March 2024: Miranda Wood earns the 2024 TA Award. Congrats!
February 2024: Finn Davis, Ben Faulkner, and Julia McAfee advance to PhD candidacy. Congrats!
December 2023: Jeremiah Moore joins our group as a Bridge Fellow. Welcome!
November 2023: Megan Garris joins our group as a PhD student. Welcome!
October 2023: Frederik Brøndsted’s collaborative work with Steve Grant, "Single Atom Stabilization of Phosphinate Ester-Containing Rhodamines Yields Cell Permeable Probes for Turn-On Photoacoustic Imaging", has been published in Chemistry - A European Journal. Congratulations!
October 2023: Veronica Hubbs joins our group as a MA student. Welcome!
October 2023: Yuchen He earns second place in the Chemistry Department Retreat oral presentation competition for his talk on split GTPases. Congratulations!
September 2023: The Stains Lab receives an NIH Maximizing Investigator's Research Award (MIRA) to fund all NIGMS-related work in the lab.
June 2023: Frederik Brøndsted’s poster was selected for a poster slam talk at the FASEB Optical Probes Conference. Nice job!
May 2023: Ruwen Yin's collaborative work with the Ambati lab, "Kamuvudine-9 Protects Retinal Structure and Function in a Novel Model of Experimental Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment", has been published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Congratulations!
April 2023: Ruwen Yin successfully defends his PhD thesis. Congratulations!
April 2023: Harry Shield receives the Leake Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship, congratulations!
March 2023: Frederik Brøndsted receives a Jefferson Scholar Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. Congratulations!
February 2023: Miranda Wood advances to Ph.D. candidacy! Congratulations!
December 2022: Benjamin Faulkner, Julia Laura McAfee, Finn William Davis, and Meaghan Roberti joined our group as graduate students. Welcome!
October 2022: David DiMeglio's paper "Experimentally Calibrated Computational Prediction Enables Accurate Fine-Tuning of Near-Infrared Rhodamines for Multiplexing." has been published in Chemistry-A European Journal. Congratulations!
October 2022: Yuan Fang's collaborative work with Xinqi Zhou from Miller's Lab: "A long-wavelength xanthene dye for photoacoustic imaging." has been published in Chem. Commun. Congratulations!
September 2022: Camille Owen, Harry Shield, and Joshua Sykes joined our group as undergraduates. Welcome!
September 2022: Dana Bassford joined our group as an MS student. Welcome!
April 2022: David DiMeglio has been selected as the ACS Outstanding Student in the Department of Chemistry. Congratulations!
April 2022: Haoyu “Hazel” Sun received a 2022 COVES Policy Fellowship. Way to go Hazel!
March 2022: Haoyu Sun received a Travel Award from the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry. Congratulations!
December 2021: Frederik Brøndsted's highlight of the development of ketone rhodamines by Ivanic and Schnermann et al. has been published in Photochemistry and Photobiology.
October 2021: Mehrdad Shadmehr is heading off to a position at Thermo Fisher. Best wishes on the next step of your career, we will miss you!
October 2021: Mehrdad Shadmehr's collaborative work with the Gelfand lab has been published in PNAS. Congratulations!
September 2021: Ben June, Hailey Joyce, Wesley Whitehurst joined our group as undergraduates. Welcome!
September 2021: First-year graduate student Miranda Wood has joined the group. Welcome!
May 2021: The lab is awarded a grant from the Willowcroft Foundation to develop a targeted treatment for acute myeloid leukemia.
April 2021: Frederik Brøndsted receives a Jefferson Fellowship from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. Congratulations!
February 2021: Yuchen He, Haoyu Sun, and Frederik Brøndsted advance to Ph.D. candidacy!
February 2021: David DiMeglio is awarded a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award. Congratulations!
December 2020: First year graduate student Thi Ngo has joined the group. Welcome!
August 2020: Garrett R. Casey's paper "A Fluorescent Probe for Monitoring PTP-PEST Enzymatic Activity" has been published in Analyst. Congratulations!
July 2020: Garrett R. Casey and Xinqi Zhou's collaborative paper "An Evolutionary Strategy for Identification of Higher Order, Green Fluorescent Host‐Guest Pairs Compatible with Living Systems." has been published in Chemistry-A European Journal. Congratulations!
June 2020: Travis J. Nelson's paper "A Luminescence-Based System for Identification of Genetically Encodable Inhibitors of Protein Aggregation." has been published in ACS Omega. Congratulations!
April 2020: Ruwen Yin and Yuan Fang’s collaborative chapter “Synthesis and application of a ratiometric probe for hydrogen peroxide” has been published in Methods in Enzymology. Congratulations!
April 2020: Travis J. Nelson and Tiffany Truong’s collaborative paper “A luminescence-based assay for monitoring changes in alpha-synuclein aggregation in living cells” has been published in RSC Advances. Congratulations!
April 2020: Congratulations to Dr. Travis Nelson for defending his Ph.D. thesis!
April 2020: Congratulations to Lauren Lesiak who will graduate with Highest Distinction from UNL this May!
March 2020: Lauren Lesiak, Xinqi Zhou, and Yuan Fang’s collaborative paper “Imaging GPCR Internalization Using Near-Infrared Nebraska Red-Based Reagents” has been published in Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry. Congratulations!
December 2019: First year graduate students Haoyu Sun and Frederik Brøndsted have joined the group. Welcome!
August 2019: Jon Beck's article "A Panel of Protein Kinase Chemosensors Distinguishes Different Types of Fatty Liver Disease" has been published in Biochemistry. Congratulations!
May 2019: We are excited to announce that our lab will be moving to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia this summer. We are grateful for the support and opportunities provided by the UNL community and look forward to our new adventure.
Apr 2019: Yuan Fang's article "Phosphinate-Containing Rhodol and Fluorescein Scaffolds for the Development of Bioprobes" was published in Chemical Communications. Congratulations and good work!
Apr 2019: Lauren Lesiak was named as a 2019 Goldwater Scholar. Congratulations!
Apr 2019: Lauren Lesiak has received the Bob Marianelli Undergraduate Research Assistant Award and the Charles Kingsbury Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award at the 2018-19 Chemistry Department Student Awards. Congratulations!
Apr 2019: Travis Nelson's chapter "Utilizing split-NanoLuc luciferase fragments as luminescent probes for protein solubility in living cells" was published in Methods in Enzymology. Congratulations and good work!
Apr 2019: Garrett Casey's chapter "Design and synthesis of fluorescent activity probes for protein phosphatases" was published in Methods in Enzymology. Congratulations and good work!
Apr 2019: Congratulations to Garrett Casey on accepting an Assistant Professor position at Southeast Missouri State University!
Apr 2019: Ruwin Yin passed his RUI! Congrats!
Apr 2019: Shuo Liang passed her RUI! Congrats!
Feb 2019: Xinqi Zhou's paper "A Phosphinate‐Containing Fluorophore Capable of Selectively Inducing Apoptosis in Cancer Cells" was published in ChemBioChem. Good job and congratulations Xinqi!
Aug 2018: Congratulations to Gillian Good for earning an REU Student Travel Award for her work during the 2018 Chemistry Department Poster session!
Apr 2018: Lauren Lesiak received Milton E. Mohr Award and Clyde & Elva Weyenberg Scholarship. Congratulations!
Apr 2018: Lauren Lesiak received INBRE scholarship and honorable mentions for Goldwater Scholarship. Way to go Lauren! [Link]
Apr 2018: Xinqi Zhou received the 2017-2018 Carles A. Kingsbury Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award. Congratulations Xinqi!
Mar 2018: Tiffany Truong discusses research experience with NU Board of Regents. [Link]
Feb 2018: Lauren Lesiak was accepted into the INBRE Scholars program. Baolong Truong and Lauren Lesiak got summer UCARE funding. Congratulations to Lauren and Baolong!
Jan 2018: Garrett Casey's paper "Interrogating Protein Phosphatases with Chemical Activity Probes" was published in Chemistry - A European Journal. Good job and congratulations Garrett!
Aug 2017: Tiffany Truong received an honorable mention for poster presentation at the INBRE ((Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence Program) Conference. Congratulations Tiffany!
Jun 2017: Tiffany Truong received Benjamin M. Sahagian Scholarship from Department of Biochemistry. Nicely done Tiffany!
Jun 2017: Tiffany Truong and Lauren Lesiak were selected for the Milton E. Mohr award. Well done!
Mar 2017: Xinqi Zhou's paper "Chemoselective Alteration of Fluorophore Scaffolds as a Strategy for the Development of Ratiometric Chemodosimeters" was published by Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Congrats!
Mar 2017: Tiffany Truong is accepted into The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Honor Society. Congratulations Tiffany!
Mar 2017: Tiffany Truong is inducted into The Innocents Society and Camden Bilyeu is inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa. Way to go guys!
Feb 2017: Jia Zhao's paper "Identification of a fragmented small GTPase capable of conditional effector binding“ was published by RSC Advances. Job well done!
Dec 2016: Camden Bilyeu is recognized as outstanding agent of character and integrity by being named to "Franco's List." Congratulations Camden!
Nov 2016: Jon Beck's paper "Temporal Analysis of PP2A Phosphatase Activity During Insulin Stimulation Using a Direct Activity Probe" was published by ACS Chemical Biology. Congratulations JR!
Sep 2016: Xinqi Zhou's paper "Nebraska Red: A Phosphinate-Based Near-Infrared Fluorophore Scaffold for Chemical Biology Applications" was published by Chemical Communications. Good job Xinqi!
Aug 2016: Congratulations to Terianne Hamada (REU Student Travel Awards), Lauren Lesiak (1st in High School Students), Tiffany Truong (1st in Undergraduates) and Xinqi Zhou (2nd in Senior Graduate Students) on their amazing work in the 2016 Chemistry Department Poster session. Nice job guys!
July 2016: Jia Zhao's paper "Luminescent platforms for monitoring changes in the solubility of amylin and huntingtin in living cells“ was published by Molecular BioSystem. Nice job!
July 2016: Jon Beck's paper "Quantification of Cell Signaling Networks Using Kinase Activity Chemosensors“ got accepted by Methods in Molecular Biology. Congratulations!
July 2016: The Stains Lab receives an NIH Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award to fund all NIGMS-related work in the lab.
Jun 2016: Travis Nelson renewed his MMoD fellowship. Congratulations Travis!
May 2016: Camden Bilyeu has been awarded UCARE funding for annual year 2016-2017, Good Job!
April 2016: Jia (Emma) Zhao won the 2015-2016 Stephen J. Fuerniss fellowship. Congratulations Emma!
April 2016: Tiffany Truong won a scholarship for 2016-2017 Milton E. Mohr award . Nice job Tiffany!
April 2016: Xinqi Zhou received Research Award for Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases (NPOD) graduate student and postdoctoral fellow poster competition 8th annual spring retreat and 3rd prize in 2016 Molecular Mechanisms of Disease (MMoD) Symposium. Good Job!
April 2016: JR Beck received an Honorable Mention for UNL’s Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award. Congratulations JR!
Mar 2016: Tiffany Truong won a Honorable Mention for 2016 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Nice job Tiffany!
Mar 2016: Tiffany Truong received an INBRE scholarship for 2016-2018. Congratulations Tiffany!
Feb 2016: Bi Xu's paper "An improved miniprotein host for fluorogenic supramolecular assembly on the surface of living cells" has been published by RSC Advances. Congratulations Bi!
Nov 2015: JR's paper "Interrogating Endogenous Protein Phosphatase Activity with Rationally Designed Chemosensors" has been published by ACS Chem. Bio. Congratulations JR!
Nov 2015: Bi Xu's paper "Supramolecular Assembly of an Evolved Miniprotein Host and Fluorogenic Guest Pair" has been published by J. Am. Chem. Soc. Congratulations Bi!
Oct 2015: Jia (Emma) Zhao's paper "Self-Assembling NanoLuc Luciferase Fragments as Probes for Protein Aggregation in Living Cells" has been published by ACS Chem. Bio. Well done Emma!
Sep 2015: Jon Beck's paper "Design and evaluation of a real-time activity probe for focal adhesion kinase" was published by Analytica Chimica Acta. Nice job JR!
Aug 2015: Maia Kelly's paper "A Real-Time, Fluorescence-Based Assay for Rho-Associated Protein Kinase Activity" was published by Analytica Chimica Acta. Congratulations Maia!
Jun 2015: Travis Nelson received an MMoD fellowship. Congratulations Travis!
April 2015: Xinqi Zhou receives Travel Awards for Best Poster and JR Beck, Bi Xu receive best poster runners up in 2015 Molecular Mechanisms of Disease (MMoD) Symposium. Congratulations !
April 2015: Xinqi Zhou's paper "The 8-Silyloxyquinoline Scaffold as a Versatile Platform for the Sensitive Detection of Aqueous Fluoride" was accepted by Analytical Chemistry. Good job!
March 2015: Tiffany Truong has been awarded UCARE funding for Summer 2015, well done!
February 2015: Tiffany Truong has been designated a UNL Distinguished Life Sciences Scholar. Congratulations Tiffany!
February 2015: Allyson Pietrok joined our group as an undergraduate. A big WELCOME Ally !
February 2015: Quyen Vu received The UNL International Student Scholarship. Congratulations Quyen !
October 2014: David Szalewski's paper "Design, synthesis and evaluation of a selective chemosensor for leucine-rich repeat kinase 2" was accepted by Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Congratulations!
September 2014: JR Beck publishes "Quantification of Protein Kinase Enzymatic Activity in Unfractionated Cell Lysates Using CSox-Based Sensors" in Curr. Protoc. Chem. Biol.
September 2014: Quyen Vu and David Szalewski have received UCARE Award for academic year 2014/15. Job well done!
August 2014: Elizabeth Scott receives REU Travel Grant!
August 2014: Emma Zhao receives 2nd place Senior Graduate Student, JR Beck receives 1st place Beginning Graduate Student and Tiffany Truong receives 2nd place High School Student at Research First Poster Session of Chemistry Department!
August 2014: Xinqi Zhou receives the Most Honorable Mention and Maia Kelly receives the Most Enthusiastic on the 2014-15 Molecular Mechanisms of Disease (MMoD) symposium.
June 2014: JR Beck passes his OPO exam!
April 2014: David Szalewski has been selected for Robert Marinanelli Undergraduate Research Award. GOOD JOB Dave!
March 2014: Emma Zhao passed her OPO exam, congratulations Emma!
December 2013: Bi Xu, JR Beck, and Erome Hankore pass their RUIs, congrats!
August 2013: Stains Lab receives a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
April 2013: David Szalewski receives a Mohr Award from UNL for undergraduate research.
April 2013: Quyen Vu and David Szalewski receive UCARE funding for undergraduate research.
March 2013: Stains Lab receives a Layman Award from UNL.
March 2013: Stains Lab receives an NRI grant for a collaborative project with the Harris Lab.