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updated November 2009
Adam R. Urbach
  
     
     
Born 1974, Houston, Texas  
     
     
Education Postdoctoral Research Fellow [6/02-6/04]  
    Harvard University, Cambridge, MA  
    Research Advisor: Professor George M. Whitesides  
    Research: Self-Assembly of nanoscale and microscale magnetic materials. Biophysical Studies of Carbonic Anhydrase.  
       
  Ph.D. Chemistry [5/02]  
    California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA  
    Research Advisor: Professor Peter B. Dervan  
    Research: Structural and thermodynamic studies on the molecular recognition of DNA by small molecules.  
    Thesis "One-to-One Motif for DNA Recognition by Beta-Alanine-Linked Polyamides" (Download Thesis)  
       
  B.S. Chemistry [5/96]  
    University of Texas at Austin  
    Research Advisor: Jonathan L. Sessler  
    Research: Synthesis of porphyrins and expanded porphyrins.  
       
       
Award and Honors Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 2009  
  NSF CAREER Award, 2008  
  Trinity University Distinguished Junior Faculty Award for Teaching and Research, 2007  
  Cottrell College Science Award, 2006  
  Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 2006-07  
  National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard, 2003-2004  
  National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, Caltech, 1996-99  
  Dean's Honored Graduate, College of Natural Sciences, UT Austin, 1996  
  Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Texas, 1996  
  Outstanding Senior Award, American Chemical Society Central Texas Section, 1995  
  American Chemical Society Student Affiliate Scholarship, UT Austin, 1995  
  Pfizer Undergraduate Fellow in Synthetic Organic Chemistry 1995  
     
   
Work Experience Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Trinity University, 2004-present
  Postdoctoral Research, Harvard University, 2002-04  
  Teaching Assistant, Caltech, 1996-2002  
  Graduate Research, Caltech, 1996-2002  
  Research Associate, Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc., Pasadena, CA, 1998  
  Undergraduate Research Assistant, UT Austin, 1994-96  
     
     
Service Grant referee for NSF, Research Corporation, and ACS-PRF  
  Manuscript referee for JACS, Org. Lett., JOC, Chem. Comm., Chem. Eur. J., Bioorg. Med. Chem., and Tet. Lett.  
  Faculty Advisor, ACS Student Affiliates Chapter, Trinity University, 2004-present  
  Faculty Senate, Trinity University, 2006-2008  
    3/2 Committee (Chair) 2006-2008  
    Budget Advisory Committee, 2006-2008  
    Reception Committee, 2008  
    Liaison to Honor Council Advisory Board, 2006-2008  
  Health Professions Advisory Committee, 2005-2008  
  BCMB Committee, 2005-present  
  Trinity in Focus, Spring 2005, Fall 2005, Summer 2006  
  STEM-PC Committee, Spring 2006  
  Trinity Science Experience, Spring 2006  
  Beckman Scholar Search Committee, 2006  
  Biochemistry Faculty Search Committee, 2004, 2005  
  Psychology Department, Quantitative Search Committee, 2008  
     
     
Professional American Chemical Society  
Memberships Project Kaleidoscope  
  Council on Undergraduate Research  
     
Grants Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award $60,000, 11/09-10/14  
  Research Grant, Robert A. Welch Foundation (PI, Adam Urbach) $100,000, 6/09-5/11  
  NSF-CAREER (PI, Adam Urbach) "CAREER: Synthetic Co-Hosts for Sequence-Specific Recognition and Labeling of Peptides in Aqueous Solution" $564,500, 1/08-12/12  
  NSF-MRI (PI, Adam Urbach; Co-PIs, Bert Chandler, Frank Healy, Jessica Hollenbeck, Laura Hunsicker-Wang) "Acquisition of a Circular Dichroism Spectropolarimeter with Stopped-Flow Detection for Undergraduate Research" $108,620, 8/07-7/10  
  Research Grant, Robert A. Welch Foundation (PI, Adam Urbach) "Self-Assembling Modular Receptors for Peptide Recognition in Aqueous Solution" $150,000, 6/06-5/09  
  Research Corporation, Cottrell College Science Award (PI, Adam Urbach) "Cofactor-Mediated Recognition of Peptides in Aqueous Solution by a Synthetic Host" $38,880, 6/06-5/08  
  ACS-PRF, Type G Grant (PI, Adam Urbach) "High-Affinity Reversible Complexes in Water" $35,000, 9/05-8/07  
  NSF-MRI (PI, Michelle Bushey; CoPIs, Adam Urbach, Jonathan King, Jim Shinkle) "Acquisition of Capillary Electrophoresis Instrumentation and Nanospray Mass Spectrometry Source" $128,000, 5/05-5/08  
     
     
Publications 19) J. J. Reczek, A. A. Kennedy*, B. T. Halbert*, and A. R. Urbach "Multivalent Recognition of Peptides by Modular Self-Assembled Receptors" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131, 2408-2415.  
(* undergraduate coauthors) 18) P. Rajgariah and A. R. Urbach "Scope of Amino Acid Recognition by Cucurbit[8]uril" J. Incl. Phen. Macrocyc. Chem., 2008, 62, 251-254. link to DOI  
  17) G. A. Vincil* and A. R. Urbach "Effects of the Number and Placement of Positive Charges on Viologen - Cucurbit[n]uril Interactions" Supramol. Chem., 2008, 20, 681-687. link to DOI  
  16) V. M. Krishnamurthy, G. K. Kaufman, A. R. Urbach, I. Gitlin, K. L. Gudiksen, D. B. Weibel, and G. M. Whitesides "Carbonic Anhydrase as a Model for Biophysical and Physical Organic Studies of Proteins and Protein-Ligand Binding" Chem. Rev., 2008, 108, 946-1051. link to DOI  
  15) A. R. Urbach, C. J. Pursell, and J. D. Spence "Supramolecular Chemistry: A Senior Capstone Course" 2007, J. Chem. Ed., 84, 1785-1787.  
  14) L. M. Heitmann*, A. D. Taylor, P. J. Hart, and A. R. Urbach "Sequence-Specific Recognition and Cooperative Dimerization of Aromatic Peptides in Aqueous Solution by a Synthetic Host" 2006, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 12574-12581, link to DOI  
  13) M. E. Bush*, N. D. Bouley*, and A. R. Urbach "Charge-Mediated Recognition of N-Terminal Tryptophan in Aqueous Solution by a Synthetic Host" 2005, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 14511-14517, link to DOI  
  12) A. R. Urbach and M. J. Waring "Visualizing DNA: Footprinting and 1-2D Gels" 2005, Molecular BioSystems, 1, 287-293.  
  11) A. R. Urbach (2005) "A New Faculty Perspective on the Philosophy of Teaching" 2005, Project Kaleidoscope, Volume IV: What Works, What Matters, What Lasts, Feb. 4, http://www.pkal.org.  
  10) K. L. Gudiksen, I. Gitlin, J. Yang, A. R. Urbach, and G. M. Whitesides "Eliminating Positively Charged Lysine -NH3+ Groups on the Surface of Carbonic Anhydrase Has No Significant Influence on Its Folding from Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate" 2005, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 4707-4714, link to DOI  
  9) K. L. Gudiksen, A. R. Urbach, I. Gitlin, J. Yang, J. A. Vasquez, C. E. Costello, and G. M. Whitesides "The Influence of the Zn(II) Cofactor on the Refolding of Carbonic Anhydrase after Denaturation with SDS" 2004, Anal. Chem., 76, 7151-7161, link to DOI  
  8) A. R. Urbach, J. C. Love, M. G. Prentiss, and G. M. Whitesides “Sub-100 nm Confinement of Magnetic Nanoparticles Using Localized Magnetic Field Gradients” 2003, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 12704-12705, link to DOI  
  7) J. C. Love, A. R. Urbach, M. G. Prentiss, and G. M. Whitesides “Three Dimensional Self-Assembly of Metallic Rods with Submicron Diameters Using Magnetic Interactions” 2003, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 12696-12697, link to DOI  
  6) M. A. Marques, R. M. Doss, A. R. Urbach, and P. B. Dervan “Toward an Understanding of the Chemical Etiology for DNA Minor Groove Recognition by Polyamides" 2002, Helv. Chim. Acta 85, 4485-4517  
  5) A. R. Urbach, J. J. Love, S. L. Ross, and P. B. Dervan “Structure of a Beta-Alanine-Linked Polyamide Bound to a Full Turn of Purine Tract DNA in the 1:1 Motif” 2002, J. Mol. Biol. 320, 55-71, link to pubmed  
  4) A. R. Urbach and P. B. Dervan “Toward Rules for 1:1 Polyamide:DNA Recognition” 2001, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98, 4343-4348, link to pubmed  
  3) P. B. Dervan and A. R. Urbach 2001, in Essays in Contemporary Chemistry. From Molecular Structure toward Biology; Quinkert, G., Kisakurek, M. V., Eds.; Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zurich, pp. 327-339  
  2) A. R. Urbach, J. W. Szewczyk, S. White, J. M. Turner, E. E. Baird, and P. B. Dervan “Sequence Selectivity of 3-Hydroxypyrrole/Pyrrole Ring Pairings in the DNA Minor Groove” 1999, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121, 11621-11629, link to DOI  
  1) J. L. Sessler, J. W. Genge, A. Urbach, and P. A. Sansom “A ‘3+1’ Approach to Monofunctionalized Alkyl Porphyrins" 1996, Synlett 2, 187-188  
     
     

Seminars

 14) Distinguished Alumni Lecture, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin, March 27, 2009  
(off campus) 13) "Molecular Recognition of Peptides by Self-Assembled Synthetic Receptors" Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon, October17, 2008, Eugene, OR.  
  12) "Molecular Recognition and Sensing of Peptides by Self-Assembled Synthetic Receptors" Department of Chemistry, Rice University, May 7, 2008, Houston, TX.  
  11) "Molecular Recognition and Sensing of Peptides by Self-Assembled Synthetic Receptors" Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, April 21, 2008, New Orleans, LA.  
  10) "Molecular Recognition and Sensing of Peptides by Cucurbit[8]uril" Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, March 28, 2008, Norman, OK.  
  9) Harry Crate Lecture, "Molecular Recognition of Peptides by Synthetic Receptors" Dept. of Chemistry, Schreiner University, March 3, 2008, Kerrville, TX.  
  8) "Molecular Recognition of Peptides by Synthetic Receptors" Dept. of Chemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, October 17, 2007, Dallas, TX.  
  7) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chem. and Biochem., Texas State University, Jan. 30, 2004, San Marcos, TX.  
  6) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chemistry, Trinity University, Jan. 28, 2004, San Antonio, TX.  
  5) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chem. and Biochem., UC Santa Barbara, Jan. 22, 2004, Santa Barbara, CA.  
  4) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chem. and Biochem., Baylor University, Jan. 15, 2004, Waco, TX.  
  3) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chem. and Biochem., Univ. British Columbia, Jan. 8, 2004, Vancouver, BC, Canada.  
  2) "Molecular Recognition of DNA by Small Molecules" Dept. of Chemistry, UT San Antonio, Dec. 4, 2003, San Antonio, TX.  
  1) "1:1 Motif for DNA Recognition by Beta-Alanine-Linked Polyamides" Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, PhD Thesis Seminar, May 18, 2002, Pasadena, CA.  
     
(on campus) 2) "Tiny Magnets: Applications of Nanoscale Magnetic Materials" Dept. of Mathematics, Trinity University, Feb. 24, 2005, San Antonio, TX.  
  1) "Isothermal Titration Calorimetry: How It Works, Why It's Useful" Dept. of Chemistry, Trinity University, Sept. 23, 2004, San Antonio, TX.  
     
     
     
Invited Lectures 7) American Chemical Society Southwest Regional Meeting, Nov. 5, 2009, El Paso, TX.  
  6) US-China Early Career Workshop in Supramolecular Chemsitry, Oct. 28, 2009, Beijing, China.  
  5) 1st International Conference on Cucurbiturils, July 10, 2009, Pohang, Korea.  
  4) Young Academic Investigators Symposium, 237th American Chemical Society National Meeting, August 17, 2008, Philadelphia, PA.  
  3) 3rd International Symposium on Supramolecular and Macrocyclic Chemistry (ISMSC), July 15, 2008, Las Vegas, NV.  
 

2) NSF Workshop on Cucurbit[n]uril Molecular Containers, Aug. 5, 2007, College Park, MD.

  
  1) Pacifichem 2005, Dec. 17, 2005, Honolulu, HI.  
     
     
Posters 5) "Molecular Recognition of Aromatic Peptides in Aqueous Solution by Cucurbit[8]uril", Aug. 6, 2007, Calix 2007, College Park, MD.  
  4) "Molecular Recognition of Aromatic Peptides with Cucurbit[8]uril", June 13-14, 2007, Gordon Conference on Bioorganic Chemistry, Andover, NH.  
  3) "Specific Recognition and Cooperative Dimerization of Aromatic Peptides in Aqueous Solution by Cucurbit[8]uril", Aug. 12, 2006, UT San Antonio Summer Exposition, San Antonio, TX (Poster Award).  
  2) "Specific Recognition and Cooperative Dimerization of Aromatic Peptides in Aqueous Solution by Cucurbit[8]uril", June 27, 2006, ISMSC, Victoria, BC, Canada.  
  1) "Optical Sensing of Specific Peptides in Water Using Cucurbit[8]uril", Dec. 19, 2005, Pacifichem 2005, Honolulu, HI.  
     
     
Group Alumni David Stuck ('10), Chemistry Major  
 

Lauren Gann ('10), Chemistry Major

  
  Dr. Joseph Reczek (06-08), Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Denison University  
  Aimee Kennedy (2009, B. S. Biology), Baylor College of Medicine  
  Ray Skunda (2009, B. S. Biochemistry), University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Medical School  
  Lisa Ryno (nee Heitmann, 2008, B. S. Chemistry), Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, PhD program in chemistry, Kelly group.  
  Gretchen Vincil (2008, B. S. Chemistry), University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign, PhD program in chemistry, Zimmerman group.  
  Christopher Morris (2008, B. A. Chemistry), UT Houston, PhD program in chemistry  
  Preetika Rajgariah (2008, B. A. Art), en route to enlightenment  
  Brian Halbert (2007, B. S. Biochemistry), Tulane Medical School  
  Nicole Bouley (2007, B. S. Chemistry), Caltech, PhD program in chemistry, Gray Group.  
  Meghan Bush (2005, B. S. Biochemistry), University of Chicago, PhD program in chemistry, Ismagilov Group.  
  Hailey Vincent (2005, B. S. Biology), Texas A&M Medical School  
     
     
Current Group

Dr. Vijay Ramalingam

  
  Jordan Chinai ('10)  
  Marlies Hager ('11)  
  Nick Dybdal-Hargreaves ('12)  
  Peggy Guo ('12)  
  Jake Reynolds ('12)  
  Phil Babcock ('11)  
  Adam Cribb ('11)