News Archive

2013

  • 05/22/2013

    The press can't stop talking about Danielle and Yftah's JACS paper! Check out the latest highlight in Chemical and Engineering News

  • 05/13/2013

    Congratulations to Danielle and Yftah!  Their paper, "Highly Potent Inhibitors of Quorum Sensing in Staphylococcus aureus Revealed Through a Systematic Synthetic Study of the Group-III Autoinducing Peptide" was accepted to JACS.

  • 05/03/2013

    Congratulations to Yftah and Danielle!  Their collaborative paper written with David Lynn's lab, "Surface Coatings that Promote Rapid Release of Peptide-Based AgrC Inhibitors for Attenuation of Quorum Sensing in Staphylococcus aureus" was accepted to Advanced Healthcare Materials.

  • 04/22/2013

    Congratulations to JP for receiving a Hirshmann-Rich Award in Bioorganic Chemistry!

  • 04/12/2013

    Congratulations to JP for winning the prize for best poster at the Perlman Antibiotic Symposium!

  • 03/11/2013

    Congratulations to Yftah Tal-Gan and Hila Marom, who are proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, Emily Elizabeth Talgan!

  • 02/05/2013

    Congratulations to Aaron!  His paper, "A Peptoid Ribbon Secondary Structure," was accepted for publication by Angewandte Chemie.

2012

  • 12/18/2012

    Congratulations to Dr. Tony Breitbach for successfully defending his thesis entitled, "Novel chemical- and materials-based approaches for the control of bacterial biofilms."

  • 12/10/2012

    Congratulations to Dr. Danielle Stacy!  She successfully defended her thesis, "Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Small Molecule and Peptide Quorum Sensing Modulators."

  • 11/05/2012

    A warm welcome to the new Blackwell lab first years -- Michelle Boursier and Tian Yang!

  • 08/27/2012

    The press is already talking about Danielle's and Michael's new paper that was recently accepted by ACS Chemical Biology.

  • 07/31/2012

    Congratulations to Danielle and Michael!  Their paper, "Attenuation of quorum sensing in the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii using non-native N-acyl homoserine lactones," was accepted for publication in ACS Chemical Biology today.

  • 07/13/2012

    Congratulations to Nora for being awarded an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship!

  • 07/09/2012

    Congratulations to Aaron! He successfully defended his thesis entitled, "The Design and Construction of Discretely Folded Peptoids."

  • 05/04/2012

    Congratulations to Jacob Brummond for winning one of seven prizes for the poster he presented at the 11th Annual UW-Madison Chemistry Undergraduate Poster Session!

  • 04/20/2012

    Congratulations to Aaron for being selected as one of two recipients of the Hirschman-Rich Student Award in the UW Department of Chemistry!

  • 04/13/2012

    Congratuations to Danielle for winning the prize for best poster at the Perlman Antibiotic Symposium!

  • 02/21/2012

    Congratulations to Reto and Tony for having two papers accepted for publication.  "Expedient Construction of Small-Molecule Macroarrays via Sequential Palladium- and Copper-Mediated Reactions and Their ex situ Biological Testing" will be appearing in Chemical Science, and "2-Aminobenziidazole Derivatives Strongly Inhibit and Disperse Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms" will be appearing in Angewandte Chemie.

  • 01/07/2012

    Congratulations to Helen Blackwell and David Lynn, who are proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Alexander Richard Blackwell Lynn!

2011

  • 12/19/2011

    Congratulations to Dr. Knick Praneenararat!  He successfully defended his thesis, "New Chemical Tools and Methods for the Modulation of Quorum Sensing in Gram-negative Bacteria."

  • 12/15/2011

    Congratulations to Helen for being selected as one of two Romnes Award recipients on the UW-Madison campus!  This award, supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), recognizes exceptional faculty members who have earned tenure within the last four years.

  • 09/20/2011

    Congratulations to Drew!  His paper, "Attenuation of virulence in pathogenic bacteria using synthetic quorum-sensing modulators under native conditions on plant hosts," was accepted by ACS Chemical Biology today!

  • 08/23/2011

    Congratulations to Aaron and Joey!  Their paper, "Extraordinarily Robust Polyproline Type I Peptoid Helices Generated via the Incorporation of α-Chiral Aromatic N-1-Naphthylethyl Side Chains" was accepted as a full paper in JACS today!

  • 08/10/2011

    Congratulations to Reto!  He successfully defended his thesis today!

  • 06/27/2011

    Congratulations to Christie!  Her two papers describing the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of non-lactone AHL mimics were accepted by Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. Check Publications for details.

  • 05/11/2011

    Congratulations to Dr. Christie McInnis!  She successfully defended her thesis, "The Design, Synthesis, and Mechanistic Characterization of Quorum Sensing Modulators" today.

  • 05/06/2011

    Congratulations to Jacob!  He received Student Support in Chemistry (SSC) Scholarships for the summer and fall terms of 2011.

  • 05/04/2011

    Congratulations to Aaron!  He has been selected to participate in the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Research Symposium this July at UC Santa Barbara.

  • 04/19/2011

    Congratulations to Amanda!  She has been selected as an NIH Chemical Biology Interface Predoctoral Trainee.

  • 04/12/2011

    Congrats to Knick, Teresa, and Tony! Their paper, "Synthesis and Application of an N-Acylated L-Homoserine Lactone Derivatized Affinity Matrix for the Isolation of Quorum Sensing Signal Receptors" was accepted at Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters today.

  • 01/17/2011

    Congrats to Aaron and Joey! Their paper, "Design and Conformational Analysis of Peptoids Containing N-Hydroxy Amides Reveals a Unique Sheet-Like Secondary Structure" was accepted at Biopolymers today.

  • 01/11/2011

    Congrats to Helen who was selected as an AAAS Fellow today! Helen received this high honor for the development of a new chemical language to elucidate the mechanisms of bacterial communication, which has had a major impact on the understanding of bacterial growth and virulence. See the press release.

  • 01/10/2011

    Congrats to Margie who had a paper accepted today in ChemBioChem. Check Publications for details.

  • 01/10/2011

    Congrats to Joey who had a paper accepted today in ACS Combinatorial Science. Check Publications for details.

2010

  • 12/06/2010

    The press is already talking about Drew's new paper, which was recently accepted by ChemBioChem.

  • 11/11/2010

    A joint paper with one of our collaborators, Jo Handelsman, is currently in press in Appl. Envir. Microbiol.

  • 11/01/2010

    Welcome to our two new first year graduate students, Joe Moore and Michael Welsh!

  • 10/13/2010

    Congratulations to Dr. Joey Stringer who successfully defended his thesis (I. Design and Construction of Small-Molecule Macroarrays for the Discovery of Antibacterial Compounds, II. Development and Implementation of New Design Strategies for the Generation of Discretely Folded Peptoids ) today!

  • 10/11/2010

    Congratulations to Dr. Margie Mattmann who successfully defended her thesis (Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Small Molecules for the Modulation of Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa) today!

  • 10/06/2010

    Congrats to Drew! His ExpR/LuxR comparison paper was accepted at ChemBioChem today. Look for it this fall on the Publications page.

  • 09/01/2010

    Our research on chemical signaling in bacteria was recently highlighted in the September 2010 issue of Discover magazine. Read the article here.

  • 08/13/2010

    Congrats to Tony! His paper on AHL release from PLG polymer films was accepted into Chem. Commun. today. Look for it this fall on the Publications page.

  • 08/10/2010

    Congrats to Joey and Aaron! Their paper on peptoids was accepted in JOC today. Look for it this fall on the Publications page.

  • 07/19/2010

    Congrats to Margie! Her perspective piece on small molecule modulators of QS in P. aeruginosa was accepted in JOC. Look for it this fall on the Publications page.

  • 06/01/2010

    The Blackwell labs are being renovated! Labs are being updated with new fume hoods and benches. Check back later for before and after pictures as this three-phase process unfolds.

  • 04/15/2010

    Congratulations to Teresa Beary, who recieved a Chemistry Department Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.

  • 02/22/2010

    Helen Blackwell wins an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award. See the write-up in the February 22 issue of C&EN.

  • 02/01/2010

    The Blackwell Lab website has seen a major overhaul. Explore the site to see what else we've been up to.

2009

  • 11/01/2009

    We welcome Amanda Senechal, a new first year, to the group.

  • 07/01/2009

    Congratulations to Tony Breitbach, who recieved the 2009 National Institutes of Health Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program (NIH CBI) Fellowship.

  • 05/15/2009

    Congratulations to Danielle Stacy, who received the 2009 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.

  • 03/31/2009

    Congratulations to J. P. Gerdt, who received the 2009 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

  • 02/11/2009

    Welcome to Hannah Michelle Blackwell Lynn, the Blackwell Lab's youngest member, and congratulations to proud parents Helen Blackwell and David Lynn.

2008

  • 11/03/2008

    A warm welcome to our new first years - Teresa Beary and J. P. Gerdt.

  • 08/15/2008

    Congratulations Dr. Sarah Fowler on your Thesis Defense.

  • 08/15/2008

    The Blackwell Lab is highlighted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Read the article)

  • 08/12/2008

    Congratulations Dr. Jenny Campbell O'Neill on your Thesis Defense.

  • 04/02/2008

    Congratulations Dr. Grant David Geske on your Thesis Defense.

  • 03/15/2008

    Our 2007 ACS Chemical Biology paper is featured by ACS Publications as one of the "Most Cited Articles published in 2007".

2007

  • 12/15/2007

    Our recent quorum sensing paper (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 13613) is highlighted by Dave Spring and co-workers in ACS Chemical Biology (2007, 2, 715).

  • 11/04/2007

    Blackwell Lab featured in the Wisconsin State Journal. (Read the article)

  • 11/01/2007

    A big welcome to our new first years--Tony Breitbach, Aaron Crapster, Danielle Stacy, and Knick Praneenararat.

  • 10/29/2007

    Roland Jiaxun Li was born to the proud parents Qi Lin and Bo Li. Welcome to the Blackwell Lab's first honorary member.

  • 09/15/2007

    Helen Blackwell is named one of Popular Science's Annual Brilliant Ten. (Read the article)

  • 09/15/2007

    Our quorum sensing and antibacterial research is highlighted by Caltech News (Volume 41, Number 3, 2007). (Read the article)

  • 09/15/2007

    Jenny O'Neill and Helen Blackwell are featured in Brigham Young University's alumni magazine in an article about preparing for and pursuing graduate education. (Read the article)

  • 08/17/2007

    Jenny O’Neill received an ASM Graduate Student Travel Award to attend the 3rd Annual ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria in Austin, TX.

  • 08/14/2007

    Congratulations Ben Gorske on your Thesis Defense.

  • 08/08/2007

    Congratulations Qi Lin on your Thesis Defense.

  • 07/25/2007

    Monomer peptoid paper highlighted on "Faculty of 1000 Biology": Evaluations for Gorske BC et al. J Am Chem Soc 2007 Jul 25 129 (29) :8928-9.

  • 07/15/2007

    Margie Mattmann received the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Travel Award to attend the 234th ACS National Meeting in Boston.

  • 05/15/2007

    Ben Gorske received the UW-Madison Ralph Hirschmann/Dan Rich Graduate Award in Bioorganic Chemistry Research.

  • 04/30/2007

    Helen Blackwell wins a Dupont Young Professor Grant and receives a 2007 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.

  • 04/27/2007

    Our antibacterial research (Chemistry & Biology, 2007) is covered on the local Madison CBS television station news. (Read the article) (Watch the tv clip)

  • 04/15/2007

    Our antibacterial research (Chemistry & Biology, 2007) is highlighted by UW Communications. (Read the article)

  • 03/15/2007

    Christie McInnis received the 2007 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

  • 02/26/2007

    Helen Blackwell is the recipient of a 3M Nontenured Faculty Award.

  • 02/25/2007

    Our quorum sensing research is highlighted in The New York Times (Sunday Business section). (Read the article)

2006

  • 11/08/2006

    Perfluoro peptoid paper is highlighted on “Faculty of 1000 Biology”: Evaluations for Gorske BC & Blackwell HE J Am Chem Soc 2006 Nov 8 128 (44):14378-87.

  • 10/15/2006

    Our quorum sensing research is highlighted in the cover story for C & E News on bacterial communication. (Read the article)

  • 09/15/2006

    Ben Gorske received the 2006 M. J. Collins Award in Microwave-Assisted Chemistry.

  • 09/15/2006

    Interviewed for the radio show “The World Today” by the BBC about our quorum sensing research.

  • 09/15/2006

    Gave press release at 232 nd ACS Meeting ( San Francisco, CA on our quorum sensing research). Picked up by several news agencies, including: The Economist, Scientific American, and several other news agencies around the world. (Read the article)

  • 07/15/2006

    Congratulations Matt Bowman on your Thesis Defense.

  • 05/15/2006

    Matt Bowman received the UW-Madison Ralph Hirschmann/Dan Rich Graduate Award in Bioorganic Chemistry Research.

  • 04/15/2006

    Sarah Fowler received the 2006 Pfizer Diversity in Organic Chemistry Graduate Fellowship.

  • 03/15/2006

    Sarah Fowler received the 2006 ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Graduate Fellowship.

  • 03/15/2006

    Interviewed by the life sciences magazine, “The Scientist”, about our research and Helen profiled as a rising young star. Article published in June 2006 issue. (Read the article)

2005

  • 12/15/2005

    Interviewed for Hi International Magazine on quorum sensing research (highlighted as a “face to watch”).

  • 12/15/2005

    Interviewed for Drug Discovery & Development about microwave work for December 2005 issue.

  • 09/05/2005

    Our 2005 quorum sensing JACS communication is highlighted in “Science & Technology Concentrates” section in the magazine C & E News.

  • 05/15/2005

    Jenny O’Neill received the 2005 Novartis Graduate Fellowship in Organic Chemistry.

  • 04/15/2005

    Grant Geske received the 2005 ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Graduate Fellowship.

  • 03/15/2005

    Interviewed about our quorum sensing research by: NPR - The Health Show, UW University Communications and The Badger Herald.