Chemical Bond, September 2025

Vol. 76, No. 5, September, 2025

• Comes the Picnic! 24 July 2025

  The mumbleteenth annual St Louis ACS Section picnic is coming on Sunday, September 7th (the weekend after Labor Day). This is a little later in the season than usual, which is probably a good move toward slightly cooler temps. We think it’s the nineteenth picnic, but we kind of lost track during pandemic hiati (hiatuses?).

  The venue this year is the South Shelter in Shaw Park, Clayton, Missouri. It will start at 11 a.m. and continue as long as there is interest. Follow the fat red arrow in the map below to the “S. Shelter”. There is limited parking along Shaw Park Drive at the south edge of the park, and lots of parking in parking lots off Mark Twain Circle at the north edge of the park — just a short, shady stroll from the South Shelter.

  The Section will provide beef hot dogs and hamburgers, buns, condiments, drinks (beer, NA beer, and soft drinks), with brownies and cookies for dessert, and conversation throughout. If you would like to bring a salad of any sort (fruit, tossed, macaroni, slaw, whatever) to share, please feel free, but that’s completely optional. Lawn game equipment, too: if you got ’em, bring ’em.

  We hope to see everyone there. Spouses/SOs and kids are all welcome. Just please RSVP to Jim Bashkin with the total number attending (and how many of you are ACS members).

  

• Benjamin Garcia is the 2025 Saint Louis Section ACS Award Winner 26 August 2025
  

  Dr. Ben Garcia, 2025 St. Louis Award Winner

  Dr. Mikhail Berezin, Chair of this year’s award jury, announced Dr. Benjamin Garcia as the winner of the 2025 St. Louis Section ACS Award. Dr. Garcia is the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University Medical School. He earned his BS in Chemistry from UC Davis in 2000, working with Prof. Carlito Lebrilla, and obtained his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2005 under Prof. Donald Hunt. After an NIH postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Neil Kelleher at the University of Illinois, he joined the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University. He accepted an appointment at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2012, was promoted to full professor in 2016, and was named the John McCrea Dickson M.D. Presidential Professor in 2017. He moved to Washington University in 2021.

  The Garcia lab has been developing and applying state-of-the-art mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic approaches and computation for interrogating protein modifications, such as those in histones, involved in epigenetic mechanisms of human diseases. One of the Garcia lab’s most significant contributions has been the development of novel MS-based methods coupled with metabolomic labeling for meticulous high-throughput tracking of hundreds of combinatorial histone modifications in a single experiment, which has helped elucidate the mechanisms of various human diseases, cancer progression and developmental disorders. His research has also demonstrated links between the gut microbiome and histone acetylation, revealing how microbial metabolites influence epigenetic regulation through nutrient metabolism. He has over 450 publications, with 110 since 2021, cited over 59,000 times.

  He has received numerous awards, including the ASMS Research Award, NSF CAREER award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Pittcon Achievement Award, and the ASMS Biemann Medal and the Eastern Analytical Symposium Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS), and American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ben currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Proteome Research, the Molecular and Cellular Proteomics journal and Molecular Omics journal, and is an Associate Editor for both the Analytical Chemistry and the Mass Spectrometry Reviews journals. He is President-elect of U.S. Human Proteome Organization (US HUPO), and was elected Chair of the ACS Analytical Chemistry Division. He actively mentors underrepresented and historically marginalized scientists, receiving recognition with awards such as the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award and the ASMS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Mentorship Award. He is currently the Co-chair of the DEIR committee for the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry, and is a member of the ACS Committee on Minority Affairs. He serves as a mentor for the ACS Connects student program and for the ASBMB MOSAIC junior faculty program. He was named an Analytical Scientist Leader and Advocate, and was recently included in the Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists.

  St. Louis Award symposium and banquet details will be forthcoming in a later post.

• Michael Harmata is the 2025 ACS Midwest Award Winner 31 August 2025
  

  Michael Hermata, 2025 Midwest Award Winner

  Michael Harmata was born in 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, and spent his first 20 years in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. He graduated as valedictorian from St. Michael the Archangel elementary school in 1973 and from Thomas Kelly High School in 1977. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois–Chicago in 1980 without debt, aided by Campbell’s Soup and a research experience with Jacques Kagan. He completed his PhD under Scott Denmark at UIUC in 1985. Seeking a California experience, he pursued an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University with Paul Wender. In 1986, he began his career at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he is now the Norman Rabjohn Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.

  Professor Harmata’s research focuses on pericyclic reactions of reactive intermediates, with additional interests in molecular recognition and supramolecular chemistry, particularly involving Kagan’s ether and Tröger’s base. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles with more than 7,000 citations and has secured extensive funding from the NSF and other organizations. He has received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship, is a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and has delivered numerous invited lectures. He has also won several teaching awards at the University of Missouri–Columbia and is active in the American Chemical Society and Organic Chemistry Day.

  In his spare time, Professor Harmata, who has earned a black belt in Taekwondo, enjoys N scale model trains, building and flying model rockets, collecting stamps and coins, and keeping tropical fish. He has a growing stack of books to read, including Angela Merkel’s “Freedom.” While he embraces the philosophy of “Dare to be Dull,” he enjoys exploring its limits.

  The award will be presented at the 2025 Midwest Regional Meeting of the ACS, October on Monday, October 13th, held at the University of Missouri–Columbia.