Group News
May 2017 – The Heemstra group is awarded an NSF DMR grant to synthesize and study PNA amphiphiles
April 2017 – Congrats to Evy Kimbrough and Ryan Johnson for winning undergraduate research awards
March 2017 – Welcome to graduate student Steve Knutson
January 2017 – Welcome to undergraduate students Erika Feten and Ryan Johnson
November 2016 - Welcome to graduate students Riley Giesler, Misael Romero, and Hershel Lackey
November 2016 - Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Satish Ellipilli
September 2016 – The Heemstra group and BellBrook Labs are awarded an NIH STTR grant to develop improved methods for selection of DNA biosensors
September 2016 – Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Miguel Pereira
August 2016 – The Heemstra Group is awarded an NIH R01 grant for covalent RNA labeling
August 2016 – Mike and Zhe’s paper on reversible oligonucleotide chain blocking is published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
July 2016 – Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Brad Green
July 2016 – Erin, Derek, and the 2014 CHEM 5750 class publish on the effect of buffers on cyclooctyne-azide chemistry in J. Org. Chem.
July 2016 – Zhe, Kirsten, and Alex’s paper on polymerase incorporation of modified tNTPs is published in Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.
July 2016 – Jen is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
May 2016 – The Heemstra group and Sonata Biosciences are awarded an NIH R21 grant for methods to deplete serum proteins from plasma samples
May 2016 – The Heemstra group is awarded a new NSF CHE grant to continue our research on high-throughput enantiosensing
May 2016 – Zhesen and Trevor’s paper on temporal control of aptamer biosensors is published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
April 2016 – Jen Heemstra receives the W.W. Epstein Outstanding Educator Award
March 2016 – Kirsten and Alex’s invited review on selection of modified aptamers is published in Methods
February 2016 - The Heemstra Group is awarded an Army Educational Outreach Program grant to support high school research interns
February 2016 – The Heemstra Group receives an NSF CAREER Award for water toxin detection and removal
December 2015 – Congrats to Dr. Amber Peterson for defending her Ph.D. thesis
December 2015 - Welcome to graduate student Tewoderos Ayele and Colin Swenson and undergradute students Katie Jones and Karl Grimm
October 2015 - Amber’s paper on the compatibility of aptamers with surfactants is published in Langmuir
September 2015 – Congrats to Dr. Trevor Feagin for defending his Ph.D. thesis
July 2015 - Amber, Zhesen, and Evy’s paper on CMC measurement is published in Anal. Methods
March 2015 - Jen Heemstra receives the Myriad Award of Research Excellence
March 2015 - Trevor, David, and Zach’s paper on high-throughput enantiosensing is published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
February 2015 - Jen Heemstra receives a Cottrell Scholar Award
November 2014 - Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Petr Simon
October 2014 - Amber’s review on DNA-polymer conjugates is published in WIREs Nanomedicine & Nanobiotechnology
September 2014 - The Heemstra Group is part of a multi-PI team awarded a DARPA grant for evolution of non-natural polymers
August 2014 - Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Zhe Chen
August 2014 – Congrats to Dr. Tilani De Costa for defending her Ph.D. thesis
June 2014 - Ashwani, Josh, Alex, Kirsten, and April's paper on self-alkylating ribozymes is published in ACS Chem. Biol.
April 2014 - The Heemstra Group is awarded an Army Educational Outreach Program grant to support high school research interns
March 2014 - Jen Heemstra is awarded the 2014-2015 College of Science Professorship
March 2014 - Tilani's paper on PNA binding selectivity is accepted in Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.
November 2013 - Welcome to graduate student Zhesen Tan
September 2013 - Alexandra and Nick's paper on split aptamer engineering is published in Anal. Chem.
September 2013 - Welcome to undergraduate students Evelyn Kimbrough and April Anamisis
May 2013 - The Heemstra Group is awarded an NSF CHE grant for the development of DNA-based high-throughput enantiopurity sensors
April 2013 - Annika graduates with an Honors Degree in Chemistry and undergraduate student Zach Headman joins the lab
February 2013 - Welcome to graduate student Alex Rangel
Feb 2012 Tilani's paper on electrostatic effects in charged PNA is published in PLOS ONE
Feb 2012 Nick's paper on split aptamer ligation using reductive amination is published in Artificial DNA: PNA & XNA.
June 2012 - Ashwani and Alexandra's paper on enzyme-linked assay using split aptamer ligation is published in Anal. Chem.
June 2012 - Trevor and Nirmal's paper on PNA monomer synthesis is accepted in J. Nucleic Acids
March 2012 - Nick Spiropulos is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Oct 2011 - Welcome to graduate students Kirsten Khoe, David Olsen, and Nick Spiropulos and undergraduate student Alexandra Kent
July 2011 - Ashwani's paper on split aptamer ligation is published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
July 2011 - Jen Heemstra and Julie Hollien are awarded a collaborative University of Utah Seed Grant
June 2011 - Jen Heemstra is awarded the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award
April 2011 - Welcome to undergraduate student Nick Farrall
January 2011 - Welcome to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ashwani Sharma and graduate students Tilani DeCosta and Amberlyn Peterson
October 2010 - Welcome to graduate student Trevor Feagin and undergraduate student Annika Pecchia-Bekkum