Recent News
Education
Ph.D., University of Paderborn, Germany
Awards
Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2016-19
Outstanding Group II Faculty Award, College of Arts and Sciences, 2012
Teaching Focus
- Organic Chemistry laboratory classes
In my educational work, the focus is on the development of more efficient, thought-provoking laboratory classes in Organic Chemistry. I strive to prepare students to be independent thinkers and practitioners. Overall, the goal is to create a demanding and very dynamic laboratory environment in which practical and theoretical aspects of the scientific process are intimately interwoven.
Research
- Chemical Education
Our major undergraduate research focus is the chemistry of thiazolium ions (Vitamin B1).
In my other research work, I am collaborating with Dr. Xiaozhuo Chen (Molecular and Cellular Biology) from the Edison Biotechnology Institute at Ohio University in the discovery of new anti-diabetic drugs that are derivatives from polyphenols (hydrolysable tannins). My efforts center on the creation of efficient syntheses for our target compounds.
In addition, we are creating molecular probes (radioactive, fluorescent, biotin labeled) derivatives that can be used as analytical tools for research into the mechanism by which the drugs work.
Selected Publications
Guy Klein, Jaekyung Kim, Klaus Himmeldirk, Yanyan Cao, Xiaozhuo Chen, Anti-diabetes and anti-obesity activity of Lagerstroemia speciosa , eCAM 2007, in print.
Ren Y.; Himmeldirk K.; Chen X., Synthesis and Structure-Acitivity Relationship Study of Antidiabetic Penta-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose and Its Analoges, J. Med. Chem. 2006, 49, 2829-2837.
Li Y.; Kim J.; Li J.; Liu F.; Liu X.; Himmeldirk K.; Ren Y.; Wagner T.E.; Chen X., Natural antidiabetic compound 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose (PGG) binds to insulin receptor and activtes insulin-mediated glucose transport signaling pathway, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com. , 2005, 336, 430-437.