Chemical Communications Blog

We are delighted to announce that Grace Han, from Brandeis University, is the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry. This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Please join us in celebrating Grace’s achievement.

Grace Han received her PhD in 2015 at MIT, where she worked with Professor Timothy Swager on the development of organic materials for photovoltaics. She then joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT as a postdoctoral associate with Professor Jeffrey Grossman. Grace has been awarded several honors during her independent career, including a 2022 AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program Award, a 2022 NSF CAREER award, a 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a 2023 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, a 2023 DFG Mercator Fellowship, a 2023 DoD DURIP Award, and the 2024 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship.

She is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Brandeis University, and her group’s research focuses on the discovery of molecular photoswitches and photochemistry for applications including the solar energy conversion and storage, optically-controlled catalyst recycling, and light-induced phase transitions.

Find more info about Grace and her group on Twitter @GraceGDHan and Bluesky @gracegdhan.bsky.social

We are delighted to announce that Professor Hao Li, at Zhejiang University, is the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry. This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Please join us in celebrating Hao’s achievement.

Hao Li got his bachelor degree at Wuhan University in China in 2005. After getting a master degree in the group of Professor Chuluo Yang at Wuhan University in 2007, Hao Li moved to Northwestern University and got a PhD under the supervision of Fraser Stoddart in January of 2013. He then worked with Jonathan Sessler at the University of Texas at Austin as a postdoctoral research fellow until the June of 2015 when he moved back to China and joined Zhejiang University as a tenure-track professor. He was promoted as a tenured associated professor in 2021. Hao Li’s research focuses on dynamic covalent chemistry based on imine and its heteroatom derivatives such as hydrazone and oxime.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Amanda Hargrove, at Duke University, is the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry. This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Our warmest congratulations to Amanda, a well-deserved winner.

“Dr. Amanda Hargrove’s research group has developed small molecules that bind to RNA by interacting with the RNA tertiary structure, such as hairpins, bulges, and stem loops. The combinatorial libraries and maticululas characterization of the small molecules results in very specific RNA binders. Her research group is one of the most prominent groups in the world in recognizing RNA for drug-discovery. Along with discovering that amiloride is a tunable RNA scaffold, her group has published ligands for oncogenic and viral ncRNAs. Expanding on RNA molecular recognition, her group has shown direct evidence that conformational dynamics play a role in RNA binding and developed a method to visualize RNA conformational changes.” Roger Harrison, Secretary of the ISMSC International Committee

Amanda E. Hargrove is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Duke University and a past ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship awardee. Prof. Hargrove earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech. Her laboratory at Duke works to understand the fundamental drivers of selective small molecule:RNA recognition and to use this knowledge to functionally modulate viral and oncogenic RNA structures. Her passions outside the lab include developing course-based undergraduate research experiences, working toward equity in chemistry at the departmental and national level, and watching old movies with her awesome family. Follow Amanda’s lab on Twitter: @hargrovelab

The 2021 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize will be celebrated during two days of virtual sessions in July 2021 at 16th International Symposium of Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry. An in-person event has been rescheduled for 19 – 24 June 2022. The symposium will provide a forum to discuss all aspects of macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry, and also topics on materials and nanoscience, following the spirit and style of the fourteen preceding conferences. It will also offer networking opportunities among peers, recognized leaders in the field, young scientists, and students.

We would like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for Chemical Communications in 2019, as selected by the editorial team, for their significant contribution to the journal. The reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness and quality of the reports completed over the last 12 months.

We would like to say a big thank you to those individuals listed here as well as to all of the reviewers that have supported the journal. Each Outstanding Reviewer will receive a certificate to give recognition for their significant contribution.

Dr Sai Bi, Qingdao University, ORCID: 0000-0002-7305-8233

Dr Torsten Brezesinski, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, ORCID: 0000-0002-4336-263X

Professor Rodney Fernandes, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, ORCID: 0000-0001-8888-0927

Dr Richard M Kellogg, Syncom BV, ORCID: 0000-0002-8409-829X

Dr Anabel Estella Lanterna, University of Ottawa, ORCID: 0000-0002-6743-0940

Dr Hao Li, University of Texas, ORCID: 0000-0002-7577-1366

Dr Xinhui Lou, Capital Normal University, ORCID: 0000-0001-6906-713X

Dr Arpad Molnar, University of Szeged, ORCID: 0000-0001-9191-450X

Dr Kyungsoo Oh, Chung-Ang University, ORCID: 0000-0002-4566-6573

Dr Yong Qin, Changzhou University, ORCID: 0000-0003-4563-8828

We would also like to thank the Chemical Communications board and the General chemistry community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

If you would like to become a reviewer for our journal, just email us with details of your research interests and an up-to-date CV or résumé.  You can find more details in our author and reviewer resource centre

We are proud to announce that Dr. Chenfeng Ke, at Dartmouth College, is the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry! This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Our warmest congratulations to Chenfeng, a well-deserved winner!

“The CLP prize was envisioned to recognize young investigators in the field of supramolecular chemistry. In his short career, Professor Chenfeng Ke has shown outstanding creativity in the development of 3D-printed mechanically interlocked monoliths. He has also discovered transformations of fluorescent supramolecular networks and their guest-induced expansion. These and other innovations show that Professor Ke is a premier supramolecular chemist.” –  Roger Harrison, Secretary of the ISMSC International Committee

Chenfeng received his PhD in Supramolecular Chemistry from Nankai University in 2009. The Ke Functional Materials Group focuses on developing smart materials for 3D/4D printing applications, elastic crystalline porous organic materials for energy and environmental related applications, and carbohydrate receptors for biological applications. The research scheme overlaps organic synthesis, crystal engineering, polymer synthesis, materials characterization, and 3D printing, with an emphasis on the design of supramolecular materials that are noncovalently assembled.

The award will be presented at the 15th International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry held in Sydney, 12 – 16th July 2020!
This annual conference consists of sessions of invited lectures that focus upon a single topic area, award lectures and poster sessions. The conference will also feature emerging investigator talks.

You can register here.

We would like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for Chemical Communications in 2018, as selected by the editorial team, for their significant contribution to the journal. The reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness and quality of the reports completed over the last 12 months.

We would like to say a big thank you to those individuals listed here as well as to all of the reviewers that have supported the journal. Each Outstanding Reviewer will receive a certificate to give recognition for their significant contribution.

Dr Chris Hawes, Keele University, ORCID: 0000-0001-6902-7939
Dr Takashi Hirose, Kyoto University, ORCID: 0000-0002-5351-2101
Dr Johan Hoogboom, BASF SE, ORCID: 0000-0002-2615-3131
Professor Takamitsu Hosoya, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, ORCID: 0000-0002-7270-351X
Dr Eric Assen Bonev Kantchev, Hefei University of Technology, ORCID: 0000-0002-0607-9288
Dr RM Kellogg, Syncom BV, ORCID: 0000-0002-8409-829X
Dr Jacek L Kolanowski, Polish Academy of Sciences, ORCID: 0000-0002-6779-4736
Dr Anabel Estela Lanterna, University of Ottawa Faculty of Science, ORCID: 0000-0002-6743-0940
Dr David Leboeuf, ICMMO, Paris-Sud University, ORCID: 0000-0001-5720-7609
Dr Yong Li, University of Missouri-Kansas City, ORCID: 0000-0002-7811-5188
Dr Silvia Marchesan, University of Trieste, ORCID: 0000-0001-6089-3873
Professor Arpad Molnar, University of Szeged, ORCID: 0000-0001-9191-450X
Dr Josué David Mota Morales, National Autonomous University of Mexico, ORCID: 0000-0001-8257-0709
Dr David Nelson, University of Strathclyde, ORCID: 0000-0002-9461-5182
Dr Kyungsoo Oh, Chung-Ang University, ORCID: 0000-0002-4566-6573
Dr Valentina Oliveri, University of Catania, ORCID: 0000-0001-7603-4790
Professor Vasyl Pivovarenko, National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, ORCID: 0000-0002-6652-2333
Dr Liliana Quintanar, Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav), ORCID: 0000-0003-3090-7175
Dr Seth Rasmussen, North Dakota State University, ORCID: 0000-0003-3456-2864
Professor Elisabetta Rossi, University of Milan, ORCID: 0000-0003-0397-6175
Dr Nabeen Kumar Shrestha, Dongguk University, ORCID: 0000-0002-4849-4121
Dr James Taylor, University of Bath, ORCID: 0000-0002-0254-5536
Dr Mariola Tortosa, Autonomous University of Madrid, ORCID: 0000-0002-5107-0549
Dr Jose Luis Vicario, University of the Basque Country, ORCID: 0000-0001-6557-1777
Dr Haolin Yin, California Institute of Technology, ORCID: 0000-0002-2063-8605

We would also like to thank the Chemical Communications Board and the fantastic chemistry community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

If you would like to become a reviewer for our journal, just email us with details of your research interests and an up-to-date CV or résumé.  You can find more details in our author and reviewer resource centre.