Football fans can learn more about how chemists are contributing to the production of pharmaceuticals around the world at this week’s UT Pregame Showcase.
David Jenkins, associate chemistry professor, will present “Expanding the Synthetic Toolbox for Pharmaceuticals,” at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, in the ballroom (Room 213) of the Carolyn P. Brown University Center before the UT vs. University of Kentucky football game.
Now in its twenty-fifth season, the Pregame Showcase, sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, gives fans the chance to hear from accomplished faculty prior to each gridiron matchup. UT Athletics and UT Knoxville Alumni Affairs are also supporting partners.
Free and open to the public, each showcase features a thirty-minute presentation followed by a fifteen-minute question-and-answer session. A brief reception will be held after each program. A door prize will be awarded.
Jenkins works with a group of UT graduate students to create new tools to add to chemists’s synthetic toolbox. In other words, they develop new chemical reactions that lead to additional chemical intermediates. Their improvements in synthetic methodology allow other chemists to more effectively produce pharmaceuticals such as chemotherapy medicines.
Jenkins and his colleagues are among many chemists working to contribute to the understanding of synthetic chemistry and its uses.
Closing out the season on November 22 will be “Let’s Play! Shakespeare for Civilians.” Kathleen S. Buckley, associate professor of theatre, will host a Shakespeare workshop with audience participation.
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C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)