Prized Science

Organic chemistry: It’s among the most feared courses undergraduate science students take. Whether you call it “orgo” or “o-chem,” it has reduced many hopeful scholars to tears. One professor thinks he has a solution. William Dichtel, Ph.D., of Cornell University shares his thoughts on making organic chemistry classes more interesting and relevant to students.

Stephen J. Lippard is the winner of the 2014 American Chemical Society Priestley Medal, the highest honor given by ACS. Lippard helped create the field of bioinorganic chemistry, which explores the crucial role of metals in biology. His work also led to a better understanding of the mechanism of cisplatin — sometimes termed "the penicillin of cancer" for its wide-ranging effects — and opened the door to efforts to develop more effective anti-cancer medications.

The engineering feat that enables a device to jolt a dangerously misbehaving heart back to its normal rhythm and save millions of lives is featured in our last Prized Science episode of 2013. The video features renowned inventor Esther S. Takeuchi, Ph.D., this year's winner of the E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. The award recognizes Takeuchi's work on a battery that powers implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs). These devices monitor patients' heartbeats continuously. When the beats go haywire, it can deliver a life-saving shock to help the heart resume a normal rhythm.

A group of nanoparticles called “GUMBOS” is as varied as their culinary namesake implies, with a wide range of potential applications from cancer therapy tosensors. Isiah Warner, Ph.D., won the ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry for his work on GUMBOS and other innovative research.

One of Shirley O. Corriher’s first lessons on how chemistry meets cooking came in the form of scrambled eggs stuck to a frying pan. That experience set the former biochemist on a journey to become an award-winning food writer. For her success in bringing science in the home, Corriher was awarded this year's James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.

Imagine creating something completely new — something improbable and provocative that has never existed on Earth before. This kind of unconventional science is the focus of Gregory H. Robinson, Ph.D., winner of the 2013 F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry. The Cotton Award recognizes Robinson’s success harnessing finicky, unstable elements.

Tim M. Swager is the 2013 winner of the ACS Award for Creative Invention for his work on the world’s most sensitive explosive detector to date. Known as FIDO, the handheld detector has been used to detect roadside bombs in Iraq, as well as homeland security operations and in airport security.

Peter Stang is the winner of the 2013 American Chemical Society Priestley Medal, the highest honor given by ACS, for his work building new molecules via “self-assembly," an approach inspired by nature. The molecules created by Stang's group could being used in medicines that exclusively target cancer cells, in chemical sensors that detect explosives and other promising applications‪.‬ ‪

‪Peter Wolynes, winner of the 2012 ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry, spent his career untangling the process of protein folding and discovered a process through which these chain molecules tumble into shape. His discovery may help usher in new techniques for personalized medicine and reveal how protein mutations affect the body.

‪This episode features celebrated chemistry professor Diane Bunce, winner of the ACS George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education. When Bunce isn't training a new generation of scientists in her classroom, she also makes chemistry more accessible to the general public through entertaining holiday lectures about the chemistry of Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day and more.