October 2025
Fridays in October—October 3, October 10, October 17, October 24
The David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities is organizing its First-Generation Graduate Students Seminar Series for Fall…
Ivan A. Popov received his B.S. and M.S. with honors in chemistry from RUDN University, Russia, Moscow. In 2011, Ivan moved to the United States to pursue his education under the supervision of Prof. Alexander I. Boldyrev at Utah State University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physical Chemistry. Ivan joined Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory in June 2017 as a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow, and later in February 2018, Ivan was awarded J. R. Oppenheimer Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2021, Ivan started his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Akron (UA), where he spent three years before joining the Department of Chemistry at Washington State University (WSU). In 2023, Ivan received federal funding from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to work in the Transuranic Chemistry Center of Research Excellence (TRUCoRE) to elucidate the electronic structure of actinide compounds in extreme oxidation states and transuranic hydrides. Ivan has also been recognized at the department levels receiving the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences Early Research and Creativity Award at the UA and Meyer Early Career Launch Fellowship at WSU.
Dr. Rajappa Vaidyanathan is a scientific and business leader with 20+ years of diverse experience in CMC aspects of drug development. Vaidy is currently the Head of Chemical Process and Analytical Development at Pfizer Inc, based in Bothell, WA. In this role, he leads the Process Chemistry, Analytical, and Engineering functions tasked with developing synthetic processes and analytical methods for Drug-Linkers (Linker Payloads) used in Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
Vaidy started his industrial career at Pharmacia in Kalamazoo, MI, and subsequently moved to Pfizer in Groton, CT where he held positions of increasing responsibility, and had the honor of developing commercial processes for multiple new chemical entities that are now commercialized as approved drugs (e.g. Xeljanz, Sutent, Bosulif). Subsequently, Vaidy established and headed the Chemical Development and API Supply group for Bristol-Myers Squibb at Bangalore, India. He assumed additional responsibilities of leading the overall Pharmaceutical Development (CMC) organization at Bristol-Myers Squibb, India, where he gained cross-functional experience in drug development.
He then moved to the Medicines for All Institute (M4All) in Richmond, VA, where he served as the Chief Operating Officer leading the organization tasked with a mission to develop innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable approaches to essential medications for Global Health. After a short stint at M4All, he was recruited by Seagen, Inc, which was ultimately acquired by Pfizer!
He is the recipient of several internal and external awards and honors, including the American Chemical Society’s “Heroes of Chemistry” Award (2015) for his contributions to the development of Xeljanz. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, he served on the editorial board of Organic Process Research and Development and has edited multiple books that chronicle the discovery and development of new drug molecules.
Vaidy earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Irvine, and his Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where he currently holds an Adjunct faculty position.
Herman Cho is Senior Research Scientist in the Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he is the principal investigator of the U.S. DOE Basic Energy Sciences Heavy Element Chemistry program. He has led the development of a radiological magnetic resonance spectroscopy facility at PNNL that has reported multiple first-in-the-world advances in the analysis of highly radioactive materials.
Dr. Kraig Wheeler’s research areas: research programs directed at the study of molecular engineered functional materials. Solid-state organic reactions. Design of novel cocrystalline quasiracemic compounds, noncentrosymmetric molecular assemblages and crystal engineering via molecular topology. Chemical reactions in molecular crystals. Construction of predictable molecular frameworks by exploiting strong and weak intermolecular interactions. Nanoporous materials derived from coordination polymer and robust donor-acceptor molecular architectures. Single-crystal X-ray crystallography.
PhD student, Evelyn Andrade, giving a talk about their research update on the speciation and structure of Uranium in molten Halide salts.
Matthew Heaney, a PhD candidate in Chemistry, will present a Physical Chemistry seminar highlighting recent findings from his research on the thermal expansion behavior of uranium carbides.
Anastassia Alexandrova is a Charles W. Clifford Jr. Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in UCLA. She obtained a B.S./M.S. Diploma with highest honors, from Saratov University, Russia, her Ph.D. in theoretical physical chemistry from Utah State University, and was then a Postdoctoral Associate and an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. Anastassia joined the faculty of UCLA and CNSI in 2010. The focus of her laboratory is theory and computation for design and multi-scale modeling of functional materials: dynamic catalytic interfaces, artificial metalloenzymes, molecular qubits and their assemblies, and quantum materials. Anastassia serves as a Senior Editor of the Journal of physical Chemistry (ACS), and a reviewing editor of the Science magazine (AAAS).
She is a recipient of numerous awards, such as NSF CAREER Award, Sloan Fellowship 2013, DARPA Young Faculty Award 2011, Fulbright Fellowship 2016, and ACS WCC Rising Star Award 2016, 2020 ACS Phys Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry, 2021 Max Planck-Humboldt medal, 2023 Gold Shield Faculty Prize, as well as UCLA’s Hanson-Dow award for excellence in teaching 2016, Herbert Newby McCoy award for excellence in faculty research 2016, undergraduate research mentorship award 2018, and 2019 distinguished teaching award (the highest honor for teaching given in UCLA).
PhD candidate Tyler Dabritz will present his proposal titled Characterization of Volatile Secondary Metabolites in Sphagnum Mosses and Associated Xylaria Endophytes: Implications for Plant-Fungal Symbiosis.
Chemistry PhD student Kaylie McCracken will present a talk titled “Enhanced Aqueous Zinc-Redox Batteries Through a Synergistic Approach Utilizing Indium-Tin Oxide and Magnetic Fields.” Her presentation will explore a fundamental approach to electrode material development for use in aqueous Zn-redox batteries paired with magnetic field effects to regulate redox behaviors.
PhD candidate MD Zaman Wahad will present a seminar on recent developments in bulk and nanostructured strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) and its Ruddlesden–Popper derivatives, focusing on their applications in photocatalysis and environmental remediation.