James Nowick

James Nowick is a professor of chemistry at University of California, Irvine. His research is focused on peptidomimetic (peptide-like) molecules and their potential applications to the study of amyloid-like protein aggregates, which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.[1] Nowick is well known for his interest in chemistry education and is the organizer of the Open Chemistry series of video lectures distributed by UCI.[2] Nowick is openly gay and in 2009 received the Scientist of the Year award from the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[3]

James Nowick
Alma materColumbia University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry of peptidomimetics
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Irvine
Notable studentsJennifer M. Heemstra
Websitehttp://www.chem.uci.edu/~jsnowick/groupweb/

Academic career

Nowick received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. He joined the faculty at University of California, Irvine in 1991.[1]

Nowick's research group studies the synthesis and design of peptidomimetic molecules, or those that resemble peptides, with particular interest in molecules that replicate features of beta sheets such as their characteristic hydrogen bonding patterns. Beta sheet interactions are known to be involved in the formation of amyloid fibrils found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease and in other protein misfolding diseases. Nowick's group studies molecules that interfere with the formation of these interactions in order to improve understanding of the biochemical mechanisms underlying these diseases.[4][5]

Nowick was a recipient of the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society in 1998.[1][6] He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[1]

Teaching, outreach, and activism

Nowick is well known for his interest in undergraduate education, public outreach, and mentorship, particularly of younger LGBT scientists. As a graduate student at MIT he founded both a graduate student LGBT organization and a chemistry outreach program for high school students,[7] which has since expanded to reach a thousand students per year.[8] As a professor at UCI Nowick organized the Open Chemistry program, which provides free video lectures corresponding to most UCI undergraduate chemistry courses[2][9] and which received a Distance Education Innovation Award in 2013.[10] He has received several awards from UCI for excellence in undergraduate teaching.[1]

Nowick is openly gay and is active in advocating for LGBT visibility in the sciences and in mentoring LGBT students. He established a seminar course called "Queer Science, Queer Scientists" at UCI,[11] has organized campus panels on topics in LGBT advocacy such as California's ballot measure against same-sex marriage in 2008,[12] and is involved in the Gay and Transgender Chemists and Allies Subdivision of the American Chemical Society.[13][14]

References
  1. "James S. Nowick". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  2. Wilson, Janet (11 March 2013). "Online chemistry lectures find worldwide audience". University of California News. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  3. "Nowick, Gingiss, and Uribe to Receive 2009 NOGLSTP GLBT Awards Recognizing Their Contributions to the Fields of Science and Technology". NOGLSTP. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  4. Nowick, JS (October 2008). "Exploring beta-sheet structure and interactions with chemical model systems". Accounts of Chemical Research. 41 (10): 1319–30. doi:10.1021/ar800064f. PMC 2728010. PMID 18798654.
  5. Nowick, James S.; Smith, Eric M.; Pairish, Mason (1996). "Artificial ?-sheets". Chemical Society Reviews. 25 (6): 401. doi:10.1039/CS9962500401.
  6. "Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards". American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  7. Nowick, James S.; Brisbois, Ronald G. (August 1989). "The MIT Chemistry Outreach Program: Graduate students presenting chemistry to high school students". Journal of Chemical Education. 66 (8): 668. Bibcode:1989JChEd..66..668N. doi:10.1021/ed066p668.
  8. Yfke, Hager (August 2010). "The insider: Chemical outreach". Chemistry World. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. "OpenChemistry Lecture Videos". UCIrvine. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  10. "UC Irvine Receives Accolade for its Open Chemistry Project". PRnewswire. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  11. Wang, Linda (23 May 2011). "Paving The Way: Finding Mentors And Role Models". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  12. Chen, Mengfei (17 February 2009). "How Constitutional is Proposition 8?". New University: Official Campus Newspaper. University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  13. "Gay and Transgender Chemists and Allies Subdivision". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  14. Coley, Ian (20 August 2013). "Empowering LGBT Scientists". Medill Equal Media Project. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
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