Rally for Medical Research

On Sept 13-14, Professor Pompano traveled to Washington DC to participate in the Rally for Medical Research to help represent the American Association of immunologists (AAI) and biomedical researchers in Virginia.  She worked with Jacob Schumacher, who is featured in the fifth photo and the Director of Government Affairs for AAI.  On this day each year, biomedical researchers and patient advocates visit their Congressional representatives in the House and Senate to make the case for sustained and robust NIH funding.

If you are interested in advocating for this important issue, especially in an era of tight federal budgets, contact your representatives through the Legislative Action Center:  https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/AACR/Home

New DEI Journal Club!

Sophie and Jon started a department wide DEI Journal Club this summer! Please read the rest of the article here (interviewed by Hannah): https://chemistry.as.virginia.edu/news/story/8771.

Chemistry Alumni Open House events

The Pompano lab was delighted to meet alumni from the Department of Chemistry, ranging from recent grads to folks who graduated 50 years ago. PhD student Sophie Cook presented a poster at the research fair, and Hannah Musgrove ran a booth about the Chemistry Science Communications booth. Later, Sophie led tours of our lab for interested alumni! Thanks all for visiting, and please let us know if you would like more information about our research.

Prof. Pompano co-organizes New Faces in Chemistry Workshop

In July and August, 2021, the UVA Department of Chemistry faculty mobilized to put together a brand new, virtual workshop for future faculty in the chemical sciences, titled New Faces in Chemistry: A Future Faculty Workshop.  Co-organized by Prof. Rebecca Pompano and Prof. Marcos Pires, the 5-day workshop sought to level the playing field for future faculty applicants from diverse backgrounds.  Recognizing that the application process is opaque to many trainees, and that this can reduce the diversity of the application pool for highly competitive faculty positions, we established this workshop to share critical information on making a competitive faculty job application.  The workshop was open to all, and was targeted it especially to those from underrepresented backgrounds (women, URM, first-gen, LGBTQ, and self-identified diversity).  Approximately 50 participants attended the workshop each day from across the USA and around the world. 

Faculty from across the entire Chemistry department pitched in to share their advice, expertise, and tips, on topics including: how to choose what positions to apply to; preparation of a strong cover letter, CV, research statement, diversity statement, and teaching statement; planning to fund your lab via grant writing; and preparation for strong interview and negotiation of startup. 

We were fortunate to draw on the depth of resources previously created by the UVA PhD Plus program, provided by Sonali Mujamdar, PhD. 

Next, in Phase II of the workshop that commenced in August, Chemistry faculty are volunteering their time to provide 1-on-1 feedback for participants on elements of their faculty job application.  Approximately half of the workshop participants signed up for Phase II of the workshop.  Feedback from this program has been very positive. 

New Faces in Chemistry : A Future Faculty Workshop

July 12 – 16, 2021

Virtually at the Univ of Virginia

We hope to see many of our participants go on to exciting faculty careers across the country, and perhaps even here at UVA one day!

Prof. Pompano speaks at PhD+ STEM Future Faculty

On July 26, Prof. Pompano had the honor of speaking with UVA students and postdocs who are exploring potential careers as faculty members in the PhD+ STEM Future Faculty series, organized by Dr. Sonali Majumdar. She shared her experiences and advice regarding lab startup packages and managing the finances of a successful laboratory. Running a lab is like running a small business, after all!

Supporting young researchers at science fair

In March, Pompano Lab member Maura Belanger volunteered as a judge for the 2019 Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair, where hundreds high school and middle school students from all over the state came and shared their projects! This annual event is a great way to get students interested in science and interact with the community at large. It’s always an inspiration to see these students get excited about sharing their experiments! Congrats to all the winners this year!!

ACS WCC Career Panel

Prof. Pompano hosted the ACS Women Chemist’s Committee for their annual Career Panel Event on October 4, 2018. We were thrilled to meet three highly successful chemists with all different career histories:

• Dr. Bonnie Landy, co-founder and director of brewery operations at Winchester Brew Works in Winchester, VA. BS and MS in Chemical Engineering.

• Dr. Linnette Watkins, professor and department head of Chemistry and Biochemistry at James Madison University. PhD in Chemistry.

• Ms. Debbie Winetzky, applications chemist and product manager at BIO-CAT in Troy, VA. Over 20 years in the chemical industry across the country.

It was a great experience for the students in attendance. Many thanks for Dr. Stephanie Mabry for organizing!

Public talk at UVA Forward

“A Glimpse into the Chemistry of the Immune System”

It was a special honor to be invited to speak to UVA staff members at their annual professional development event in June 2018. Although the event was meant to inspire the attendees, in the end it was just as inspiring for me! Sharing our lab’s vision, goals, and progress with people from mostly non-science backgrounds, many of whom provide the daily support that make it possible, was a special privilege and a touching reminder of why I am here.

Charlottesville High School visits for science-&-art field trip

On November 29, we were lucky to host Charlottesville High School for the first ever CHS-UVA Science-and-Art field trip to the Department of Chemistry!  Twenty-nine students from AP Chemistry, Art I, and Honors Studio Art came to visit for tours of the science labs, presentations from graduate students, and a unique art activity designed by Ms. Rachel McLaughlin, art teacher from CHS.  The art featured surrealist portraits, where faces were recombined on puzzle pieces, to convey the idea of "organ-on-chip":  fabricating organs from molecules and cells and rearranging their pieces in the chemistry lab.

"One thing that I really enjoyed was being able to see the two microscopes in the labs we visited. In each one, we were able to see cells up close and that is something I've never seen. It was a fun and eye-opening experience. Another thing that was really cool was hearing about the organ on a chip because it’s such an amazing idea!" -- A. M., 10th grade

"I'm really interested in both chemistry and art so being able to see how those two intersect was really cool for me. Also being able to see the applications of some of the ideas we talk about in art class being able to be used in medical advancements through chemistry is inspiring." -- S. L., 11th grade

Many thanks to CHS teachers Rachel McLaughlin (art), Rhoda Baker (chemistry), and Sherry Hodges (chemistry) for coming and bringing their students!  Also, the tours and talks would not have been possible without Charles Richardson from Gahlmann lab, Mimi Shin from the Venton lab, Nathan Swami from the Swami lab, and Lauren Russell from the Lampe lab.

We are grateful to the Department of Chemistry for their support of this event.

AAI Capitol Hill Day

Dr. Pompano co-led the Virginia delegation for AAI's Capitol Hill day, a day in which researchers from all over the country traveled to Capitol Hill to visit their Representatives and Senators and advocate for strong, steady support of funding for the National Institutes of Health.  From Virginia, a group of four researchers from academia and a research institute met with the staff of Representatives Garrett and Wittman, and Senators Kaine and Warner.  We thank them all for their agreement about the importance of biomedical research!  We hope to see continued strong support from the House and Senate for the NIH.