JIZZ��Ƶ

As a proud New Brunswicker, spending the past 26 years contributing to the academic and social fabric of JIZZ��Ƶ has been the most rewarding job I could have imagined. I’ve taught organic chemistry to students at every level, from first to fourth year. Alongside my colleagues in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, I’ve watched thousands of students go on to fulfilling careers in medicine, science, health sciences, environmental science, law, academia, and more. Thanks to a popular course I taught in bioorganic chemistry for many years, I was fortunate to work with students across both programs offered by our department.

While the core principles and importance of organic chemistry remain largely unchanged, exactly how it is taught —  how to make it relevant in a rapidly changing technological world — continues to be challenging.

Students themselves have also changed. Social media, COVID-19, and other societal shifts in the world have reshaped how they learn and connect. The world they are growing up has changed dramatically — climate change, the rise of artificial intelligence—and for many students, any contemplation of the future is fraught with uncertainty and anxiety.

How do we navigate these changing times as an educator and a researcher?

One of my professors once remarked, “We’re not just teaching facts, we’re trying to instill an attitude,”  — an attitude of curiosity, positivity, passion, and compassion. I have tried to bring that perspective to teaching and research throughout my career.

Research plays a central role in any professor’s life. As I shared in a previous issue of The Record (Winter 2005), my area of expertise is synthetic organic chemistry — I work on creating new molecules in the lab. My focus has been on understanding how the enzyme cofactor biotin functions in the presence of its enzymes.

While we know what biotin does, for example, it is involved in the biosynthesis of fats — what is not known is how biotin does what it does. There is a sulphur atom in biotin’s structure, somewhat removed from where the chemistry takes place. My students and I have been trying to ascertain whether this sulphur plays a role in the biochemistry of biotin.

Trying to answer the question ‘how does something work?’ is the essence of a pure research problem.

Despite considerable time and resources, we still don’t have a definitive answer. But many students have gone through my lab, thinking about the question of sulphur in biotin from different angles — synthesis, molecular design, computational chemistry, and enzymology. It's been a rich educational experience that encourages interdisciplinary thinking across both chemistry and biochemistry. Most importantly, this pure research problem has spawned three applied research problems.

Over the years, we’ve designed and investigated the synthesis of a completely novel organic polymer with the potential to be a high-temperature superconductor. We’ve also developed and patented a series of new materials that act as reducing materials. In collaboration with a Vancouver-based company, Kasis Cleanwater Technology, we are exploring their use of fascinating materials in an environmentally friendly gold mining process, as well as developing innovative anti-viral personal protective equipment.

Finally, in partnership with Dr. Jill Rourke, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, we have synthesized and tested a series of novel acrylamide-based Michael acceptors with applications for treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and other cancers.

Much of this work would not have been possible without exceptional students I’ve had the privilege to work with, the financial support of the department and the university, and the inspiring, collaborative environment that defines JIZZ��Ƶ. For all of this, I am truly grateful.