectrometry” was featured in The Analytical Scientist. Read the article here and the original work here...

UBC Chemistry Graduate Student Poster Prize Winners

Congratulations to the following graduate students who were selected as one of the top ten posters at the Graduate Student Imagine Day Poster Session.

Shambhu Chandra
Rama El-khawaldeh
Naysilla Dayanara
Joseph Chang
Sofia Sirohey
Juliette Froelich
Evelande Gedeon
Sepehr Nikkho
Daelin Peel-Smith
Amirhossein Rashidi

UBC Chemistry Graduate Students Honoured with Awards

Congratulations to the following UBC Chemistry graduate students for being award recipients!

Indigenous Graduate Fellowship

The University of British Columbia offers multi-year fellowships to master's and doctoral Indigenous students. Award winners are selected on the basis of academic merit through an annual competition administered by the Faculty of Graduate and...

Dr. Allan Bertram Elected to the Royal Society of Canada

Congratulations to Professor Allan Bertram for being elected to the Royal Society of Canada as a Fellow!

Dr. Bertram's research has significantly advanced the understanding of atmospheric aerosols. He developed new methods to study aerosols, characterized key properties, and contributed theoretical frameworks to predict their behaviour. His work has improved our understanding of air quality and climate and supports...

Why Distance Doesn’t Make Wildfire Smoke Safer

Assistant Professor Nadine Borduas-Dedekind spoke to CBC News Vancouver meteorologist and science reporter, Johanna Wagstaffe, about how wildfire smoke undergoes chemical reactions as it travels farther from its source.

Watch the video here.

Dr. Mark MacLachlan's Side Hustle is Creating Crosswords for The New York Times

Dean MacLachlan has created a special UBC-themed crossword - can you solve it?

In his day-to-day life, Dr. Mark MacLachlan is a professor of chemistry researching supramolecular materials and dean of science at the University of British Columbia.

For the average individual, relaxing after work might involve...

Dr. Paul Hébert, CIHR President, Marks Historic Visit to UBC Chemistry Department

The Department of Chemistry was honored to host Dr. Paul Hébert, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in a landmark visit today. This marks the first time in the department's history that a CIHR President has visited, underscoring the growing recognition of UBC Chemistry's contributions to scientific research and innovation in the health sciences sector.

During the visit, UBC Chemistry...

New Tracer Could Enable Surgeons to See and Hear Prostate Cancer

A preclinical evaluation of a new ’dual-mode’ tracer agent shows promise in not only helping surgeons image and plan prostate cancer procedures, but also provide them with much more consistent and targeted guidance during surgery.

The agent uses a single tracer molecule labeled with Fluorine-18—a common isotope used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans—for diagnostic imaging. It also provides a one-step, widely accessible solution that would enable combined fluorescence-guided...

Researchers Use Electrochemistry to Boost Nuclear Fusion Rates

Researchers from the Berlinguette Group have demonstrated that electrochemically loading a solid metal target with deuterium fuel can boost nuclear fusion rates. Large-scale magnetic confinement fusion—which puts plasmas under extreme temperatures and pressure—is being widely explored as a method for clean energy generation, the researchers took a different approach. They loaded a metal target made of palladium with high...

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