My lab's next paper is out in ACS Electrochemistry -- our first in this awesome journal! Ag electrodes catalyze reductive C(sp3)-X activation when X = I, Br, Cl. Ye Ji, joined by Ching and Eva, show that we can also activate C(sp3)-F -- super cool! Congrats! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Our more recent paper is hot off the press in @jacs.acspublications.org Great team effort and a preview of what the future looks like for our group.... pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

A Rapid Binder Discovery Workflow for Engineering Mini-Protein Degraders

Developing molecules that selectively bind targets of interest remains a critical bottleneck in biological research and biotechnology. Here, we present a workflow that leverages the Phage-Assisted Non-Continuous Selection for Binders (PANCS-Binders) technology for rapid de novo binder discovery. To directly assess the speed and utility of the approach, we pursued three cancer-related targets: NSD3, NMNAT2, and CSF1R. Within 26 days, the PANCS-Binders workflow yielded sequence- and function-verified binders for all three targets with nano-to-micromolar affinities. By incorporating an NSD3 binder into an engineered E3 ligase, RNF8, we developed an NSD3 degrader that potently depleted endogenous NSD3 and inhibited colorectal cancer cell proliferation. We then applied this degrader to reveal previously unknown NSD3 dependencies in ovarian cancer cell lines, uncovering new therapeutic vulnerabilities. Together, our work establishes a robust workflow for accelerated binder discovery and demonstrates how binders can expedite chemical biology discovery and biotechnology development.

pubs.acs.org

Bryan Dickinson@chembiobryan.bsky.social · 7mo ago

1/ Check out our newest paper where we ask: How fast can we experimentally discover binders from scratch? And we mean scratch: a blinded study. TLDR: 26 days. And the binders work…and led to new cancer biology. We’re coming for you AI…. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

My lab's next paper is out in JACS! We molecularly define a catalyst and its microenvironment in a 1 step via non-covalent self-assembly! The result? A 3-unit pKa shift unlocking reaction intermediates inaccessible in bulk! Congrats Greg, alum Deepak, and Ashok! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Excited to share the groups most recent cluster based work by first-author Linh Le, and collaboratively with @annawuttig.bsky.social and @gagliardilaura.bsky.social groups. Iron-sulfur clusters can serve as direct electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Direct CO2 Reduction to CO with an Fe4S4-Based Coordination Polymer

Fe4S4 clusters play essential roles in nature, classically in electron transport but increasingly in newly discovered reactivity or catalysis. These roles have spurred interest in developing synthetic...

pubs.acs.org

My lab’s next paper is out in JACS! Congrats to Taemin and Ching who discovered that Brønsted acids unlock mild interfacial catalytic halogen atom transfer at Ag electrodes! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Congratulations to amazing future colleague Dan Laorenza! So excited for you to join us at UChicago Inorganic Chemistry!

@uchichemistry.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We’re thrilled to announce Dr. Dan Laorenza joins UChicago Chemistry as Assistant Professor this July! Currently a Beckman Fellow at Harvard, he’ll lead a group at the intersection of inorganic chem & materials science. Welcome to UChicago, Dr. Laorenza! #UChicago #Chemistry

Congratulations to amazing colleagues Profs. Dmitri Talapin and John Anderson! UChicago Inorganic Chemistry!

@uchichemistry.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We are incredibly proud to celebrate Professors John S. Anderson and Dmitri Talapin at the ACS Spring 2026 National Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta. These two represent the very best of innovation in the chemical sciences. Join us in congratulating these two on their well-deserved recognition! 👏

Join us for upcoming info sessions to learn more about our PhD program in Chemistry at the University of Chicago! Details below. We are super excited about our vibrant research community, and you could be a part of it! Applications are also now open! chemistry.uchicago.edu/graduate-pro...

My lab’s next paper is out in JACS! Our electrode-orthogonal self-assembled layers can "self-heal" after degradation -- the key is a dynamic linkage we can molecularly tune! Hats off to Nico! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

My lab's next paper is out in Angewandte Chemie! Disorder activates graphitic carbon for echem rxns—but can we distinguish it in situ? Varying disorder shows different electric-field IR responses! w/ Ry, Ben & calculations from Arpan in Galli Group onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...