Group Research Interest
Exquisitely controlled self-assembly in water is a key modality used by Nature to build highly functional biological systems. Research in the Jayawickramarajah group involves a highly interdisciplinary effort to develop bio-inspired functional molecules capable of undergoing specific molecular recognition events. A main thrust of our research is to study water compatible, self-assembling, synthetically functionalized oligomers that address contemporary problems. We are currently focused on the following two research areas.
- Development of Stimuli Responsive Protein-Binders Based on DNA-Small Molecule Chimeras. This project focuses on the development of DNA-small molecule chimeras that are programmed to bind and inhibit salient protein targets only upon non-covalent activation by specific endogenous or externally introduced trigger molecules. The development of general mechanisms for the non-covalent transformation of inactive protein inhibitors into activated compounds in the presence of specific endogenous (or externally added) stimuli is envisioned to contribute to prodrug development.
- Development of Well-Defined Porphyrin Arrays in Water: Towards Photonic Nanostructures. This project concerns the development of photonic nanowires composed of self-assembled multi-porphyrins in water. In these assemblies, the individual chromophores are non p-aggregated and are placed, via molecular recognition, at well-defined positions. The generation of self-assembled multi-porphyrin containing photonic nanostructures in water is envisioned to have potential applications as synthetic light harvesting antennae, catalyst arrays, and chemo-responsive sensing materials.
As a result of our prepare-and-analyze philosophy, students in the laboratory will be versed in synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology, as well as being proficient in a whole host of spectroscopic, microscopic, and analytical techniques.
Current News
May 2022
- JJ wins the Tulane School of Science and Engineering Award for Faculty Service. Congratulations!
- Undergraduate Emily Spitzberg begins a summer REU with the group, hailing from University of Florida.
April 2022
- Graduate students Dilanka Vidyani and Noah Beltrami win awards for 1st place in oral presentation and best poster presentation, respectively, at the Tulane Chemistry Department’s 1st Annual Young Investigator Symposium.
November 2021
- Pravin Pathak, Amin Zarandi, and Xiao Zhou publish a review article in Frontiers in Chemistry about porphyrin-biomacromolecule conjugates.
- Graduate students Noah Beltrami and Kun Meng win the Trebellas organic chemistry lab teaching awards. Congratulations!
September 2021
- Dilanka Vidyani publishes with the Mao and Leng groups in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B about single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements between DNA-cyclodextrin and DNA-cholesterol conjugates.
July 2021
- Emily Schmidt successfully defends her PhD dissertation. Congratulations Emily!
June 2021
- Xiao Zhou publishes an article with the Burin and Rubtsov groups in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B regarding competing ballistic energy transport mechanisms.
May 2021
- Kun Meng publishes an article with the Lu group in the journal Theranostics about p53 activation through a nanoparticle drug delivery system.
November 2020
- Graduate student Noah Beltrami wins the Trebellas organic chemistry lab teaching award. Congrats Noah!
October 2020
- Emily Schmidt, Ryan Vik, and Cooper Battle publish in the Journal of Chemical Education about designing and performing chemistry service-learning demonstrations throughout New Orleans and the impact on student interest.
September 2020
- JJ receives funding from the US National Science Foundation to Develop Supramolecular DNA Machines and Circuits!
- Undergraduate student Arjun Yusufi (Tulane Research and Innovation Award Fellow) joins the group.
July 2020
- Pravin Pathak successfully defends his PhD dissertation. Congratulations Pravin!
December 2019
- Xiao Zhou successfully defended his PhD dissertation. He is working as a Senior Chemist at Jordi Labs.
November 2019
- Dilanka Vidyani and Xiao Zhou publish with the Mao group in the Journal of American Chemical Society about single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements between DNA-cucurbit[7]uril and DNA-adamantane conjugates.
September 2019
- Graduate students Milon Mohanta and Kun Meng join the group.
July 2019
- Pravin Pathak and Ryan Vik publish an article in the Journal of American Chemical Society about bright G-quadruplexes functionalized with porphyrin-cyclodextrin conjugates.
January 2019
- Berk Atuk publishes with the Rubtsov group in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C on ballistic transport of vibrational energy along alkyl chains.
October 2018
- Graduate student Berk Atuk wins the Trebellas organic chemistry lab teaching award. Graduate student Noah Beltrami wins the Arlo Harris fellowship award for research. Congratulations!
September 2018
- Xiao Zhou and Pravin Pathak publish a review article in Chemical Communications about DNA-macrocyclic host conjugates.
- Graduate student Amin Zarandi joins the group.
May 2018
- Ryan Vik publishes with the Nau and Liming groups in Chemistry Select on cucurbitu[8]uril-perylene monoimide host-guest complexes.
- Xiao Zhou publishes with the Rubstov group in Chemical Physics on the use of azido alkanes as reporters within lipid membranes.
- Logan Fenimore from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology began his summer REU with the Janan group.
April 2018
- Hannah Case successfully defends her Honors Thesis and will be attending medical school in the fall.
October 2017
- Undergraduate Student Amanda Peterson joins the group.
September 2017
- Xiao Zhou, Pravin Pathak, and Ryan Vik publish an article in the Journal of American Chemical Society about host-guest tethered DNA
June 2017
- Janarthanan Jayawikcramarajah gets promoted to Full Professor. Congratulations Janan!
- Graduate Students Noah Beltrami and Moamen Ismail join the group
May 2017
- Undergraduate/Masters Student Harrison Rahn successfully defends his Thesis for his Masters Degree! Congrats Harry!
January 2017
- Hong Zhang successfuly defended her PhD dissertation. She is working at Brewer Science!
September 2016
- Graduate Students Marie McConville and Dilanka Vidyani join the group
May 2016
- Undergraduate Student Noah Beltrami joins the group for a summer REU from the University of the Incarnate Word.
April 2016
- Cooper Battle has successfully defended his Ph.D. Congrats Cooper! Cooper has also won the prestigious Tulane 34 Award.
March 2016
- JJ co-organizes symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego
- Congrats Cooper for winning a poster prize at the ACS meeting in San Diego!
January 2016
- JJ and group's work is featured in the National Institute of General Medicine Biomedical Beat Blog https://biobeat.nigms.nih.gov/2016/01/
General Updates:
Pravin Pathak (Senior Scientist at Silverback Therapeutics)
Xiao Zhou (Scientist at Biogen)
Hong Zhang (Data Scientist at The Climate Corporation)
Mengyuan Zhu (Field Scientist at Thermo Fisher)
Xiaozhu Chu (Dentist at Pearl Dentistry)
David Calvin Harris (Dentist at Pediatric Dental Care)
