时间：2024年7月19日（周五）16:00-17:30

Time: 16:00-17:30, Friday, July 19, 2024

主持人：西湖大学程建军教授与张鑫教授

Hosts: Prof. Jianjun Cheng and Prof. Xin Zhang, Westlake University

地址：西湖大学云谷校区E10-304

Venue: E10-304, Yungu Campus, Westlake University

讲座语言：英文

Lecture Language: English

Prof. Jia Niu

Department of Chemistry, Boston College

主讲人/Speaker:

Jia Niu is an associate professor of chemistry in Boston College. Jia obtained a B.S. degree (2005) and a M.S. degree (2008) from Tsinghua University under the supervision of Prof. Xi Zhang. He then moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. degree at Harvard University, working with Professor David R. Liu on the enzyme-free translation and directed evolution of synthetic polymers. After working as a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Professor Craig Hawker and Professor Tom Soh at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Jia joined the faculty of Boston College in 2017. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2023. Currently, the Niu research group is focused on developing sustainable plastics using biobased building blocks, understanding functional roles of sulfation patterns in polysaccharides and proteins, and the directed evolution of functional nucleic acids. Jia is a recipient of the ACS CARB David Y. Gin New Investigator Award (2024), the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2023), the ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award (2021), the NSF CAREER Award (2020), the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2019), and the Beckman Young Investigator Award (2019).

讲座摘要/Abstract:

Polysaccharides are a major class of biomacromolecules that play important roles in both biology and material sciences. A long challenge for the characterization and utilization of polysaccharides is the heterogeneity of highly diverse natural polysaccharides. The efforts for chemically synthesizing complex polysaccharides have undergone rapid development in the past decade, but methods for the scalable preparation of polysaccharides remain elusive. In this talk, I will present our efforts toward the chemical synthesis of native and pseudo-polysaccharides for biological and material applications by taking inspiration from polymer chemistry. This talk will cover the synthesis of both native polysaccharides with glycosidic bonds and pseudo-polysaccharides with non-glycosidic linkages via chemical polymerization. Taken together, these developments provide promising glycobiomaterials with improved precision tailored for fundamental and applied biological investigations.

讲座联系人/Contact:

理学院，梁子微，邮箱：liangziwei@westlake.edu.cn

工学院，郑苏轩，邮箱：zhengsuxuan@westlake.edu.cn

School of Science, Ziwei Liang, Email: liangziwei@westlake.edu.cn

School of Engineering, Suxuan Zheng, Email: zhengsuxuan@westlake.edu.cn