The Bachas Group includes, from left, junior William Ranson, Ph.D. student Megan Gillespie, Research Assistant Professor Elsayed Zahran, junior Jacob Levy, junior Hind Naami, Dean Leonidas Bachas, Ph.D. student Jeramy Baum, and Ph.D. student Ed Miller.

By Melissa Peerless
Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 11, 2015)—For the second year in a row, the chemistry lab of College of Arts & Sciences Dean Leonidas Bachas was named Lab of the Year by the  Office of Environmental Health and Safety. Associate Professor of Chemistry Burjor Captain was also recognized for his lab’s record of excellence in safety and compliance.

Jairo Betancourt, biosafety manager for the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, said this is the first time a lab has been honored two years in a row, adding, “When you have a lab this consistent, this is what you are looking for.”

More than 1,500 labs on the three UM campuses were evaluated, with two winners also selected at the Miller School of Medicine: the lab of Grace Zhai, associate professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology who uses the fruit fly to study the genetic and cellular basis of neural development, degeneration, and protection; and the lab of Theodore Lampidis, professor of cell biology and anatomy, who is investigating the mechanisms of tumor cell resistance to chemotherapy.

Betancourt said the premise of the awards is twofold. “No. 1 is the safety of the laboratorians, and No. 2 is compliance with federal, local, and state regulations.”

He added that the award is intended to “stimulate all people in the University to improve.”

Speaking to the Bachas Lab team—which includes Bachas; Research Assistant Professor Elsayed Zahran; Ph.D. students Jeramy Baum, Megan Gillespie, and Ed Miller; and undergraduates Jacob Levy, Hind Naami, and William Ranson—Betancourt called Bachas “not only a dean, but an exemplary scientist.”

Bachas, who came to UM from the University of Kentucky, where he served as the Frank J. Derbyshire Professor of Chemistry and the chair of the Department of Chemistry, holds a Ph.D. in bioanalytical chemistry and an M.S. in engineering from the University of Michigan.

Betancourt further explained that when he began inspecting UM’s labs several years ago, principal investigators were reluctant to adopt the safety standards he proposed. However, recent years have brought “big changes,” he said, with widespread recognition of the importance of safety in the lab.

Zahran, who manages day-to-day operations in the Bachas Lab, said, “We teach our students everything about the regulations, how to avoid accidents, how to deal with chemical waste and hazardous waste, and keeping everything organized and in its place.”

The Bachas Group is working to develop new nanoparticles to break down environmental pollutants. They build the tiny catalysts, and then place them in contaminated water. When the nanoparticles are exposed to solar energy, they drive reactions that breakdown contaminants, such as PCBs.

Junior Jacob Levy, a chemistry major from the Philadelphia area on the pre-health track, creates the nanoparticles in solution, a key piece of the lab’s work.

“This research further broadens my experience in science,” he said.

With Lizzeth Meza, far left, from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, are Ph.D. student Nathaniel Westfall; Associate Professor Burjor Captain, and postdoctoral student Anjanejulu Koppaka, and the Office of Environmental Health and Safety’s Melanie Peapell.

Describing Captain’s lab  as “very complicated,” Betancourt said it is “nose to nose with Bachas.”

The Captain Group works with transition metal complexes, which are used to activate hydrogen and small molecules. Captain and his students create the complexes using several different methods.

Captain earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of South Carolina, where he also pursued postdoctoral work.