Dr. Craig R. Clark is a Principal Researcher Scientist and Chief Scientist of the Quantum Systems Group of the CIPHER Laboratory at GTRI. His research focuses on developing surface electrode ion trap technology for quantum information experiments. He has led multiple programs focusing on improving the building blocks needed for ion trap quantum information, including fast low heating ion transport, fast re-cooling techniques, and high fidelity one- and two-qubit operations.

Prior to arriving at GTRI, Dr. Clark was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff as an Optical Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories in the Photonics Microsystems Technologies Department. Dr. Clark received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011 under the advisement of Dr. Kenneth Brown, in which Dr. Clark also was a GTRI Robert G. Shackleford Fellow.  His graduate research used ion trap technology to study sympathetic heating and cooling of trapped atomic and molecular ions.   He also holds BS degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics from Kennesaw State University.

Awards

• ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award, 2018

• NIH Ruth L. Kirschtein Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2013

, • BSF Travel Grant for Young Scientists, 2013

, • BMS Graduate Fellowship in Organic Chemistry, 2013

, • Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2012

, • NSF Predoctoral Fellowship, 2009

Education

B.S., University of Oklahoma, 2008; Ph.D., The Scripps Research Institute, 2013; NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Santa Barbara, 2013-2016

Research

The Gutekunst Lab is interested in pushing the limits of complexity in macromolecular systems using innovative concepts from synthetic organic chemistry. Specific projects in the lab will explore the design of novel monomers for the construction of functional polyamides, the development of small molecule reagents for the dynamic modulation of branched polymer architectures, and the investigation of new concepts for creating covalent bonds in challenging contexts. Each of these research projects will enable the generation of new functional materials with structures or assemblies that were previously inaccessible for study. Prospective students will obtain extensive training in synthetic organic chemistry, as well as polymer synthesis and characterization.

Research Keywords

Organic and Materials Chemistry; Polymer chemistry informed by modern organic synthesis; Dynamic control of polymer structure and function; New functional and recyclable materials.

Vinny is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech with joint appointments at the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Biological Sciences.

Awards

• 2024 - ASP Matt Suffness Young Investigator
• 2023 - Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar
• 2022 - ACS Academic Young Investigator (Division of Organic Chemistry)
• 2021 - Cottrell Scholar
• 2019 - Kavli Frontiers in Science Fellow
• 2018 - Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow
• 2016 - NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
• 2014 - Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellow

Education

B.Tech. M.Tech. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (2007); Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012); Postdoc. University of California San Diego (2017)

Research

A majority of antibiotics and drugs that we use in the clinic are derived or inspired from small organic molecules called Natural Products that are produced by living organisms such as bacteria and plants. Natural Products are at the forefront of fighting the global epidemic of antibiotic resistant pathogens, and keeping the inventory of clinically applicable pharmaceuticals stocked up. Some Natural Products are also potent human toxins and pollutants, and we need to understand how these toxins are produced to minimize our and the environmental exposure to them.

We as biochemists ask some simple questions- how and why are Natural Products produced in Nature, what we can learn from Natural Product biosynthetic processes, and how we can exploit Nature's synthetic capabilities for interesting applications?

Broadly, we are interested in questions involving (meta)genomics, biochemistry, structural and mechanistic enzymology, mass spectrometry, analytical chemistry, and how natural product chemistry dictates biology.

Research Keywords

(Bio)Organic Chemistry; Discovery and Biosynthesis of Natural Products; Enzymology; Structural Biology; Metabolomics; (Meta)Genomics

Professor Wysocki received her bachelor of science in Chemistry at Western Kentucky University in 1982 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Purdue University in 1987.
Wysocki did her postdoc work at the Naval Research Laboratory as a National Research Council fellow Virginia Commonwealth University. She became an Assistant Professor in 1990 and an Associate Professor in 1994.
Wysocki went to the University of Arizona in 1996, was promoted to Professor in 2000, and served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
From 2012 to 2024, Wysocki was an Ohio Eminent Scholar, Director of the Campus Chemical Instrument Center, and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Ohio State University.
On Oct. 1, 2024, she became Professor and Chair of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
   
   Major awards
   2022 International Mass Spectrometry Foundation Thomson Medal,
   2022 ACS Analytical Division Chemical Instrumentation award,
   2017 ACS Field and Franklin Award,
   2009 ASMS Distinguished Contribution Award

Dr. Dickson is the Vassar Woolley Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and has been at Georgia Tech since 1998. He was a Senior Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry from 2010-2021, and his research has been continuously funded (primarily from NIH) since 2000. Dr. Dickson has developed quantitative bio imaging and signal recovery/modulation schemes for improved imaging of biological processes and detection of medical pathologies. His work on fluorescent molecule development and photoswitching of green fluorescent proteins was recognized as a key paper for W.E. Moerner’s 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Recently, Dr. Dickson’s lab has developed rapid susceptibility testing of bacteria causing blood stream infections. Their rapid recovery methods, coupled with rigorous multidimensional statistics and machine learning have led to very simple, highly accurate and fast methods for determining the appropriate treatment within a few hours after positive blood cultures. These hold significant potential for drastically improving patient outcomes and reducing the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance.

Stefan France is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Professor France earned his B.S. in Chemistry (2000) from Duke University and a M.A. (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) in Organic Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. His research group focuses on experimental methodology development, natural product synthesis, and medicinal chemistry. Owing to Prof. France's avid interest in undergraduate research, his research group has mentored and trained more than 60 undergraduates (both Georgia Tech and non-Georgia Tech students). Professor France has been the recipient of several awards for his research, mentorship, and teaching including: the 2018 Georgia Tech-Georgia Power Professor of Excellence; the 2015 Georgia Tech Senior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Mentor Award; the 2014 Georgia Tech Faculty Award for Academic Outreach; the 2014 Georgia Tech Hesberg Teaching Award; the 2013 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award; the 2012 National Organization for the Professional Advancement for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award; and the 2011 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. He heads the Chemistry FAST Program, a NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site, and also serves as Chair of the NSF Chemistry REU Leadership Group.

Faces of Research - Profile Article

Eric received his B.A. in English from Rice and then went on to pursue a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry at the University of Florida, graduating in 2011. After 1.5 years at Georgia Tech as a research engineer, he joined BASF in Germany as a postdoctoral researcher in organic electronics. Eric then returned to Georgia Tech and the Reynolds group where he is currently working as a research scientist focusing on electrochromic materials and devices.

Justin Kim is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He received his A.B. in Chemistry and Physics and an A.M. in Chemistry from Harvard College in 2003 then received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013. After a postdoctoral fellowship as a Miller Institute Fellow at UC Berkeley and at Stanford University, he joined the faculty of the Department of Cancer Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School in 2016 as an Assistant Professor. He later joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2024. He is the recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2018), Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2021), and the NSF CAREER Award (2023). Professor Kim’s research program is defined by the development of biologically relevant reactions for use in chemistry, biology, and materials science. His primary research interests are in expanding the functional repertoire of bioorthogonal chemistry, specifically exploring new bond-forming and breaking methods that enable platforms for discovering and targeting small molecule-protein and protein-protein interactions as well as for creating functionally dynamic biomaterials.

Erin L. Ratcliff is a Full Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.  Prof. Ratliff is also the Associate Director of Scientific Continuity for Director of the currently funded Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) entitled “Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems (SPECS)”, a center which she directed at her prior appointment at University of Arizona.  

Her group “Laboratory for Interface Science for Printable Electronic Materials” uses a combination of applications and devices with electrochemistry, spectroscopies, microscopies, and synchrotron-based techniques to understand fundamental structure-property relationships of next-generation materials for energy conversion and storage and biosensing. Materials of interest include metal halide perovskites, π-conjugated materials, colloidal quantum dots, and metal oxides. Current research is focused on mechanisms of electron transfer and transport across interfaces, including semiconductor/electrolyte interfaces and durability of printable electronic materials.

Her research program has been funded by the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences, the Solar Energy Technology Office, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, and the Nano Bio Materials Consortium.