Molecular Bio-Sensors and the Role of Metal Ions

Thomas J. Meade completed his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University (1985), was a NIH Fellow in Harvard Medical School (1985-1987), was a Postdoctoral Fellow in CalTech (1988-1990). Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Eileen M. Foell Professor of Cancer Research, Director, Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging; Professor of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Radiology. Focus of work: The Meade Lab research focuses on inorganic coordination chemistry for the study of molecular imaging of in vivo gene expression and intracellular messengers, transition metal enzyme inhibitors, and electronic bio-sensors. The design, synthesis, and physical properties of transition metal and lanthanide coordination complexes are the foundation of our research. Academic Focus Program Area(s): Bioinorganic Chemistry; Nanochemistry; Organometallic & Coordination ComplexesInterest(s): Organic, Synthetic, Chemical Biology, Inorganic, Bioinorganic, Physical, Biophysical, Nanoscience. Astrid Sigel has studied languages; she was an Editor of the Metal Ions in Biological Systems (MIBS) series (until Volume 44) and also of the Handbook on Toxicity of Inorganic Compounds (1988), the Handbook on Metals in Clinical and Analytical Chemistry (1994; both with H.G. Seiler and H.S.), and Handbook on Metalloproteins (2001; with Ivano Bertini and H.S.). She is also an Editor of the MILS series from Volume 1 on, and she has co-authored more than 50 papers on topics in Bioinorganic Chemistry. Helmut Sigel is Emeritus Professor (2003) of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He is a Co-editor of the series Metal Ions in Biological Systems (1973-2005; 44 volumes) as well as of the Sigels' new series Metal Ions in Life Sciences (since 2006). He has also co-edited three handbooks and published over 350 articles on metal ion complexes of nucleotides, amino acids, coenzymes, and other bio-ligands. Together with Ivano Bertini, Harry B. Gray, and Bo G. Malmstrom, he founded (1983) the International Conferences on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBICs). He has lectured worldwide and was named Protagonist in Chemistry (2002) by Inorganica Chimica Acta (issue 339). Among Endowed Lectureships, appointments as Visiting Professor (e.g., Austria, China, Japan, Kuwait, UK), and further honors, he received the P. Ray Award (Indian Chemical Society, of which he is also a Honorary Fellow), the Alfred Werner Award (Swiss Chemical Society), and a Doctor of Science honoris causa degree (Kalyani University, India). He is also a Honorary Member of SBIC (Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry). Eva Freisinger is Associate Professor for Bioinorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology (2018) at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She obtained her doctoral degree (2000) from the University of Dortmund, Germany, working with Bernhard Lippert and spent 3 years as a postdoc at SUNY Stony Brook, New York, with Caroline Kisker. Since 2003, she performs independent research at the University of Zurich, where she held a Forderungsprofessur of the Swiss National Science Foundation from 2008 to 2014. In 2014, she received her Habilitation in Bioinorganic Chemistry. Her research is focused on the study of plant metallothioneins with an additional interest in the sequence-specific modification of nucleic acids. Together with Roland Sigel, she chaired the 12th European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference (2014 in Zurich, Switzerland) as well as the 19th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2019 in Interlaken, Switzerland). She also serves on a number of Advisory Boards for international conference series; since 2014, she is the Secretary of the European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conferences (EuroBICs), and is currently co-Director of the Department of Chemistry. She joined the group of Editors of the MILS series from Volume 18 on. Roland K. O. Sigel is Full Professor (2016) of Chemistry at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. In the same year, he became Vice Dean of Studies (B.Sc./M.Sc.), and in 2017, he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Science. From 2003 to 2008, he was endowed with a Forderungsprofessur of the Swiss National Science Foundation, and he is the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant 2010. He received his doctoral degree summa cum laude (1999) from the University of Dortmund, Germany, working with Bernhard Lippert. Thereafter, he spent nearly 3 years at Columbia University, New York, with Anna Marie Pyle (now Yale University). During the 6 years abroad, he received several prestigious fellowships from various sources, and he was awarded the EuroBIC Medal in 2008 and the Alfred Werner Prize (SCS) in 2009. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Secretary of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SBIC), and since 2018, he is the Secretary of the International Conferences on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBICs). His research focuses on the structural and functional role of metal ions in ribozymes, especially group II introns, regulatory RNAs, and on related topics. He is also an Editor of Volumes 43 and 44 of the MIBS series and of the MILS series from Volume 1 on.

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