The Johnstone Laboratory
Medicinal and Fundamental Inorganic Chemistry Research Group
Welcome to the Johnstone Lab at UC Santa Cruz! We investigate the fundamental properties of biologically relevant inorganic compounds and apply them to the solution of problems related to human health. We also explore the structure and bonding in fundamentally new motifs in main-group chemistry. Explore this site to learn more about our research, see recent publications, find out who is in the group, and discover links to other interesting resources. If you are interested in joining the lab or learning more about our chemistry, don’t hesitate to contact us.
GROUP NEWS
2024-04-05 - JP is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support his investigations into the Lewis acidic reactivity of main-group porphyrin compounds. Congratulations JP!
2024-03-29 - JP successfully passed his Second Year Seminar in which he presented on antimony-based anion transporters. Congratulations JP!
2024-03-15 - Addis passes his Qualifying Exam and advances to candidacy. Congratulations Addis!
2024-03-07 - The Johnstone Lab hosted a lab tour for undergraduates interested in the research taking place in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Thanks to the UCSC Chem Club for organizing the tour and John Blessing in particular for coordinating this visit. And a special thanks to the students who came with enthusiasm, curiosity, and great questions!
2024-03-06 - Tim joins Profs. Glenn Millhauser and Shaun McKinnie on center stage at the No Dumb Questions Night: Chemistry Edition held at Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz. The event was lots of fun because of all the folks that came out with great questions. Huge thanks to Eli Phillips for conceptualization/spearheading and the UCSC Chem Club for helping to organize and host the evening!
2024-02-21 - Tim delivers a Bioinorganic Periodic TableTalk to the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry describing the group's efforts in medicinal inorganic chemistry in general, with a focus on our CO poisoning work. Thanks to the organizers for the invitation to share our results and for keeping this valuable resource for the inorganic community alive!
2024-02-06 - Our review on the role of structure elucidation in inorganic drug development has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. Thanks to the journal for an invitation to contribute to the EurJIC Talents special collection and congratulations Alissa and Brent!
2024-01-26 - Tim returns from the Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, CA. As always, it was a phenomenal event with no shortage of fantastic science and good company. Many thanks to conference chair Prof. Steve Ragsdale (University of Michigan) for the invitation to serve as a Discussion Leader and for all the folks who came by the Johnstone Lab poster to hear about our work on CO poisoning antidotes!
2023-12-13 - Sophie passes her Qualifying Exam with honors. Congratulations Sophie!
2023-12-07 - Dec 7 was a good day: also, Leila's review on the antidote strategy for combating CO poisoning was published in the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. Congratulations Leila!
2023-12-07 - As a chaser to Brent's defense celebration Tim helps Shaun McKinnie host a special edition of the UCSC Specialized Metabolite Community (UCSC SMComm) seminar: Holiday Trivia!! Silliness and facts were in abundance and (hopefully) lots of fun was had by all. Thanks Shaun for the great idea and all the effort you put into making these things happen!
2023-12-07 - Congratulations Dr. Lindquist-Kleissler!! Brent defended his thesis today and is the second PhD to come from the Johnstone Lab. Brent was the first student in the lab to work with Sb and his efforts in helping get the lab up and running will always be appreciated. Congratulations Brent!
2023-12-05 - Tim is hosted by Prof. Marie Heffern to give the UC Davis Department of Chemistry seminar. In an amusing twist of fate, Tim delivered the seminar as a straight-up chalk talk on the board. Many thanks to Marie for the invite and being such a wonderful host, and to the students and faculty at UC Davis for helping to make it such a great visit!
2023-12-04 - Leila passes her Qualifying Exam and advances to candidacy. Congratulations Leila!
2023-11-20 - The Johnstone Lab hosts Prof. Ged Parkin from Columbia University. With his characteristic flair, Ged took a power outage in stride and delivered his entire seminar as a chalk talk. With a little magic thrown in. Thanks, Ged, for a fantastic visit!
2023-11-17 - Tim gives a presentation on medicinal inorganic chemistry and provided tours of the Johnstone Lab to visiting students from local community colleges who are considering the upcoming ACCESS session. Many thanks to all the students for being so engaged and to Phil and Ted for all their hard work!
2023-11-16 - Madhu is awarded one of the 2024 Koret Scholarships to support her undergraduate research in the group. Congratulations Madhu!
2023-11-10 - Our paper on the influence of steric congestion on the oxidation of heavy pnictines has been published in the Emerging Investigators in Inorganic Chemistry special issue of Polyhedron. Many thanks to Prof. Ged Parkin for the invitation to submit and congratulations to John and Addis!
2023-11-09 - Another week, another open house: the PBSE virtual open house took place today with Tim taking point for the CB3 session. As always, thanks to the prospective students for coming out to find out more about the program!
2023-11-03 - The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry virtual open house took place today. Thanks to all the prospective students that showed up and expressed an interest in the program and in the Johnstone Lab. And thanks to Addis for helping hold down the fort in the graduate student Q&A session!
2023-10-31 - The Johnstone Lab continues its now annual pumpkin carving tradition and celebrates Dr. Droege's last day in the lab!
2023-10-27 - The UCSC Chem Club is a hit at Baskin Day, serving up liquid nitrogen dip n' dots and clearly making the chemistry table the highlight of the event.
2023-10-26 - Congratulations Dr. Droege!! Daniel defends his thesis today and becomes the first PhD to come from the Johnstone Lab. Thank you for all your hard work over the last five years and best of luck. Congratulations Daniel!
2023-10-20 - The annual Crews Symposium took place today and with presentations from Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Prof. Amy Wright from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Undergraduate researcher Madhu did a great job delivering her first poster!
2023-10-16 - Tim gives the Inorganic Chemistry Symposium at Cornell University today. Many thanks to Prof. Justin Wilson and his group for hosting the visit and to all the students and faculty for the many engaging scientific discussions that were had!
2023-10-11 - Tim presents the group's fundamental inoragnic chemistry at the Zink Inorganic Chemistry Seminar Series at UCLA. Thanks to Prof. Alex Spokoyny for the invitation and to all of the inorganic faculty and students for being such wonderful hosts!
2023-10-06 - Alissa welcomes baby Colin into the world! Congratulations Alissa and Brendan and all the best wishes for the new member of your family!
2023-09-28 - Tim delivers the chemistry departmental seminar at California State University, Northridge, sharing some of the group's antimony-based chemistry. Thanks to all the students and faculty who made it a great visit!
2023-09-19 - The annual Fall Conference for the UCSC Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry took place today. Sophie and Leila both gave talks and Addis, Alissa, JP, and Calise all presented posters. And it what is becoming a bit of a tradition, the department suffered through an evening of Tim's trivia. Thank you to all the students and faculty who presented their science and especially to Yat and Katie for making sure that everything got done and ran smoothly!
2023-09-14 - Addis wins a Poster Award after presenting his work on novel bonding motifs featuring Group 15 elements at the 50th annual NOBCChE Conference in New Orleans. Congratulations Addis!
2023-09-14 - Tim gives a seminar describing the group's work on carbon monoxide poisoning antidotes at the University of San Francisco. Thank you Janet Yang for hosting and to all the students who came out and asked great questions!
2023-08-25 - The annual STEM Diversity Summer Research Symposium took place outside under the redwoods today. Students engaged in a range of different research activities shared their progress. Special shout outs to Sayan and Carlos for their posters on the activities performed during the Johnstone Week from this summer's SRI and to ACCESS alumnus Matteo Anicetti, who presented work that he has recently performed at Johns Hopkins. Congratulations to all the presenters on their achievements!
2023-08-21 - Prof. Meera Mehta from the University of Manchester presented her work on phosphorus clusters in a seminar delivered to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Thanks Meera for a great talk and for impactful interactions with students in the department!
2023-08-20 - ACCESS alumna Liz Lara has been accepted to present a poster on her antimony-porphyrin work at the upcoming 2023 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference. Congratulations Liz!
2023-08-17 - The ACS Spring Meeting in San Francisco comes to an end. The Johnstone group was well represented with a poster presentation by Alissa on Sunday, and talks by John, Leila, and Sophie on Tuesday. Congratulations to all four for giving great presentations! And a big shout out to our de facto visiting scholar for the Conference, Prof. Meera Mehta from the University of Manchester for putting up with the group all week!
2023-08-11 - The Johnstone Week of the Summer Research Institute organized by the UCSC Office of STEM Diversity rounds off today with a series of successful X-ray diffraction experiments! Thanks to the students who were willing to try something new and break up the more biologically oriented projects with some synthetic inorganic chemistry. Thanks also to Yuli, Xingci, and Felix for their organizational work and Lori for making sure that we were fully equipped!
2023-08-10 - The ACCESS summer research period comes to an end today with a great series of talks from all of the participants, including Liz's excellent presentation on the antimony-porphyrin chemistry. Thanks to her for the time and effort that she contributed to the project and best of luck as she continues her studies in the fall! And thanks as well to the organizers of the ACCESS program who make sure that this great opportunity continues on at UCSC!
2023-08-05 - Tim returns from the 2023 Beckman Symposium. Huge thanks to the Beckman Foundation for supporting our research and to all the foundation staff and volunteers who work so hard to make it a great event!
2023-08-02 - Our paper on the significant enhancement in Brønsted basicity observed for stibine oxides has been published in Dalton Transactions. Congratulations John and Addis!
2023-08-01 - The Johnstone Lab heads to the movies to watch Oppenheimer!
2023-07-25 - John is awarded a travel grant from the Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society to attend the Fall 2023 ACS Meeting in San Francisco. Congratulations John!
2023-07-12 - An editorial describing the special issue of Current Opinion on Chemical Biology on metal-based anticancer agents that Tim and Justin Wilson (Cornell University) co-edited has been published. Many thanks again to all the authors who contributed to making this such a great issue!
2023-07-06 - Our paper on small-molecule models of the penatvalent antimonials was selected as a Dalton Transactions HOT Article (top 10% of research papers each quarter). Congratulations Brent!
2023-06-25 - Leila and Grant tie the knot this weekend! Congratulations and all the best in your life together!
2023-06-21 - The Johnstone Lab heads out for a group lunch to congratulate Leila on her impending nuptials and to bid farewell to undergraduate researchers (now graduated!) Mikayla and Viky. Congratulations Leila, and best of luck in your future endeavors Mikayla and Viky!
2023-06-21 - Madhu Ayyer joins the lab as an undergraduate researchers. Welcome Madhu!
2023-06-20 - Liz Lara Olvera joins the lab for a summer research experience as a part of the UCSC ACCESS program. Welcome Liz!
2023-06-20 - Our paper describing an organometallic platform for modeling molecular motifs proposed to be present in the pentavalent antimonial drugs used to treat leishmaniasis has been accepted in Dalton Transactions. Congratulations Brent!
2023-06-16 - The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry recognizes the hard work of all the talented students graduating this year at the departmental graduation reception. Particular congratulations to the Johnstone Lab's exiting undergraduate researchers Viky and Mikayla!
2023-06-15 - John receives the 2023-2024 Elmer A. Fridley Scholarship in the Physical Sciences for his work on molecules featuring novel Sb-O bonding motifs. Congratulations John!
2023-06-14 - Tim is named one of the 2023 Beckman Young Investigators. Many thanks to the Beckman Foundation for this honor and for supporting the research performed in the Johnstone Lab!
2023-06-08 - Addis is awarded a Tier One Advancing Science Conference Grant to present his science at the upcoming NOBCChE Annual Conference in New Orleans. Congratulations Addis!
2023-06-03 - The Johnstone Lab hit the sand for a clean-up of Cowell Beach. Thanks as always to Sophie for organizing, to the City of Santa Cruz for support and supplies, and to all the group members (and plus-ones!) that came out to do a little something to help keep the ocean clean!
2023-06-01 - Tim participates in the Work-Study Research Initiative (WSRI) Research Readiness workshop to provide UCSC undergraduate students with an opportunity to learn about this opportunity to participate in paid research experiences. Thanks to Seth Rubin for the opportunity to participate, Peter Weiss for organizing the event and coordinating the WSRI, and to all the students who came out with their questions!
2023-05-27 - Tim returns from a fantastic few days at CanBIC-8 in Parry Sound, Ontario. The Canadian Bioinorganic Chemistry Conference offered many opportunities to connect with other bioinorganic chemists and Tim presented on the group's carbon monoxide poisoning work. Many thanks to the organizers, the engaged participants, and to Prof. Tim Storr for an invitation to speak!
2023-04-24 - Nature Chemistry has published a News & Views piece on our article describing the synthesis of the first monmeric stibine oxide. Many thanks to the editors for this recognition and Prof. Moumita Majumdar for her very nice commentary on the work!
2023-04-18 - Tim shares the group's work on stibine oxides at the departmental seminar for the Department of Chemistry at the University of Maine. Many thanks to UCSC alumna Ana Chatenever for the invitation, to departmental chair Alice Bruce for hosting, and to all who attended!
2023-04-04 - Addis gives an excellent second-year seminar on bismuth-based catalysis, providing a great cap to the Johnstone Lab's run of second-year oral exams. Congratulations Addis!
2023-04-04 - Meredith Fisher joins the lab as an undergraduate student researcher. Welcome Meri!
2023-03-29 - Sophie Hollow has been awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, which will support her research on redox-activated arsenic prodrugs. Congratulations Sophie!
2023-03-28 - Tim and Eszter Boros (Stony Brook University) coorganize a symposium to recognize Justin Wilson's receipt of the Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator at the 2023 Spring ACS Meeting in Indianapolis, IN. Many thanks to all the speakers who contributed to making it a great symposium, to Cornell University and Quark Glass for financial support, and to Eszter for being an awesome co-organizer! And most of all, congratulations Justin!
2023-03-23 - Our paper on the isolation and characterization of the first monomeric stibine oxide has been published in Nature Chemistry. Many thanks to Graham George at the University of Saskatchewan for his help with the X-ray absorption spectroscopy and congratulations John!
2023-03-15 - Justin Peterson joins as the newest graduate student member of the Johnstone Lab. Welcome JP!
2023-03-14 - The lab swings by Taqueria Santa Cruz for a very Santa Cruz send-off for Cam before he heads to Berkeley for grad school. Farewell and best of luck Cam!
2023-03-14 - Tim gave the weekly seminar for the UCSC Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology this week, providing an update on our carbon monoxide poisoning antidote work as well as a little general discussion of medicinal inorganic chemistry. Many thanks to Don Smith for the invitation and to the department for lots of wonderful engagement!
2023-03-08 - The talks for the second round of chemistry rotations were a great success yesterday and today. Congratulations to JP, who rotated in the group this quarter, and to the rest of the first-year cohort!
2023-03-02 - Sophie successfully completed her second year seminar with a great discussion of medicinally relevant redox-activated arsenic compounds. Congratulations Sophie!
2023-02-10 - Many thanks to the McKinnie Group for hosting this month's Friday Social today!
2023-02-06 - Tim delivered the UCSC Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry seminar this week, presenting on the group's stibine oxide chemistry. It is always a treat to share our science with our home department; a big thank you to all who showed up!
2023-02-02 - The American Chemical Society has awarded the Johnstone Group a PRF New Directions grant to support our work on stibine oxides and other novel main-group bonding motifs. Thank you ACS PRF!
2023-01-13 - The Division of Chemistry of the National Science Foundation has award the Johnstone Group a CAREER award to support our work on fundamental main-group structure and reactivity and transfer student success. Thank you NSF!
2022-12-09 - The Departmental Holiday Party was an absolute success tonight. Many thanks to all the grad students who work so hard to make this such a special event each year!
2022-12-09 - A collaborative paper with the Oliver group on the development of Cr(VI)-sequestering coordination polymers has been published in Inorganic Chemistry. Congratulations Cam, Daniel, and Beatriz!
2022-12-07 - Leila successfully delivers an excellent second-year seminar on her proposed work on carbon monoxide poisoning antidotes. Congratulations Leila!
2022-12-02 - Laura and Tim deliver the oh-so-cringey good poster / bad poster session of CHEM 292. Many thanks to Laura for continuing the great work that she has done on this course and to all of the first-year students for being so engaged!
2022-11-19 - Our paper on arsenic-based nanomaterials used as anticancer agents has been published in Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. Congratulations Sophie!
2022-11-12 - The group enjoys a visit from undergraduate alumnus Griffin and heard about how things have been going for him during graduate school at UC Irvine. Keep up the good work Griffin!
2022-11-02 - Tim delivers the Inorganic Chemistry Seminar at Texas A&M. Many thanks to Prof. François Gabbaï for the kind invitation and to all of the other faculty and students who made it such a great visit!
2022-11-01 - Calise Solla joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Calise!
2022-10-14 - The annual Tony Fink Symposium was a great success. Prof. Carlos Bustamante (UC Berkeley) gave a fantastic seminar and lots of stimulating conversation was generated at the student poster session (which included a poster from the lab's own Leila!). Many thanks to the organizers for putting on a great event!
2022-10-06 - Cambell Conour joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Cam!
2022-09-27 - Harjot Singh joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Harjot!
2022-09-25 - Sophie Jiménez begins her rotation in the lab. Welcome Sophie!
2022-09-24 - Another successful beach clean-up down by the Santa Cruz wharf on a beautiful Saturday morning. Thanks so much to all those who helped prevent all manner of garbage from washing out into the ocean and to Sophie for organizing!
2022-09-23 - Mariam Khvichia and Roby Jenkins begin their rotations in the lab. Welcome Mariam and Roby!
2022-09-16 - Alissa finishes her participation in the Preparing for Inclusive Teaching in STEM program run by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. Congratulations Alissa and thank you to all the folks at CITL for making these opportunities available!
2022-09-12 - The new cohort of graduate students were welcomed and science was shared at the PBSE Retreat. Many thanks to the organizers, Shaun and Katie - and welcome to the new cohort of PBSE students!
2022-09-09 - The 2022 Chemistry Fall conference was a hit: a full day of fun interactions and phenomenal science. Congratulations Daniel, John, and Leila for the great talks and poster! And welcome to all the new graduate students! And, of course, many thanks to the organizers, particularly Katie and Geri!
2022-09-08 - Alissa gives a talk to the NASA exobiology group on her summer work on metagenomic analyses of hyperarid environments to round off her summer internship at Ames. Congratulations Alissa!
2022-08-23 - Tim presents the group's fundamental antimony work at the ACS National Meeting in Chicago as a part of the symposium in honor of Doug Stephan receiving the F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry. Many thanks to Gab Ménard for the invitation and to all the speakers for sharing their great science; most importantly, congratulations Doug!
2022-08-18 - Addis Getahun joins the Johnstone group jointly with Kliger group. Welcome Addis!
2022-08-17 - Our paper describing an in depth expansion of our porphyrin functionalization chemistry was published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry. Congratulations Daniel, Leila, Griffin, and Roby!
2022-08-11 - The community college students participating in UCSC's ACCESS program share the science that they have been performing over the summer. The Johnstone Lab's own Matteo Anicetti did a great job describing his contributions to the porphyrin project in his oral presentation and during the poster session. Congratulations to all the participants and many thanks to the organizers who make this possible each year!
2022-07-26 - A collaborative paper with the MacMillan group on the total synthesis and non-enzymatic chemistry of the natural product oxazinin A is published in Angew. Chem. Congratulations Victor and Rahul!
2022-07-15 - A collaborative paper with the Raskatov group on the structural features of the rippled β-sheet is published in Chem. Sci. Congratulations Amaruka and all involved!
2022-07-01 - Tim gets back to Santa Cruz from the Metals in Medicine Gordon Research Conference in Andover, NH where he discussed the group's research on CO poisoning antidotes. Many thanks to all the colleagues, students, and trainees who made it such a great meeting!
2022-06-30 - Kylie Williams joins the Johnstone Group as summer student researcher participating in the UC LEADS program. Welcome Kylie!
2022-06-23 - Mikayla Joyce Gonzaga joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate student researcher. Welcome Mikayla!
2022-06-20 - Tim speaks with Suki Wessling from KSQD radio for Talk of the Bay. The episode, entitled From chemistry to health to what we believe: In conversation with Tim Johnstone, covered a lot of ground and was a lot of fun. Many thanks to Suki and all the folks at KSQD!
2022-06-17 - Matteo Anicetti joins the Johnstone Group as a summer student researcher participating in the ACCESS program. Welcome Matteo!
2022-06-14 - Addis Getahun begins his rotation in the Johnstone Group. Welcome Addis!
2022-06-07 - Tim gets back from participating in the NSF Early Career Workshop in Alexandria, VA. Many thanks to the program officers who came out, to the other participants for making it such an engaging event, and to Christina Li and Steven Lopez for organizing the event!
2022-05-28 - The Johnstone Lab scours the sand by the Santa Cruz wharf to prevent as much trash as possible from getting into the ocean. Thanks to all who participated in the beach clean up and to Sophie for organizing it!
2022-05-19 - Tim virtually visits Marina High School in Monterey, CA to speak to students in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program about a career in academic research. Best of luck to the students in their future endeavors!
2022-05-12 - Devipriya Arunachalam joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Devi!
2022-04-21 - Junyi (Adrian) Deng joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Adrian!
2022-04-19 - Tim delivers the Chemistry Department seminar at the University of the Pacific, providing an update on the group's work on carbon monoxide poisoning antidotes and new antimony-containing bonds. Thanks to Kin Zhao for the invitation and to all the faculty and students for their hospitality and engaging discussions!
2022-04-04 - Daniel's virtual poster and oral presentation are now available online in advance of the ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Scholar Symposium later this month. Congratulations Daniel!
2022-03-24 - John presented his stibine oxide work in the final session of the Main-Group Chemistry Symposium. It was great talk and was a fantastic cap to the group's participation in the ACS Conference. Congratulations John!
2022-03-23 - Daniel and Sophie each give talks in the Bioinoganic Chemistry Symposium. In the moring, Daniel presented his proof-of-principle validation of our CO-poisoning antidote strategy. In the afternoon, Sophie presented her work on the synthesis of anticancer arylarsonic acids. Both did an excellent job! And many thanks to Harry Gray for leading a fairly extended open discussion of Sophie's work during the intermission!
2022-03-22 - Tim presents the group's work at two separate symposia at the ACS Conference. In the morning, he shared developments on novel antimony-oxygen bonding at the symposium to honor Phil Power's receipt of the Frederick M. Hawthorne Award for Main Group Chemistry. In the afternoon, he presented the progress made towards a small-molecule CO poisoning antidote at the Advances in Metallodrugs and Metallodiagnostics Symposium. Many thanks to Louise Berben, Loi Do, and Justin Wilson for the invitations to speak!
2022-03-20 - Brent kicks off the Johnstone Lab's talks at the 2022 Spring ACS National Meeting in San Diego. He delivers the first talk of the first day of the Main-Group Symposium and does a great job telling the audience about his work on pentaphenylantimony. Congratulations Brent!
2022-03-14 - Leila Parker and Sophie Hollow officially join as the two newest graduate students in the Johnstone Group. Welcome Leila and Sophie!
2022-03-11 - The second round of rotation student talks comes to a close today. Congratulations to all the students (including Johnstone group roton Maria) on their great presentations!
2022-03-11 - A collaborative paper with the Lokey Group at UCSC describing a new amino acid for improving permeability and solubility of cyclic peptides has been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Congratulations Jaru and Scott!
2022-02-28 - Kimiko Rossi joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Kimi!
2022-02-25 - The virtual visiting weekend for the prospective graduate students draws to a close - thanks so much to all the students who logged in and to the Johnstone Group members who hosted a virtual Open Lab session. And, of course, a huge thank you to the departmental staff who always work so hard to make events like this happen!
2022-02-23 - John Wenger passes his Qualifying Exam. Congratulations John!
2022-02-16 - Alek Martinez joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Alek!
2022-01-28 - Our paper on the sequestration of CO from CO-poisoned red blood cells has been accepted in Chemical Communications. Congratulations Daniel!
2022-01-21 - The virtual PBSE visiting session draws to a close. A big thank you to all the prospective graduate students who attended and all the UCSC staff who worked so hard to make this event happen!
2022-01-19 - Our paper on the cyclodextrin encapsulation of dodecaiodododecaborate and its impact on hemolysis has been accepted in Chemical Communications as a part of the special issue "Boron Chemistry in the 21st Century." Congratulations Sophie!
2022-01-19 - Radcliff ends his rotation in the group and delivers a great PBSE rotation talk. Congratulations Radcliff!
2022-01-10 - Maria Sajimon begins rotating in the Johnstone Group. Welcome Maria!
2022-01-10 - Abram, an ACCESS alumnus, rejoins the group as a UCSC undergraduate researcher. Welcome back Abram!
2021-12-08 - A paper describing a collaborative project with the Raskatov and Oliver groups at UCSC was accepted in Chemical Science. The paper describes the first high-resolution structure of a beta rippled sheet, which was first predicted by Pauling and Corey in 1953. Congratulations Ariel and Beatriz!
2021-11-30 - Sophie, Kevin, and Leila delivered their first-year rotation talks over the course of the past two days. All three of them did a great job over the course of the quarter and with their presentations. Congratulations to all three!
2021-11-23 - Viky Villanueva joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Viky!
2021-11-15 - Radcliff Huffman starts his second PBSE rotation in the Johnstone Group. Welcome Radcliff!
2021-11-15 - The Johnstone Lab hosts Prof. François Gabbaï (Texas A&M) for the departmental seminar. Prof. Gabbaï gave a fantastic presentation on the science that his group is exploring and engaged in great discussions with the group. Many thanks François!
2021-11-11 - Vivian Gallego joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Vivian!
2021-10-29 - The group has fun parading around as Pokemon (with Tim as Ash!) for the Chemistry Department's annual Kenny Ikei Halloween Party. Many thanks as always to Ted Holman for organizing and for all the students, faculty, and staff that came out and had a great time!
2021-10-28 - Pumpkin carving, candy, pies, and crisp autumn air: the Johnstone Lab takes a moment to enjoy the season!
2021-10-18 - Our paper describing the single-crystal neutron diffraction, mulitpole refinement, and Hirsfeld Atom Refinement of a hydroxystibonium cation has been published in Inorganic Chemistry. Congratulations John! And particular thanks to Xiaoping Wang at Oak Ridge National Lab without whom the neutron diffraction work would not have been possible.
2021-09-23 - Leila Parker and Kevin Chou begin their chemistry rotations in the Lab for Fall Quarter. Welcome Leila and Kevin!
2021-09-20 - Brent is nominated by his peers to be the next Graduate Student Liaison for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Congratulations Brent!
2021-09-18 - Undergraduate alumnus Griffin Milligan is awarded the Doug Drexler Chemistry Scholarship and the Joseph F. Bunnett Undergraduate Research Prize for all his hard work at UCSC. Congratulations Griffin!
2021-09-17 - The 2021 Chemistry Fall Conference was a huge success! Many thanks to Sarah Loerch and Katie Cramton for all their hard work organizing. John gave a talk about his work on stibine oxides and Brent spoke about his work on pentaphenylantimony. Both talks were fantastic! Daniel and Alissa presented posters on their projects on carbon monoxide poisoning and nanoparticle delivery. Tim will be sure to make trivia easier next year... A very warm welcome to our incoming cohort of chemistry graduate students!
2021-09-13 - The Johnstone Lab had a great day at the 2021 PBSE Kick-off Event. Alissa, Brent, Daniel, and John presented a poster on the group's work - thanks to all who stopped by and a warm welcome to the incoming graduate cohort of 2021!.
2021-08-25 - Our collaborative work with the Butler Group (University of California, Santa Barbara) on the chemistry of the newly discovered siderophore frederiksenibactin has been published in Chemical Science. Congratulations Parker!
2021-08-08 - Daniel is a recipient of one of the two 2020-2021 Outstanding TA Awards issued by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Congratulations Daniel! And many thanks to all of our TAs, who had to overcome so many extra difficulties with teaching this year.
2021-06-25 - Robert Jenkins joins the Johnstone Group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Roby!
2021-06-21 - Natalie Hemond from American River College and Abram Rodriguez from Gavilan College start their undergraduate summer research projects in the Johnstone Lab today. Welcome Natalie and Abram!
2021-06-07 - Tim presents the group's work on fundamental antimony chemistry at the University of Birmingham School of Chemistry Seminar Series. A big thanks to the department for the warm reception and to Profs. Andy Jupp and Sarah Pike for the invitation!
2021-06-04 - Our paper on the solution-state structure of pentaphenylantimony has been accepted in Inorg. Chem. This work would not have been possible without the XAS expertise of Prof. Graham George (University of Saskatchewan) and his team. Many thanks to them and congratulations Brent!
2021-05-28 - Alissa delivered her third-year seminar to the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and has now advanced to PhD candidacy. Congratulations Alissa!
2021-05-24 - Daniel has been selected to receive a 2021-2022 ARCS Fellowship. Congratulation Daniel and thank you ARCS Foundation!
2021-05-05 - Sophie Hollow is profiled in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry's Undergraduate Student Spotlight. Congratulations Sophie!
2021-04-19 - Alissa successfully passed her MCDB Qualifying Exam. Congratulations Alissa!
2021-03-30 - Another Johnstone lab member joins the ranks of the UCSC PhD candidate cohort; congratulations to Daniels on passing his Qualifying Exam!
2021-03-19 - Tim presents the group's work on understanding the structures of antimony-based drugs at the California State University, Sacramento. Chemistry Seminar Series. Many thanks to Prof. Ben Gherman for the invitation and hosting the seminar!
2021-03-19 - Sophie Hollow graduates with her Bachelors of Science degree. Congratulations Sophie!
2021-03-08 - The Johnstone group hosted the virtual visit of Prof. Mike Pluth from the University of Oregon, who delivered the departmental seminar this week. Thanks Mike for sharing all the great chemistry that you and your group are doing!
2021-03-02 - Brent successfully passed his third-year Qualifying Exam. Congratulations Brent!
2021-03-02 - Our paper on the reassignment of stibine oxides as hydroxystibonium cations has been accepted in Chem Comm. Congratulations John!
2021-01-20 - Our paper on pnictogen-oxygen bonding has been published in Inorganic Chemistry. Congratulations Brent and John!
2021-01-13 - John successfully delivers and defends his second-year seminar on main-group nitrogen fixation. Congratulations John!
2020-12-04 - Tim gives a talk to the UC Berkeley Nanosciences & Nanoengineering Institute on nanodelivery of inorganic drugs. Many thanks to Derek Popple and Avi Rosenzweig for the invitation!
2020-11-23 - Tim's work on using Frustrated Lewis Pair concepts to reinforce learning in undergraduate chemistry courses appears in the book Frustrated Lewis Pairs. Many thanks to Andy Jupp and Chris Slootweg for editing this volume and to the spring 2020 cohort of CHEM 151B for their help in generating the data!
2020-10-12 - Alissa Lance-Byrne joins as the newest graduate student member of the Johnstone Group. Welcome Alissa!
2020-09-25 - The Johnstone Lab attends the 2020 UCSC Chemistry Fall Conference, which Tim hosted. Thank you to all the students and post-docs who presented their research, Prof. Andy Borovik for being our keynote speaker, the graduate students who moderated the panel session, and all those who stayed for trivia! Also a big welcome to all of our new chemistry graduate students!
2020-09-10 - The Johnstone Lab attends the annual PBSE Fall Research Conference, where Daniel and Brent present posters on their research. Welcome new PBSE grad students!
2020-09-04 - The UC Cancer Research Coordinating Committee has awarded the Johnstone Lab a seed grant to investigate the use of arylarsonic acids to treat hematological cancers. Thank you to all the folks at UCOP and CRCC for this support!
2020-08-31 - Thanks to the efforts of CalFire, the blaze closest to campus is greatly contained and air quality has improved significantly. PSB has been cleared to reopen and lab work can recommence. Thank you to all who put themselves in harm's way to stop the spread of the fires!
2020-08-20 - The lab will be shutting down in compliance with the evacuation order enacted by the Chancellor on account of the wildfires. Stay safe everyone.
2020-08-17 - Daniel and Brent are (virtually) off to the Fall ACS National Meeting this week to present posters on their work. Good luck Brent and Daniel!
2020-08-15 - Sophie is given a 2020 Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry by the Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the ACS. Congratulations Sophie!
2020-07-22 - Our application to the NSF Major Research Instrumentation program for a new dual-source single-crystal X-ray diffractometer was funded! Thank you to the National Science Foundation, the UCSC Office of Research, the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, and the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Earth & Planetary Sciences!
2020-07-20 - John Wenger joins as the newest graduate student member of the Johnstone Group. Welcome John!
2020-06-08 - A collaborative study with the Goicoechea group at Oxford on a "push‐pull" phosphinidene stabilized by a β‐diketiminato ligand was published in Chemistry - A European Journal. Congratulations to all and we look forward to more fun science together in the future!
2020-06-02 - With our re-entry plan approved, the Johnstone Lab begins the process of gradually reopening!
2020-05-13 - Tim is selected from among the Hellman Fellows as the UCSC Featured Fellow by the Hellman Foundation. Thank you so much for your support!
2020-05-12 - A paper by Gabriella and Tim describing a tool to identify symmetry between groups of molecules was published in the Journal of Chemical Education. This work was made possible because of the UCSC CITL/DSS Faculty Fellowship. Thank you CITL and DSS, and congratulations Gabriella!
2020-04-14 - Tim is named one of the 2020 UCSC Hellman Fellows. The Hellman Foundation is generously supporting our work on carbon monoxide poisoning and antimony-based antiparasitic agents.
2020-03-25 - Brent successfully delivered and defended his (remote!) second year seminar on the use of arsenic-containing molecules to treat human African trypanosomiasis. Congratulations Brent!
2020-03-17 - The Johnstone Lab is officially going into temporary shutdown to observe the stay-at-home order and help stem the spread of COVID-19. Stay safe everyone!
2020-03-08 - The Johnstone Lab (notably Brent) completes its first synchrotron run at SSRL. Thanks to Graham George and his group for kindly bringing us on board!
2020-02-28 - The Johnstone Lab and the rest of the Department welcomes the prospective graduate students as they visit for their interviews. Enjoy your time in Santa Cruz and we hope to see you again soon!
2020-02-19 - Daniel successfully delivered and defended his second year seminar on the work that he has been doing on porphyrin-based antidotes for carbon monoxide poisoning. Congratulations Daniel!
2020-01-19 - Tim attends the 2020 Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference and serves as a discussion leader for the medicinal inorganic chemistry session. Thanks to all speakers and attendees for a week filled with great science and stimulating discussion!
2019-11-18 - Austin Hopiavuori joins the Johnstone Lab as a PBSE rotation student. Welcome Austin!
2019-11-04 - The Johnstone Lab hosts Prof. Alison Butler from UC Santa Barbara. Faculty from across the department enjoyed being able to interact with Prof. Butler and she gave a wonderful seminar on her research. Thanks Alison!
2019-10-11 - Daniel welcomes a new addition to his family. All the best to him, Jess, and the newest little chemist on the block!
2019-09-20 - The 2019 Chemistry Fall Conference was a great success today! Tim helped to coordinate the event with Alex Ayzner and nothing would have happened without Katie Cramton. Many thanks to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and our sponsors: Bruker, Quark, and VWR. A great day of science from students and our keynote speaker, Prof. Ken Raymond from UC Berkeley.
2019-09-19 - Undergraduate Zach Davis returns after the Summer break. Welcome back!
2019-09-18 - Tim participates in the 2019 Teaching Academy hosted by the UCSC CITL. Tim's take on the event was featured in the UCSC News.
2019-09-11 - The Johnstone Lab enjoys a day at Roaring Camp for the 2019 PBSE Fall Research Conference. Many thanks to the organizers.
2019-09-03 - Indranil Chakraborty joins the group as a Research Specialist. Welcome to the lab and welcome back to UCSC!
2019-09-03 - Undergraduate Griffin Milligan joins the group. Welcome!
2019-08-13 - The Johnstone Group had its first birthday this past week! Mini celebration at this week's group meeting.
2019-07-01 - Undergraduate alumna Sakshi Soti begins her Masters in Biomedical Sciences at Western University of Health Sciences. Best of luck Sakshi!
2019-06-19 - Undergraduate Sophia Hollow joins the group. Welcome!
2019-06-16 - Gabriella Ruiz graduates with her Bachelors of Science degree. Congratulations Gabriella!
2019-04-27 - Tim attended to the table for the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry along with Alex Ayzner and Katie Cramton at the Alumni Weekend event today. Thanks to all the alumni who came back into Santa Cruz to relive some memories!
2019-04-12 - The UCSC Committee on Research has awarded the Johnstone Group a New Faculty Research Grant to support our work on developing an antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning. Thank you for the support!
2019-03-15 - Tim completes the 2019 UCSC Leadership Academy. Many thanks to the Division of Academic Affairs for organizing this opportunity.
2019-02-07 - Tim serves as a judge at the Westlake Elementary School Science Fair. Congratulations to all the students who worked so hard on their fantastic projects!
2019-02-01 - The Chemistry Graduate Student Visit wrapped up today. We hope that the prospective students enjoyed their time in Santa Cruz and we look forward to seeing you here in the Fall!
2019-01-25 - PBSE graduate students Amanda Carbajal and Alissa Lance-Byrne will be rotating in the group. Welcome!
2019-01-15 - The UCSC Committee on Research has awarded the Johnstone Group a New Faculty Research Grant to support our work on the nanodelivery of antimony-based antileishmanial agents. Thank you for the support!
2019-01-14 - The Johnstone Group hosts Prof. Justin Wilson from Cornell University, who gave a fantastic seminar on his medicinal inorganic chemistry research program. Thanks for the science!
2019-01-01 - Graduate students Brent Lindquist-Kleissler and Daniel Droege officially join the group. Welcome!
2018-09-21 - Tim presents his past and proposed research to the department as part of the 2018 Chemistry Fall Conference. Lots of great science from students in the department and the keynote speaker, Prof. Louise Berben of UC Davis.
2018-09-13 - Undergraduates Gabriella Ruiz, Sakshi Soti, and Zach Davis join the group. Welcome!
2018-09-13 - Tim gives a presentation at the 2018 PBSE Fall Research Conference, talking to the incoming cohort about his proposed research. A full day of great science from across multiple departments!
2018-09-11 - Tim is named a Faculty Fellow of the UCSC Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL). The fellowship is also supported by the UCSC Division of Student Success. He is excited to be a part of this community of individuals dedicated to teaching and learning on campus.
2018-08-10 - Tim arrives at UCSC to start his independent career.