Murphy Group News
Spring 2024
06.2024 - Huge Congratulations to Murphy Group Graduates Keavy Lynch, Marie Kerns, Morgan Stucky and Caleb Doherty!
05.2024 - Dr. Murphy received the 2024 Arlan Norman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Student Mentoring!
05.2024 - Caleb, Konneytha and Katherine presented posters at the Annual Scholar's Week Symposium. I also had THREE students complete an Honor's Thesis this year - great job Morgan, Marie and Keavy!
04.2024 - Congratulations to Marie Kerns who received a Poster Award at the ACS - Puget Sound Section Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Winter 2024
03.2024 - Morgan Stucky, Keavy Lynch, Caleb Doherty and Marie Kerns traveled to New Orleans to present posters on their research at the Spring ACS Meeting. Morgan also received an Undergraduate Travel Grant sponsored by the Graduate Student Symposium Planning Committee (GSSPC) to participate in the symposium on Nanoparticle Heterogeneity.
Fall 2023
11.2023 - Jem Talusig's MS thesis work was published in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics! Congratulations Jem!
"Synthesis and Characterization of Highly Thiolated Silk Fibroin"
10.2023 - Our latest manuscript was just published in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics! Congratulations to Racy Santen, Kayla Owens and Keith Echague!
"Chemical Modification of Silk Proteins via Palladium-Mediated Suzuki−Miyaura Reactions"
Summer 2023
8.2023 - Murphy group members presented their summer research at the annual NSF-REU Summer Symposium. Almost everyone was awarded summer fellowships this year: Caleb was an NSF-REU participant, Reagen is working on a seed grant funded by AMSEC, Keavy was awarded a SeaGen fellowship, Marie received a Jarvis Fellowship from CSE, and Morgan (not pictured) received a NASA fellowship from SMATE. Great group of students this year!
7.2023 - Current Murphy group members were treated to a tour of local company, Tidal Vision (also employer of former Murphy group member Jem Talusig). It was fun to see their scale up facility and analytical lab for isolating, purifying and characterizing chitosan.
7.2023 - Dr. Murphy traveled to attend a Gordon Research Conference all about Silk in Rhode Island. On the way, I got to catch up with former students - Sean Severt is currently working at Moderna in Cambridge, MA, and Nick Ostrovsky-Snider is finishing up his PhD at Tufts University.
Spring 2023
6.9.2023 - Congratulations to the one and only Murphy Group Graduate in 2023 - Monique Berg!
It was also great to get a visit on the same day by former group member Evan Patamia, who is currently a PhD student at UMass Amherst.
6.2023 - Celebrating the end of the 2022-23 academic year!
5.2023 - May has been a busy month! Congrats to Monique Berg who successfully defended her M.S. thesis, and to Caleb Doherty, Keavy Lynch, Morgan Stucky, Marie Kerns, and Konnethya Touch who co-presented posters at the annual WWU Scholar's Week Symposium.
4.2023 - Great to catch up with former students at a local benefit concert! Jem Talusig is working at a local company called Tidal Vision and Mikaela Sadri is working on her PhD at U Southern Mississippi.
3.2023 - Monique Berg presented her first poster at the ACS Spring Meeting in Indianapolis, IN.
Spring 2022
6.2022 - After many pandemic-related setbacks, we finally got a paper published that we have been working on for quite some time! Congrats to co-authors Kian Hausken, Romane Frevol, Kimberly Dowdle, Aleena Young, Jeremy Talusig, Carolynne Holbrook, and Ben Rubin!
6.2022 - First graduation ceremony in 2 years! Congratulations to the 2022 Murphy Group Graduates - Eli Walley-Ferate, Jem Talusig, Romane Frevol, Carolynne Holbrook and Keith Echague (not pictured).
6.2022 - End-of-year BBQ!
5.2022 - First in-person Scholar's Week in 2 years!
5.2022 - Jem Talusig successfully defended her thesis - congrats!
3.2022 - First post-pandemic conference! Keith Echague, Jem Talusig and Romane Frevol presented posters at the ACS Conference in San Diego, California.
Fall 2021
11.2021 - Dr. Murphy is named a 2021 Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar!
Article about the award in the Western Front
Summer 2021
8.2021 - Congratulations to Racine Santen for finishing her master's thesis!
Spring 2021
6.2021 - Congratulations to the 2021 graduates Kayla Owens and Aleena Young! You persevered through an incredibly difficult year - here's to seeing the light at the end of tunnel!
Spring 2020
6.2020 - Congratulations to the 2020 graduates Kimberly Dowdle, Kian Hausken, Jeremy Talusig and Mikaela Sadri!
I am sad we cannot celebrate together, but I wish you the best!
6.2020 - Kian Hausken is awarded the ACS Organic Division Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry by the faculty at WWU.
Fall 2019
11.2019 - The Murphy group got to show off our silk science to Rep. Rick Larsen!
11.2019 - Jeremy showing off her 'golden' research at the Murdock College Science Research Conference in Vancouver, WA.
10.2019 - Kian presented a poster at the Life Sciences Symposium on Oct 18th at WWU
10.2019 - Mikaela was awarded Western Plastics Pioneers Scholarship - congrats!
9.2019 - Check out our latest paper in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces! Great job Evan and Nick!
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.9b10226
Summer 2019
8.2019 - Fun to catch up with Tyler and Emily at the ACS Meeting in San Diego! Kian also did a great job presenting a poster.
7.2019 - Congratulations to Ellie and Lauren on their publication on self-assembling peptides!
Spring 2019
6.2019 - Congratulations to the 2019 graduates Racine Santen, Kelly Mossman and Evan Patamia!
6.2019 - End of year BBQ - can't believe another year is gone!
6.2019 - Finally convinced enough Murphy students to enter the Molympics... came in 2nd overall!
5.2019 - Another impressive showing at the Scholar's Week Symposium!
4.2019 - Jeremy Talusig rocked her first poster presentation at the Puget Sound ACS Undergraduate Research Symposium at University of Puget Sound!
Fall 2018
11.2018- Our article in collaboration with the Kim group at UW made the cover of J. Mater. Chem. B!
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/tb/c8tb01116h#!divAbstract
11.2018- The Murphy Group tries bowling... and decides to stick with Science! :)
Summer 2018
8.2018- Press about our new grant from the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation! This goal of this grant is to develop new bioconjugation strategies for silk, which will allow us to customize the interface between silk and biological systems. The resulting silk derivatives are anticipated to be useful for tissue engineering or drug delivery applications.
8.2018- Check out our latest paper in collaboration with the Leger group!
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/app.46922
Spring 2018
6.2018- Our latest work in collaboration with the Kim Group at the University of Washington is now online:
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/tb/c8tb01116h#!divAbstract
6.2018- Congratulations to the 2018 Murphy Group graduates: Ellie James (pictured), Stephanie Maxwell and Randy Grant. Best of luck to you all!
6.2018- Enjoying some sun, food and good company at our annual end-of-the-year BBQ!
6.2018- Evan Patamia was awarded the Denise Hougen Summer Research Fellowship, and Ellie James was named the Outstanding Graduate in Chemistry for AY 2017-2018. Congrats to you both!
5.2018- Celebrating the end of Scholar's Week and new grants at the Legendary Chucklenuts show at Boundary Bay!
Murphy Group
5.2018- Randy Grant, Racine Santen, Evan Patamia and Stephanie Maxwell (not pictured) presented posters at the annual Scholar's Week Symposium. Ellie James also gave an awesome presentation of her Honor's Thesis work to the department. Good job everyone!
Scholar's Week 2018
4.2018- Racine Santen and Evan Patamia presented posters at the ACS Undergraduate Research Symposium at Evergreen State College.
Racine Santen
Evan Patamia
3.2018- Ellie James and Lauren Jenkins gave awesome oral presentations at the New Orleans ACS Conference! Stephanie Maxwell also presented a poster and won a travel award from the ACS POLY Division! Great job ladies!
Ellie James at ACS
Lauren Jenkins at ACS
Stephanie Maxwell at ACS
3.2018- Ellie shows off our new JEOL FE-STEM:
https://vimeo.com/259917832/621b52ed07
Fall 2017
10.2017- Our latest publication, "Mimicking muscle fiber structure and function through electromechanical actuation of electrospun silk fiber bundles," is now online in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B! Congrats to Sean Severt for his 6th (!) publication with our group, and to Stephanie Maxwell and Jon Bontrager for their first publication.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/TB/C7TB01904A#!divAbstract
Summer 2017
08.2017- Lauren Jenkins (REU student from Eastern Kentucky University) and Ellie James presented posters at our end-of-summer REU symposium
Lauren Jenkins
Ellie James
Murphy group shenanigans!
Murphy Group
Spring 2017
06.2017- Congratulations to our 2017 graduates: Nick Ostrovsky-Snider, Jonathan Bontrager and Tatum Fuller!
Graduation 2017
06.2017- Stephanie Maxwell and Ellie James were awarded scholarships from the Chemistry department, and Nick Ostrovsky-Snider was nominated to be the Outstanding Chemistry Graduate Student for 2017! Congratulations!
Awards 2017
05.2017- Tatum Fuller was awarded one of the 'Best Poster Presentation' prizes at Scholar's Week (7th year in a row for a Murphy group win!), and Nick Ostrovsky-Snider also won an 'Outstanding Presentation' prize for the second year in a row for his poster at the WWU Graduate Student Conference .
05.2017- Our latest article in collaboration with the Kowalczyk Group is now online! Congrats to Tyler who first started this project, and Taylor, Melany, Ellie and Zoe who brought the work to fruition!
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/tb/c7tb00221a#!divAbstract
04.2017- Jonathan Bontrager and Randy Grant presented posters at the national American Chemical Society spring meeting in San Francisco, CA. I also got to catch up with former group members Tyler Albin and Emily Sanders at our WWU Chemistry alumni gathering in SF.
Jon Bontrager at ACS
Randy Grant at ACS
Emily Sanders and Tyler Albin at ACS
03.2017- Our paper with the Leger Group on trilayer actuators is now online. Congrats to Carly, Nathan and Sean!
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-665X/aa65c4
Fall 2016
11.2016- Ellie James presents a poster at the Pauling Symposium honoring Prof. Tim Swager at Pacific Lutheran University
Ellie James
10.2016- Long time coming, but finally published! Congrats to Jesse, Carly, Nathan and Isabella!
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254058416307775
Spring 2016
06.2016- Congratulations to the 2016 Graduates! Sean Severt earned his M.S. in Chemistry, Emily Sanders and Taylor Blatz earned a B.S. in Biochemistry, and Melany Fry earned a B.S. in Chemistry. Not pictured: Jordan Donohue earned a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Graduation 2016
Graduation 2016
05.2016- In keeping with the Murphy group tradition, Emily Sanders was awarded one of the 'Best Poster Presentation' prizes at Scholar's Week, and Nick Ostrovsky-Snider also won an 'Outstanding Presentation' prize for his poster at the WWU Graduate Student Conference. (not pictured: Rebecca Szabo and Taylor Blatz also presented)
Scholar's Week 2016
05.2016- Sean completed his M.S. thesis defense- time to celebrate!
Murphy Group
03.2016- Emily Sanders gave an oral presentation and Taylor Blatz presented a poster at the national ACS Meeting in San Diego, CA.
Taylor Blatz at ACS
Fall 2015
11.2015- Our latest publication "Versatile Method for Producing 2D and 3D Conductive Biomaterial Composites Using Sequential Chemical and Electrochemical Polymerization" is now posted on the ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces website. Congrats to Sean and Nick!
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.5b07332
11.2015- Emily Sanders presented a poster at the Murdock College Science Research Conference in Vancouver, WA.
Emily Sanders
Summer 2015
8.2015- Our latest publication in Synthetic Metals is now posted online: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379677915300746
7.2015- Dr. Murphy received a Jean Dreyfus Boissevain Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions award. This grant will allow us to bring a prominent scientist to campus to give a series of lectures, and will support summer research stipends for 2 undergraduate students.
Spring 2015
6.2015- Congrats to the Murphy group graduates of 2015: Nicholas Ostrovsky-Snider, Brad Farrell, Jesse Larson and Nathan Bradshaw (technically in Dr. Leger's group but spent enough time in our lab to be considered a member, and the only one to come to graduation!).
Nathan Bradshaw
4.2015- Our joint work with the Antos Group on "Sustained Delivery of Chemokine CXCL12 from Chemically Modified Silk Hydrogels" is published in Biomacromolecules!
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.biomac.5b00144
4.2015- Emily Sanders, Dylan Spence and Taylor Blatz present posters at the Puget Sound Section American Chemical Society Undergraduate Symposium held at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA.
Emily Sanders
Dylan Spence
3.2015- Brad Farrell and Jesse Larson presented posters, and Nick Ostrovsky-Snider gave an oral presentation at the American Chemical Society spring meeting in Denver, CO. Nick also received a Travel Award from the ACS POLY Division for his 'excellent oral presentation' - congrats!
Brad Farrell
Jesse Larson
Nick Ostrovsky-Snider
Fall 2014
12.2014- Paige Atterberry graduates! Good luck in your future endeavors!
11.2014- Paige Atterberry and Taylor Blatz present posters at the Annual Murdock College Science Research Conference in Vancouver, WA.
Paige Atterberry
Taylor Blatz
Summer 2014
8.2014- Our most recent publication in J. Chem. Ed. titled "Synthesis, Characterization, and Secondary Structure Determination of a Silk-Inspired, Self-Assembling Peptide: A Laboratory Exercise for Organic and Biochemistry Courses" is now available online: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed5001203
6.2014- Our group was awarded a large grant from Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation!! These funds will allow us to continue our collaborative project with Dr. Leger in Physics to develop biocompatible actuators based on silk-conducting polymer composites.
Spring 2014
6.2014- Sean Severt, Tyler Albin, Ben Rubin and Drew Goodman (skipped out on the photo!) graduate! Good luck to you all in your future careers in chemistry!
Graduation 2014
5.2014- Paige Atterberry, Nick Ostrovsky-Snider and Jesse Larson all receive Research & Creative Opportunities for Undergraduates awards from WWU's Research and Sponsored Programs.
5.2014- Paige Atterberry receives a poster award at WWU's annual Scholar's Week university-wide poster session.
Paige Atterberry
5.2014- Tyler Albin wins the 'Best Oral Presentation' award at the ACS Puget Sound Section Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Tyler Albin
4.2014- Dr. Murphy and Dr. Antos receive an AMSEC Seed Grant for summer 2014 for their collaborative project to develop multi-functional biomaterials aimed at enhancing nerve regeneration.
4.2014- Tyler Albin, Drew Goodman, Sean Severt and Nathan Bradshaw each present posters on their research projects at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Fransico, CA. Tyler was a poster award nominee (up against graduate students and postdocs)!
Tyler Albin at MRS
Nathan Bradshaw at MRS
Sean Severt at MRS
3.2014- Nathan Bradshaw and Sandra Roberts (summer REU student) present a poster at the national American Chemical Society spring meeting in Dallas, TX.
Nathan and Sandra at ACS
Winter 2014
3.2014- Our Advanced Functional Materials manuscript titled "Biocompatible Electromechanical Actuators Composed of Silk-Conducting Polymer Composites" is posted online: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201303292/abstract
2.2014- The Murphy Group receives a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement! This award will fund our work to develop silk-based biomaterials for neural stimulation and repair. (https://rescorp.org/news/2014/02/10-1)