Seminar Series by Various Speakers

Venue: CCEB NL conference room (02-01l)

Host: Assoc Prof. Mihaiela Stuparu

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM:  From Active-Site Dyads to Substrate Scope: Mechanistic Insights into F₄₂₀-Dependent Dehydrogenases by Assoc. Prof. Kayunta Johnson-Winters

11:00 AM to 11:45 AM: Upskilling Scientists Using Human-Computer Interaction by Dr. Fun Man Fung

02:30 PM to 03:30 PM: Recent Advances in Asymmetric Synthesis and Catalysis by Prof. Pat Guiry

Biography

Assoc. Prof. Kayunta Johnson-Winters

Kayunta Johnson-Winters earned her bachelor’s degree from Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI), her PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Arizona as an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellow. Her research has been supported by the NSF, NIH, and the Welch Foundation. She is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington and serves as Director of Undergraduate Research, where she leads campus-wide initiatives to expand access to high-impact research experiences. Dr. Johnson-Winters has held several senior leadership roles at UT Arlington, including Secretary of the Faculty Senate, Director of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation–Broadening Participation (LSAMP), and Faculty Co-Chair of the Women’s Faculty and Staff Network. In 2024, she received a $3.2M NSF AGEP award as PI to support faculty mentoring and career advancement across the UT System. A mechanistic enzymologist, her research focuses on F₄₂₀-dependent enzymes relevant to microbial redox metabolism. She has mentored over 100 trainees and is an elected Council member of ASBMB and a member of ACS.

Dr. Fun Man Fung

Dr. Fun Man Fung, Ph.D. FICI FYAE is an Assistant Professor at the School of Chemistry, University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the NUS and an M.Sc. from NUS and the Technical University of Munich. He also holds a Certificate in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) from the Singapore Management University. His research interests are science diplomacy, sustainability education, chemical security, learning sciences and educational technology. Dr. Fung serves as an Associate Editor for Chemistry Teacher International (IUPAC/EuChemS), on the advisory boards of the Journal of Chemical Education, FEBS Open Bio, and JACS Au, and as an elected council member of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry (SNIC). Honors and awards received include Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2024), NUS High Inspiring Research Mentor Award (2023); Institute of Advanced Studies-Nanyang Technological University-SNIC Chemistry National Meeting Singapore Award for Chemical Education (2020), and D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Canada (2019). National Representative of SNIC on the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education (CCE) for 4 years from 2020.

Prof. Pat Guiry

Professor Guiry received his BSc (Honours) degree in Chemistry from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1986 and stayed to pursue his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry, graduating in 1990, under the supervision of Professors Dervilla Donnelly (UCD) and Sir Derek Barton (Texas A&M). He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford with Dr John Brown FRS).  He began his independent academic career at University College Dublin as a College Lecturer (1993-2002) and was then promoted to Senior Lecturer (2002-2004), Associate Professor (2004-2006) and then to Full Professor of Organic Chemistry (2006-present). His research group focuses on synthetic organic chemistry, with interests in both the development of asymmetric synthetic methodology through the application of new/existing chiral ligands in homogeneous metal-catalysed transformations and in the total synthesis of compounds of biological interest. He has supervised 70 PhDs to completion to date and worked with 24 postdoctoral fellows. His contributions have been recognized with multiple awards, including the the Boyle-Higgins Medal of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland (2013), the Science Foundation Ireland Mentorship Award (2020), and the EuChemS Division of Organic Chemistry Service Award (2026). He was elected as a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2013, its Science Secretary (2016-20) and is currently its President (2023-present). He was President of the Institute of Chemistry in Ireland (2022-25) and is an elected Member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland (2013-present). He is a keen tennis player who has 20 Irish titles to date and has represented/captained Ireland in the ITF World Championships in the over-35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 age categories, with a World ranking of 53 in the over-35 category in 1999.