J.W.T. Spinks Lecture Series: General Lecture

Established in 1975, this lecture series recognizes the many contributions Dr. J.W.T. Spinks made to his departments, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and the chemical professions, both nationally and internationally. As faculty member, department head, dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research, university president and president emeritus, Dr. Spinks was associated with USask from 1930 until his passing in 1997.

The lecture series brings to USask eminent scientists and engineers in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering to deliver a series of lectures and to share their knowledge and experience with students and staff. This series is run jointly with the Department of Chemical Engineering, which hosts the Spinks lectures every third year.

Lecture title: Bringing Chemistry to Life: The Unending Search for Elemental Harmony
Date: Friday, April 26, 2019
Time: 3:45 pm
Location: Arts 241

Lecture summary:

2019 marks the 150th-year celebration of the periodic table, which provides a chemical blueprint for organizing the elements of life. By analogy to an orchestra, each element can be thought of as an instrument with a unique sound and personality. In this context, chemists are not only passive listeners that uncover and appreciate the music that nature plays, but they can actively compose and conduct new collections of these instruments to create new music that is greater than the sum of these individual parts. This lecture will  describe contributions and future opportunities in the chemistry of metals, which encompass the majority of the elements on the periodic table, to benefit society, with a focus on health, energy and the environment.

Speaker bio:

Dr. Chris Chang is the Class of 1942 Chair Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at University of California, Berkeley, and faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Research in the Chang group focuses on the study of metals in biology and energy, with particular interests in neuroscience, metabolism and artificial photosynthesis. His lab has made fundamental discoveries in inorganic and biological chemistry through developing activity-based sensing probes to open a field of transition metal signaling, exemplified by identifying copper and hydrogen peroxide signals that regulate processes spanning neural activity to fat metabolism. The discovery of copper signaling establishes a new paradigm for metals in biology, expanding the roles of redox transition metals beyond metabolic cofactors. Chang's lab has also advanced artificial photosynthesis through bioinorganic catalyst design.

Upcoming Events