Haes Research Group Happenings
June 2013
We welcome Kristen O'Connor and Thomas Heiderscheit to the group for the summer through NNI@UI's NSF funded REU Program. Kristen is an undergraudate student at College of St. Scholastica. Thomas is an undergraduate student from the University of Iowa. Welcome!
May 2013
The group attends the 2013 Chemistry Appreciation Night. Michael is the recipient of the Analytical Chemistry Award and a Viksnins, Harris & Padys Award. Thomas is a recipient of the Russell K Simms Scholarship.
Amanda, Anna, and Megan (along with Amanda's sister) have fun with the second graders at Bowman Woods Elementary School. We worked with students as they made scientific instruments and planned and performed hands on experiments with weather-related goals.
The Haes Group hosts and entertains 5th grade LEO students from the Linn-Mar school district with various chemistry activities. This event was part of a multi-week chemistry unit.
April 2013
Anna presents a seminar on her research at the University of Iowa Physical & Environmental Chemistry Seminar Series.
Michael and Thomas present posters on their research at the 2013 Spring Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa.
Amanda and Anna present and attend the 2013 Spring ACS Meeting in New Orleans.
Ever wonder what it looks like when a Raman microscopy experiment is setup?!? Here is a photo of Anna and Michael setting up a nanosensor experiment.
Congratulations to group alumni Amanda (Jones) Goodman (BS 2010, research assistant through Spring 2011) and Anneli Hoggard (REU Student during the summer of 2010) for being awarded and receiving an honorable mention, respectively, for 2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.
March 2013
Amanda presents on the group's work at Illinois State University.
Marie presents a seminar on her research at the University of iowa through the physical chemistry seminar series.
Amanda gives a talk and Anna, Michael, Binaya, Megan, and Lahiru present posters at the 2013 OSTC Symposium.
February 2013
Grace presents a seminar at the University of Iowa through the analytical chemistry seminar series.
Mariana Xavier, a medical student from Brazil, works with the group for the semester. Welcome Mariana.
Amanda gives a talk on the group's research at Macalester College.
January 2013
We welcome graduate students Grace Lu and Megan Butzke (joint with the Cheatum group) to the group!
December 2012
Undergraduate Jenny Hedlund successfully earns her degree and graduates from the University of Iowa. Congrats, Jenny!
The group celebrates 2012 with our annual holiday lunch.
October 2012
Amanda attends, presents the group's research, and presides over a session at SciX in Kansas City.
September 2012
We kick off "super-group meetings" with the Cheatum group with a picnic!
August 2012
We welcome undergraduates Michael Boller and Thomas Heiderscheit to the group!
Amanda presents her tenure talk on the group's research at a Chemistry Colloquium at the University of Iowa.
Congratulations to Marie for publishing her research on silica coated gold nanospheres and implications of nanoparticle quality control on these materials and measurements. Her paper will appear in Analytical Chemistry.
Bridget McCaskill, former group member and SROP/McNair Scholar, graduated from North Carolina A & T State University in May. She also accepted a position as an Entry-Level Chemist at ERG. Congratulations, Bridget!
July 2012
We wish Annie and Stevie well as their REU program ends and as they return to Luther and Westminster Colleges, respectively, for their final year of undergraduate studies!
Undergraduates Annie Whiteley, Stevie Norcross, Zac Builta, Brennan Ayres, and Christina Xu (joint project between the Cheatum and Haes groups) present posters on their research projects at the 2012 Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Iowa.
The Haes Research Group and Friends celebrate the summer at a picnic at City Park. Sub-group "Biorecognition/Separations" beats sub-group "Spectroscopy" in a surprisingly competitive game of bocce ball.
With the expert help of Ben in CLAS Web Services, we launch our new group website.
June 2012
Amanda attends and presents the group's research at the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Noble Metal Nanoparticles.
Undergraduate Dan Grigsby is one of 12 students selected to participate in the American Chemical Society Summer Schools in Nuclear and Radiochemistry at Brookhaven National Laboratory for the summer. Congratulations, Dan!
Undergraduate Jenny Hedlund is selected to participate in the Summer 2012 Student Research Participation Program at Argonne National Laboratory. Congratulations, Jenny!
May 2012
We welcome Stevie Norcross and Annie Whiteley, undergraduate students from Westminster (Utah) and Luther College, respectively, to the group for the summer. Stevie and Annie are joining us through NNI@UI's NSF funded REU Program. Welcome!
Sean is awarded a 2012 Ralph Shriner Fellowship at the 2012 Chemistry Appreciation Night. Congrats Sean!
Anna and Marie are awarded Graduate College Fellowships (Strategic Initiative Fund) at the 2012 Chemistry Appreciation Night. Congrats Anna and Marie!
Former group member (REU 2010) Anneli Hoggard is graduate school bound and will attend Rice University in the fall!
Anna, Binaya, and Marie present posters at the 10th Annual OSTC Symposium.
April 2012
The group traveled to Bowman Woods Elementary in Cedar Rapids to work with kindergarten students. Students learned about polymers by making bouncy balls. Fun was had by all!
The group began outreach activities with kindergarten students at Bowman Woods Elementary. During our first activity, students learned about where wind comes from and made "scientific instruments" that generated wind.
March 2012
Amanda and Marie presented the group's work at the 2012 ACS Meeting in San Diego. Amanda also organized and led a symposium on Nanoparticle Enhanced Spectroscopies through the ACS Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division.
Amanda traveled to ISU to give a talk on the group's research.
February 2012
The group is awarded a three year grant from the National Science Foundation through the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division. We are excited to pursue these research goals!
Amanda travels to Knox College to give a seminar on the group's research.
January 2012
We welcome Sean Lehman, a first year graduate student in chemistry to the research group. Welcome Sean!
Congrats to Mike for publishing his research on the impact of neurotransmitter concentration during gold nanoparticle-containing continuous full filling capillary electrophoresis separations. His paper will appear in Analytical Chemistry.
December 2011
Amanda gives a talk at Cornell College on the group's work.
November 2011
Amanda and Anna visit and present the group's work at Anna's alma mater, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.
October 2011
Amanda, Marie, Jenny, Brennan, and Muriel attend and gave talks on their/the group's research at the 2011 Midwest/Great Lakes Regional ACS Meeting in St. Louis.
Amanda attends and presents the group's research at the 2011 SciX Meeting (aka the conference formally known as FACSS) in Reno, Nevada.
September 2011
Amanda gives seminars on the group's research in Medicinal and Natural Products as well as in a Physical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Iowa.
Amanda and Marie travel to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota to meet with students and give a seminar on our research.
August 2011
Amanda, Anna, Binaya, and Marie attend and present presentations at the Fall 2011 ACS meeting in Denver.
Congrats to Marie, Scott, and Marie for publishing their research on how nanoparticle concentration and relative molecule concentration impacts the reproducibility of SERS measurements. Their paper will appear in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
July 2011
Brennan, Bridget, Dan, Felix, Jenny, and Muriel proudly share their summer research progress at the 2011 Summer Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa. Excellent work everyone!
We welcome Upward Bound high school student Eric Castro to the group for two weeks. Welcome!
Naftalia Flatte, a local high school student, joins us this summer to learn about nanoparticles. Welcome!
June 2011
Amanda Jones finishes up her research with the group. Amanda will be a graduate student in the Chemistry Department at Rice University in the Fall.
We welcome University of Iowa undergraduates Muriel Konne and Brennan Ayres to the group for the summer. Welcome!
Former post doc Varuni Subramaniam accepts a position as a Chemist at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Congrats Varuni!
Former graduate student Brandon Walker accepts a Research Instrument Position in the Natural Science Department at Albany State University. Congratulations Brandon!
May 2011
We welcome Felix Alfonso, an undergraduate student from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to the group for the summer. Felix joins us through NNI@UI's NSF funded REU Program.
We welcome Bridget McCaskill to the group for the summer. Bridget is an undergraduate student at North Carolina A & T State University and joins us through the SROP/McNair Program. Welcome Bridget!
Jon Humston joins us for the summer and will be working on a joint project between the Haes and Cheatum groups.
Former undergraduate Scott Mackie earns his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa.
Mike officially earns his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa! Mike will begin working at Loras College in the Fall. Congratulations Mike!
Amanda and Amanda attend and present at the 2011 Minnesota Chromatography Forum. Amanda Jones gave an excellent talk as last year's Undergraduate Award winner!
Many of the group members attend the department's appreciation reception. Daniel, Jenny, and Marie presented posters on their research.
Anna and Marie are awarded Summer Fellowships through the University of Iowa's Graduate College. Congratulations to them both!
Binaya successfully passes his comprehensive exam. Congratulations, Binaya!
Jenny receives a scholarship from AXE. Congrats, Jenny!
April 2011
Anna, Varuni, Mike, and Amanda's paper on how salt impact SAM formation on solution phase gold nanoparticles is accepted in ACS Nano - Congrats!
Amanda gives an invited talk at the University of Utah.
We are notified that our pilot grant to ICTS at the University of Iowa is funded! This support will fund Anna's project on developing novel ways to detect Vitamin D in simulant and real patient samples!
Jenny and Dan are awarded a Russell K. Simms Scholarship and CRC Freshman Award, respectively at our annual department undergraduate awards ceremony. Congratulations!
Jenny presents a poster on her research at the 2011 Department of Chemistry's Annual Undergraduate Award Ceremony at the University of Iowa.
Anna, Binaya, Jenny, and Marie present posters at this year's OSTC Symposium.
Amanda Jones gives an Analytical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Iowa.
March 2011
Amanda presents the group's work at a University of Iowa, Analytical Chemistry Seminar.
Anna, Binaya, Marie, and Jenny present their work at the 2011 Jakobsen Conference at the University of Iowa. Anna wins third place on her paper, and Jenny wins a poster award! Congratulations!
Mike Ivanov successfully defends his Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations Dr. Ivanov!
Varuni and Lindsay's paper on implications of nanoparticle pseudostationary phase plug length and capillary electrophoresis is accepted in The Analyst! Great work Varuni and Lindsay! This paper will be included in a themed issue on Emerging Investigators.
Amanda, Amanda, Anna, and Marie attend and/or present their research at the 2011 Pittcon Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
February 2011
Amanda travels to the University of Wyoming to give an invited seminar.
Amanda gives an invited seminar in Immunology at the University of Iowa.
Undergraduate Dan Grigsby joins the group working a joint project between the Haes and Cheatum groups.
January 2011
Bill Klaren, a biosciences student, joins us for a 10 week research rotation.
December 2010
Amanda Jones earns her B.S. degree with an honors thesis in chemistry. Congratulations Amanda! Amanda will continue with research in the group during the spring semester.
Amanda Jones and Jenny Hedlund present posters on their research at the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa.
Amanda Jones wins a distinguished poster award at the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa. Congratulations Amanda!
Mike presents his research during the Analytical Chemistry Seminar series at the University of Iowa.
November 2010
Varuni finishes up her post doc with the group. We wish her and her family well!
Amanda gives an invited seminar at the University of Arkansas.
October 2010
Anneli Hoggard, a summer REU student, presented a talk and poster at the Midwest Regional ACS Meeting in Wichita, KS.
Varuni presented her research during Analytical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Iowa.
Amanda and Amanda attended and presented at the 2010 FACSS Conference in Raleigh, NC.
Amanda attended the 25th anniversary Young Investigator Program celebration at the Office of Naval Research with past and present young investigators.
September 2010
Mike's review article on the importance of nanoparticle surface chemistry in capillary electrophoresis is accepted in The Analyst. Congratulations Mike!
Anna and Varuni's paper on influencing the seeded growth of gold nanoparticles in the presence of citrate is accepted in Chem Comm. Congratulations Anna and Varuni! This paper will be included in a themed issue on Emerging Investigators.
August 2010
Mike presents his 3 month seminar at the University of Iowa in preparation of his defense!
Amanda is featured in a Profile in Translation through the University of Iowa's Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
July 2010
Anneli, Amanda, and Jenny finish up the summer projects. We wish Anneli well as she finishes up her degree at Missouri State University!
Jenny, Anneli, and Amanda present their summer research projects at the 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Iowa.
June 2010
Amanda and Sudip attend and present at the 2010 Gordon Research Conference on Noble Metal Nanoparticles.
Anna is awarded a 2010 GAANN Research Fellowship for the summer term. Congratulations Anna!
May 2010
Jenny Hedlund, an undergraduate at the University joins the group for the summer via an Iowa Center Research Undergraduate (ICRU) Scholarship. Welcome and congratulations Jenny!
Anneli Hoggard, an undergraduate from Missouri State University, and Amanda Jones, a current undergraduate in the group, join the group for the summer through NNI@UI's NSF funded REU Program.
Congratulations to Marie and Anna for successfully passing their comprehensive exams!
Congratulations to Anna for winning a 2010 Department of Chemistry Outstanding Teaching Award!
Congratulations to Marie for winning a 2010 Department of Chemistry Service Award!
Amanda Jones is awarded the 2010 Research Award for Undergraduates from the Minnesota Chromatography Forum. Congratulations Amanda!
Amanda Jones and Anna attend the 2010 Minnesota Chromatography Forum Symposium in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Amanda Jones wins an Alpha Chi Sigma - Alpha Theta Scholarship.
April 2010
Amanda Jones wins the 2010 Analytical Chemistry Undergraduate Award through the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa.
The group attends and Mike and Anna present posters at the 2010 OSTC Symposium at the University of Iowa.
March 2010
Amanda Jones presents her work at 2010 Spring Iowa Research Experience for Undergraduates Poster Session.
Anna, Marie, Mike, and Niraj present their research at the 2010 Jakobsen Conference at the University of Iowa.
Amanda, Anna, Marie, Mike, and Niraj attend and present their research at the 2010 Pittcon Conference in Orlando.
January 2010
Marie is awarded a 2010 GAANN Research Fellowship for the spring and summer terms. Congratulations Marie!
December 2009
We welcome Binaya Shrestha and Priyanka Singh, first year graduate students in the chemistry department, to the group!
Our labs in IATL are balanced and approaching pre-flood condition!
November 2009
Mike visits his undergraduate institution, Loras College, and presents a seminar on his research.
Kyungtag's paper on using peptide modified gold nanoparticles for the SERS based detection of an anthrax biomarker is accepted in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy. This article is dedicated to Kyungtag who passed away unexpectedly in July - only a couple weeks after the manuscript was submitted.
October 2009
The group attends and gives seven presentations at the 2009 Midwest Regional ACS Meeting in Iowa City.
Amanda attends and gives three presentations on the group's work at the 2009 FACSS Conference in Louisville.
September 2009
Maryuri, Niraj, and Sudip's paper on centrifugation induced gold nanoparticle cluster formation is accepted in Langmuir!
August 2009
Scott finishes up his last day in the group and starts up his graduate career in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa.
Amanda presents at and attends the ACS Conference in DC.
July 2009
Lindsay finishes up her summer project with the group by presenting at the 2009 Summer Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa.
Maryuri finishes up her post doc group with the group. We wish her and Juan well in Wisconsin!
June 2009
Brandon successfully defends his master's thesis. Congratulations Brandon!
Catherine Morita, a local high school student, joins the group and will work with Mike this summer!
May 2009
Undergraduate Lindsay Griffith (John Brown University) joins the group for the summer. Lindsay joins us through NNI@UI's NSF funded REU Program.
Scott graduates from the University of Iowa with an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. Congratulations Scott!
April 2009
Scott presents a poster on his research at the 2009 Spring Undergraduate Research Festival at the University of Iowa.
Anna helps teach local Boy and Girl Scouts about nanoscience and nanotechnology through AXE.
The group welcomes Niraj Pandya into the group. Niraj is a first year graduate student in the chemistry department.
Amanda gives a talk and Anna, Brandon, Mike, and Varuni present posters on their research at the 2009 OSTC Symposium in Iowa City.
March 2009
Anna, Gayani, and Marie present posters on their research while Mike gave a talk on his research at the 2009 Jakobsen Conference in Iowa City.
Regan Keeney, a summer of 2008 REU student in the group, presents her research at the ACS Conference in Salt Lake City.
Amanda, Scott, Varuni, Mike, Maryuri, and Brandon attend and present their research at the 2009 Pittcon Conference in Chicago.
Dr. Sudip Nath joins the group as a post doctoral associate. Sudip received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology and recently finished up a post doc at the University of Central Florida. Welcome Sudip!
February 2009
The group attends and Maryuri, Mike, and Scott present posters on their work at the 2009 NNI@UI symposium.
January 2009
Anna is notified that she is a 2009 GAANN Research Fellow. Congratulations Anna!
Our first paper on understanding how surface chemistry and stability of gold nanoparticles impact capillary electrophoresis separations of neurotransmitters is accepted in ACS Nano. Excellent work, Mike and Heidi!
December 2008
We welcome Gayani Dedduwa Mudalige, Anna Volkert, and Marie Pierre, three first year graduate students from the chemistry department, to our group!
Amanda presents at the 2008 Extreme Biosensors Conference in Maui.
Amanda returns to Northwestern University to accept the 2004 Excellence in Graduate Research Award.
Maryuri, Mike, and Kyungtag present at the 2008 MRS Conference in Boston. Maryuri and Scott's Proceedings is accepted for publication.
We move back to IATL! Hopefully, the building will be back to normal soon...
November 2008
Amanda presents at the 2008 LEOS Conference in Newport Beach, California.
October 2008
Mike presents at the 2008 ACS Midwest Regional Meeting.
Amanda presents at the 2008 FACSS conference in Reno.
September 2008
Maryuri's paper on membrane encapsulated gold nanoparticles is accepted in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Excellent work, Maryuri!
Dr. Varuni Subramaniam joins the group as a post doctoral associate. Varuni received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Arizona.
August 2008
David and Regan finish up their summer research projects with us. We wish them luck as they finish up their degrees at Wartburg College and Loras College, respectively.
Amanda is quoted in an article regarding the flooding of IATL which was in the August 4, 2008 issue of C&E News.
Amanda serves as a U.S. delegate and presents the group's research at the 2008 Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium in Manchester, England.
July 2008
We are notified that the Haes Group will receive funding from the Carver Charitable Trust to pursue research to engineer nanostructures for cancer drug detection!
June 2008
Our first paper is accepted in Nanomedicine. Congratulations Maryuri!
IATL, our research building, floods/takes on ~2 feet of water. We temporarily move to the Chemistry Building.
May 2008
Undergraduates David Bolien (Wartburg College), Regan Keeney (Loras College), and Scott Mackie (University of Iowa) join the group for the summer. Welcome!
Mike is awarded a 2008 Summer Graduate Fellowship from the Graduate School at the University of Iowa.
Dan graduates from the University of Iowa. Congratulations Dan!
April 2008
Heidi successfully defends her master's thesis. Congratulations Heidi!
Maryuri, Tyson, and Heidi present their work at the ACS Conference.
March 2008
Amanda presents at the APS Conference.
Amanda and Mike present at and attend the Pittcon Conference, respectively.
February 2008
Michael Ivanov, a third year graduate student in the chemistry department joins the group. Welcome Mike!
We officially move into our space in IATL!
January 2008
Kyungtag Ryu, a graduate student from Hanyang University, and his advisor, Hoeil Chung join the group for a year. Welcome!
June 2007
Amanda accepts the 2007 Victor K. LaMer Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Science.
March 2007
Amanda is notified that she is a recipient of the 2007 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award.
Amanda accepts a publication award from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for work she published as a post doc.
Amanda writes a "perspectives article" on the academic job search and her experiences as a first year assistant professor for the ACS Graduate Education Newsletter.
February 2007
Dr. Maryuri Roca joins the group as a post doctoral associate. Maryuri received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Baylor University in 2006.
January 2007
Daniel Kraft and Sierra Boriskey, undergraduates at the University of Iowa join our research group.
November 2006
Heidi Bednar, Tyson Friday, and Brandon Walker, first year graduate students in the chemistry department join the group!
August 2006
Amanda arrives on campus at the University of Iowa and the lab is ready to be filled.
Amanda is notified that she is a recipient of the 2006 Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award.
June 2006
Amanda is notified that is awarded a 2006 SACP starter grant.
Haes Research Group Logo 
The Group, Spring 2013 
Binaya and Stevie setting up a SERS Experiment 
Brennan setting up a Capillary Electrophoresis Experiment 
Marie using the Raman Microscope 
Anna setting up a reaction in the hood 
Thomas & Grace working on data processing 
Michael & Anna at the 2013 OSTC Symposium 
Binaya, Lahiru, & Megan at the 2013 OSTC Symposium 
Michael making nanosensor materials 
Binaya evaluating a nanoparticle sample using the stereoscope The Haes Research Group synthesizes noble metal nanostructures and subsequently modifies their surfaces with perm-selective surface chemistries for the direct and quantitative detection of small molecules and metabolites. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is used to directly detect the small molecules while novel surface layers facilitate molecular transport and recognition specificity. These materials and detection tools are integrated with microscale platforms (capillary electrophoresis) for the ultimate analysis of small volumes of samples in complex matrices. Our research is multidisciplinary and emphasizes connections between the synthesis and physical properties of these nanomaterials to resulting technological advances in biology and environmental science.
We are affiliated with the Biosciences Program, the Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Institute (NNI@UI), and the Optical Science and Technology Center (OSTC). We reside in the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories (IATL) building.