KINGSTON, R.I. – July 10 – Fang Wang, assistant professor of chemistry, is the recipient of two prominent awards in his field of organic chemistry and chemical biology. The first from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF), and a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award.
The ACS PRF award will further Wang’s current research on applying chemistry principles and designs used for molecules in developing pharmaceuticals. Over the last several years, the public has become increasingly aware of PFAS, or forever chemicals, found in everyday household items like drinking water, packaging, home cookware, and personal care products. As a result, concerns about public safety and environmental repercussions have become pervasive. Wang’s research will contribute to improving these systems by removing “bad” chemicals and discovering how to create new molecules to make our materials safer.
Wang began his career at the University of Rhode Island in 2020. In that time, he has developed the The Wang laboratory that leverages organic chemistry to develop new functional molecular tools to study otherwise intractable problems in medicine and biology. Specifically, guided by principles in physical organic chemistry, our research focuses on synthesizing various small molecules for direct biological and pharmaceutical applications.
This endeavor led to securing the prestigious NSF CAREER award that supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Over the last 5 years, Wang’s lab has worked to develop simple methods that allow chemists to create molecular transformations with unprecedented efficiency. Both undergraduate and graduate students alike work together to find ways to switch out part of a microbiome molecule with something else.
“Professor Wang’s work on flurocarbons and on the direct editing of biomolecules is a profoundly important technique in the field of bioorganic chemistry. It’s gratifying to know that these two awards will provide the resources to continue this exciting work,” said Brenton DeBeouf, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
With his guidance, many of his students are making strides in their industry. Former Ph.D. student, Daniel Honeycutt, spent three and half years in the program and developed HPLC methods for quantifying and purifying peptides in complex reaction mixtures. His work was highlighted by the American Peptide Society, Synfacts, and was chosen as one of the German Chemistry Society members. He currently works at a start up in Watertown.
Recent graduate Matt Paolella, who came to URI on a Thomas M. Ryan Scholarship and received an undergraduate research fellowship for the American Chemical Society’s fluorine chemistry division, is now enrolled in medical school at Vanderbilt University.
Wang humbly accepts the CAREER award and gives much of the credit to his students.
“My gratitude goes to the University of Rhode Island who let us do this groundbreak work, and this award recognizes my students and their incredible work,” said Wang.