Event: Madison Capitols Ice Hockey Game

Friday, October 25
Capitol Ice Arena
2616 North Pleasant View Rd
Middleton, WI

To celebrate National Chemistry Week we have reserved the Suter Suite at the Capitol Ice Arena, a private lounge at the mezzanine level above the team benches. Light appetizers and a cash bar are included (and it’s $1 beer night at the concession stands downstairs!)

  • Be among the first 35 to sign up—free admission!
  • After 35–there is a $10/person charge
  • Members may bring 1 guest
  • Complimentary appetizers, cash bar
  • $1 beer night (concessions downstairs)

SO SIGN UP NOW! Send an email to betmoore@chem.wisc.edu with your name and the name of any guest. The deadline for reservations is Monday, October 21. There is a 60-person limit for the Suter Suite.

Full event information here!

Science on Tap Success!

Science on Tap turned out to be a very popular event! It took place on Monday, August 19, in Union South on the UW-Madison campus under the joint sponsorship of Mirus Bio and the ACS Wisconsin Local Section. About 100 people turned out for the early evening event. It began with complimentary beverages (including local beers) and food, giving grad students, post-docs, faculty and staff as well as members of the biotech community a chance to mix and meet each other.

Then it was time for the focus of this series—highlighting how research from various scientific disciplines such as Chemistry, Engineering, Biology, and Genetics can combine to deliver groundbreaking scientific research in our community. This took form in a talk by Dr. Christian Capitini on “The Emergence of CAR-T Cell Therapy”. He shared the latest developments as well as his own research efforts with CAR-T Cells. Capitini is in the Department of Pediatrics, UW School of Medicine and Public Health and Carbone Cancer Center.

See more photos from the event on our Flickr page!

Science on Tap August 2019 event

Event: Science on Tap

Monday August 19, 2019
5:00-8:00PM
Industry Room, Union South
1308 W Dayton St, Madison, WI 53715

Registration encouraged!

Hosted by Mirus and the Wisconsin ACS Local Section
Download the event flyer!

Topic: The Emergence of CAR-T Cell Therapy
Christian Capitini, MD, Assistant
Professor at UW School of Medicine and Public Health, will be sharing his research and the latest developments in CAR-T cells.

The Science on Tap series highlights how research from various scientific disciplines such as Chemistry, Engineering, Biology and Genetics is combined to deliver groundbreaking scientific research in our community. Christian will be speaking about the recent developments in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T (CAR T) cell therapy, a form of immunotherapy that harnesses the power of a patient’s own immune cells to treat cancer.
Please join us for complementary food and local beverages, as well as the opportunity to meet fellow grad students, post-docs, faculty and members of the local biotech community.
The ACS Wisconsin Section is also offering two-year national memberships for the price of one, as well as free affiliate membership to attendees!

Event: Life in the “Small” Biotech Industry Panel Discussion

Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
12:00 PM-1:30 PM
Auditorium, Genetics-Biotechnology Center
425 Henry Mall  Madison, WI

Registration and more info

The Ups and Downs, but mostly Ups, of working for smaller biotech and pharma companies

Panelists will discuss their experiences transitioning from academia to smaller, independent biotech companies

• Is small biotech right for you and which attributes do they want?
• Finding the right company – things to consider and research
• Start-ups vs. Established vs. Niche Market biotechs
• Career prospects: risks and benefits of joining a small biotech
• You’re the expert – How communication to a multi-disciplinary audience is key

Panel discussion followed by informal networking with lunch

Aaron Almeida (PhD Chemistry)
Scientist, Catalent Pharma Solutions

Thomas ‘Rock’ Mackie (PhD Medical Physics)
Chief Innovation Officer, UW Health

Nick Rossi (PhD Chemistry)
Senior Scientist II, Mirus Bio LLC

Robb Stankey (PhD Genetics)
Senior Scientist, Varigen Biosciences

Event brought to you as a partnership between the ACS WI Local Section and the UW-Madison Office of Postdoctoral Studies Career Exploration Series.

2018 Annual Banquet Highlights

The Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony was held on Thursday evening, November 8, at Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant. Sixty people attended, ranging in age from university undergrads to octogenarians as well as some accompanying children (thus significantly lowering our average age!) In addition to honoring 50-, 60-, and 70-year ACS members, there were ACS Student Excellence Awardees as well as the recipients of ACS awards. The detailed program listing all winners is available here.

The Banquet speaker was Professor Helen Blackwell from UW-Madison Chemistry. Her topic was “Chemical Interception of Bacterial Communication Pathways.”

Abstract: Many bacteria communicate using a chemical language to monitor their population densities in a process called “quorum sensing.” At high cell densities, bacteria use this signaling network to switch from a single cell existence to that of a multicellular community. This lifestyle switch is significant, as it often controls how the bacteria interact with their hosts and other bacterial species. Our research is focused on the development of non-native molecules that can intercept quorum sensing and provide new insights into its role in host/microbe interactions and in the environment. I will introduce our research approach, highlight recent results, and motivate why I believe chemists are poised to make unique contributions to this research area.

In the evening’s program you will also find a listing of the current officers of the Section and information in words and photos about our recent and upcoming activities. Additional photos are on out Flickr page!

During the banquet, the following posters were on display: High School Teacher Scholarship Winners and Crystal Growing Contest; Local Section Social Events from 2018; ACS Hach Scholars.  These illustrate some of our recent activities—as a group and as individuals. If you don’t find yourself included, perhaps you can do something about that: Make Suggestions! Get Involved! Join our next social activity!

Event: Annual Local Section Banquet

Thursday, November 8th, 2018
Social Hour 6PM; Dinner 7PM
Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant
2039 Allen Blvd.  Madison, WI

Cost: Regular Members $30,  Graduate Students $15,  Undergraduate Students Free!

All Wisconsin Local Members and their guests are welcome to attend the Annual Banquet! Sign up by November 5th by emailing Betty Moore (betmoore@chem.wisc.edu).  Full dinner agenda available here.

The dinner program will feature section awards and a talk from UW-Madison Chemistry Professor Helen Blackwell on “Chemical Interception of Bacterial Communication Pathways”. We hope you can attend!

 

Event: Sunset Cruise on Lake Mendota

We will be hosting a Special Sunset Cruise on Lake Mendota for our Summer Social event this year!

Thursday, June 28, 2018
Boat departs at 5:45pm for 3 hour cruise
Mariners Inn, 5339 Lighthouse Bay Drive

The 3-hour Betty Lou cruise departs from the Mariners Inn on the north side of Lake Mendota. The event is for members/affiliate members and their guests, at no cost. Heavy appetizers are included; beverages are available at a cash bar. Our special guest will be Dr. Jake Walsh, UW Center for Limnology, who will describe his research on invasive species in Lake Mendota. In addition to a short talk, he will answer our questions—both as a group and individually.

Sign up by Friday June 22 to secure a spot – contact Betty Moore by email or call 608-262-5155.

 

Event: Science on Tap

Science on Tap

Mirus Bio welcomes Professor Chris Hittinger, Genetics, UW-Madison, who is one of the discoverers of Saccharomyces eubayanus, the wild parent of the main hybrid yeasts used in the brewing industry. He will talk about how yeasts are not only critical for one of Wisconsin’s favorite beverages, but also to many industries like the production of drugs, such as human insulin and producing biofuels.
Come enjoy good food, conversation and a lager on us!

Thursday, June 28th, 6:30-8:00PM
Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co – Hilldale Mall
357 Price Place, Madison WI

RSVP by 6/21/18: https://www.mirusbio.com/rsvp/science-on-tap

Sponsored by Mirus and the ACS WI Local Section

2018 March for Science

The Wisconsin Section ACS has is pleased to announce that the 2018 March for Science will take place on Saturday, May 5th, from 3 -7 PM. Participants will meet at James Madison Park (614 E Gorham St, Madison) and march down Langdon Street to Library/State Street Mall, where the rally itself will occur. Speakers will be scheduled to address the crowd any time between approximately 4:15-5:30, and the organizers are expanding this year’s event to include a science-based festival immediately following the rally. Science organizations and science advocates will be providing information, demonstrations and experiments for both children and adults. We encourage all members to participate.

Wisconsin Space Crystal Mission

The WI Local Section is one of the co-sponsors of the WI Crystal Growing Contest. In 2017 the four contest winners went on to work with CASIS (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space) to design a crystallization experiment to be conducted aboard the International Space Station in April 2018. Their challenges included: Do crystals grown in space differ from the ones grown on Earth? Do compounds crystallize differently in space? What hardware does one use to conduct a crystallization experiment in space? Fuller information is below:

It has just been announced that the WI Space Crystal Mission will take place again in 2018!

Do crystals grown in space differ from the ones grown on Earth? Do compounds crystallize differently in space? What hardware does one use to conduct a crystallization experiment in space? Answers to these questions are being sought by the winners of the 2017 WI state-wide Crystal Growing Contest (WICGC), co-sponsored by the ACS WI Local Section. The four laureates have been collaborating with the Molecular Structure Laboratory and scientists from the CASIS, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, to design two crystal-growing experiments to be conducted aboard the International Space Station in April 2018. To qualify for this honor, three middle and three high school students won top prizes in the WICGC by growing high-quality crystals and creating crystal-inspired artworks.

The annual WICGC has been organized since 2014 by the departmental Molecular Structure Laboratory to promote the Wisconsin Idea, introduce participants to the scientific method, and inspire the next generation of young scientists. The 2018 WICGC began on March 1, 2018. Participants include 621 middle-school and high-school students as well home-schooled youths ages 11–18 from 21 middle and 26 high schools. Science teacher participation is the highest to date with 19 middle-school and 15 high-school teachers and home-schooling parents. The state-wide competition attracted participants across the state from Menomonie to Luxemburg and from Phillips to Salem. The free contest offers an introduction to solution chemistry, laboratory work, team partnership, a prospect to succeed at a new endeavor, and an opportunity to visit the UW–Madison campus and a flagship Chemistry Department. At the May 18, 2018 award ceremony Chemistry Department chair Prof. Judith Burstyn will communicate the significant role of the department on campus; Prof. John Moore and Luke Oxtoby will give a lecture with chemical demonstrations; guest speaker from CASIS, Dr. Marc Giulianotti will describe the International Space Station and its function in the scientific community. The winners will be recognized with certificates, books, T-shirts, and cash prizes. The six top winners will qualify for the 2018 WI Space Crystal Mission!

Numerous ACS and ACS WI Local Section members have helped with the organization of the contest, whereas industrial and non-profit sponsors provided financial support to this important outreach activity.

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