SU’s Luk awarded National Science Foundation grant

SU’s Luk awarded National Science Foundation grantNovember 13, 2007Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

A research initiative led by Yan-Yeung Luk, assistant professor of chemistry in The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, has received an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) from the Division of Materials Design and Surface Engineering for the proposal “Porous Multi-Functional Interfaces for Controlling Biofoulings.” Centered at the ability to make new molecules by organic synthesis and to fabricate new materials by water-in-water emulsions, this research will build functional three-dimensional materials that control unwanted biological interactions on a wide variety of surfaces that are in contact with aqueous fluid. This project is a collaborative effort with Dacheng Ren, assistant professor of biomedical and chemical engineering in SU’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, and will receive $250,000 over three years from NSF. This project is part of a bigger research effort that includes biosensor development and heterogeneous bio-catalysis, part of which is also funded by a Collaborative Activities for Research and Technology Innovation (CARTI) grant from the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE).

Luk’s laboratory focuses on two areas that use organic chemistry to build new bio-functional materials and novel therapeutic agents. His research addresses both fundamental questions and application developments that will significantly impact human health.

This research initiative led by Luk and the chemistry department uses organic synthesis and novel soft condensed matters to build new biomaterials that can work like a piece of living tissue. In contrast to the dead meat sold in a supermarket, this biomaterial is porous and loaded with active proteins that can still function, as in a living organism. As such, this research arena has opened avenues leading to multiple applications.

Luk joined SU’s Department of Chemistry in 2004; he also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. He received a bachelor’s degree from Polytechnic University in New York City and a Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago, and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.