Seven graduating Chemistry students honored for scholarship, research, teaching, and departmental citizenship

Valentina Rangel-Angarita was a member of Professor Stacy Malaker’s lab, where they used mass spectrometry to analyze mucin-domain glycoproteins to better understand human health and disease. Their remarkable academic performance has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts –– and several national awards, underscoring their ascension as a rising star in the fields of glycobiology and mass spectrometry.

Rangel-Angarita has spearheaded several independent projects while working in the Malaker Lab. The first involved evaluating field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry for glycoproteomic analyses. The next project, a systematic comparison of bioinformatic tools for glycoproteomics data, is now part of an international study comparing 20+ software programs. Their findings from another project that identified “free” N-glycans generated after enzymatic removal of those species from the protein backbone was recently published in a prominent mass spectrometry journal. 

During their time at Yale, Rangel-Angarita displayed outstanding departmental citizenship by serving as Peer Graduate Student Mentor, leading the Yale BioTech Club and Yale chapter of the International Chemical Biology Society, and volunteering for the Yale Chemistry Symposium and Visiting Days. 

Prior to Yale, Rangel-Angaria earned a B.S. Hons. in chemistry and statistics from Florida State University. They have accepted a position as a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Professor Brandon Ruotolo at the University of Michigan.

Richard Wolfgang Prize

Awarded to chemistry graduate students with a record of outstanding academic work

Conor Rooney

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
Thesis Defense: Waste to Worth: Diversified Products from CO₂ and NO_x Electroreduction

Conor Rooney was a member of Professor Hailiang Wang’s lab, where he made remarkable discoveries in electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction and carbon-nitrogen coupling reactions, which play a role in transforming potent greenhouse gases into valuable compounds. His findings have been published in several peer-reviewed journal articles. 

Rooney’s research on electrochemical CO₂ reduction to methanol catalyzed by cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which was previously discovered in the Wang Lab, greatly advanced mechanistic understanding of this important reaction. This advancement was a direct result of Rooney’s solid chemistry knowledge and experimental skills, rigorous analysis of experimental results, and capability to work together with collaborators specializing in synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy, sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. 

Rooney also advanced previous work from the Wang Lab in electrochemical CO₂ and nitrate co-reduction to the new area of electrosynthesis. He developed electrocatalytic methylation reactions of amines using CO₂ as the carbon source, and amination reactions of carbonyl compounds using nitrogen dioxide as the nitrogen source. To enable the latter reaction, he developed new catalysts beyond their existing CoPc-based materials. These reactions promise sustainable production of valuable organic compounds from inorganic wastes.

After graduation, Rooney launched the startup Oxylus Energy, commercializing the catalytic CO₂-to-methanol electrochemistry developed in the Wang Lab. The company has raised multiple million dollars, and their team includes four Yale Chemistry alums.

Graduating Undergraduate Student Prizes

Arthur Fleischer Prizes

Awarded to undergraduate students for their for outstanding performance in chemistry

Kathy Huynh

Bachelor of Science Intensive in Chemistry

As a member of Professor Karen Anderson’s group, Kathy Huynh conducted research that contributed to the development of potent SARS-CoV-2 RdRp inhibitors. Her senior thesis project examined a viral polymerase, SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, to possibly find a novel class of inhibitors that would be further developed as another approach to treat COVID and other viral infections. This involved molecular docking of the library and biochemical analyses of the top-scoring compounds. As Hunyh worked diligently on this project, she identified one particularly promising compound that could be a starting point for further lead optimization to design new antivirals for COVID and other viral infections. She plans to conduct postgraduate research before pursuing graduate studies to obtain her Ph.D.

Jackie Gu

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

Jackie Gu conducted research in Professor Timothy Newhouse’s group, where she contributed to a total synthesis of limonoid natural products. She also worked on a novel Ni-catalyzed sulfone functionalization methodology project. She developed a useful method of functionalizing vinyl sulfones that works with several coupling partners. Cross-coupling reactions, which are extremely important in the synthesis of small molecules, are impactful, and Gu has pushed back the frontiers of this area. Additionally, Gu has helped students in the Chemistry Department through her service as a peer tutor and peer mentor. She will be conducting graduate studies in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Professor David MacMillan at Princeton University.

Ximena Leyva Peralta

Bachelor of Science Intensive in Chemistry

Ximena Leyva Peralta, a Yale STARS scholar, conducted research under the supervision of Professor Tianyu Zhu. Leyva Peralta contributed to the development of a physics-informed machine learning method for predicting excited-state properties of nanomaterials. Their contributions include generating training data to model silicon nanoclusters and implementing and training a neural network model all while benchmarking its performance. As a result, Leyva Peralta is a co-author of a paper. In the spring of 2024, they presented the research poster, “Applied Machine Learning Green’s Function Method for Studying Many-Bodied Effects of Silicon Nanocrystals,” at the STARS Research Symposium. Additionally, they served as a peer tutor and peer mentor in the Chemistry Department. 

Leyva Peralta has decided to pursue a graduate degree in Europe and has been accepted to the European Union’s i-MESC (Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion) master’s program (with an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Scholarship) and a master’s program at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (with scholarship). 

Howard Douglass Moore ‘33S Prize

Awarded to a student for excellence in the field of chemistry

Risha Chakraborty

Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience

As a double major in chemistry and neuroscience, Risha Chakraborty worked in the laboratory of Professor Neurology & Neuroscience Sreeganga Chandra. In the Chandra Lab, she explored how mutations in the GBA gene contribute to lipid dyshomeostasis and cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease. 

She also wrote a comprehensive review article describing the current state of the research literature pertaining to smart-MOF (metal-organic framework) materials and their potential use as medicinal therapeutics. The scope of this field is extremely broad and inherently interdisciplinary but perfectly suited to her interests in both chemistry and medicine. Chakraborty will start an MD/PhD at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Fall. 

As a prospective neuroscientist-neurosurgeon, she wishes to explore the molecular relationships between neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental pathologies while helping make crucial treatments accessible to all. 

Werner Bergmann Prize 

Awarded to the outstanding senior in the Chemistry Department

Nicole Piekut

Bachelor of Science Intensive in Chemistry

Nicole Piekut performed research in the laboratory of Professor Nilay Hazari since her first summer at Yale. She contributed to three different research projects. The first two were related to the conversion of CO₂ to valuable chemicals using sunlight. The third involved the hydrogenation of CO₂ to formate using ruthenium (Ru) complexes with a new pincer ligand. The initial route she used to metalate a novel pincer ligand with a hemilabile ether donor to a Ru precursor resulted in a mixture of the new complex with triphenylphosphine, which could not be readily separated. Piekut then improved upon this and discovered a new route which led to a clean product, a route which was subsequently scaled up. Through her diligent work and collegiality – she has also served as a peer tutor and mentor – Piekut was an exceptional member of the Chemistry Department. She will attend graduate school at Caltech.