Please join us as we recognize and honor
our distinguished research professor of chemistry
at the inaugural
Phillip Crews Symposium:
Powered by Chemistry, Strengthened by Diversity
Chemists Daniel Romo, Laura Sanchez, Patrick Still, and Alegra Eroy‑Reveles
will relate their many challenges and successes in becoming the scientists they are today
Friday, October 8, 2021
5–7 p.m. symposium presentations
Jack Baskin Auditorium, UC Santa Cruz
7–8 p.m. outdoor dinner and poster session
Engineering Courtyard
COVID precautions: Please stay home if you have not been vaccinated or are not feeling well. To mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 and protect the well-being of fellow attendees, all attendees will be required to wear face coverings when indoors and maintain physical distance. Participants must fill out a UCSC symptom check before and be cleared for campus access.
Featured Presentations
A Hispanic Scientist’s Travels and Adventures at the Chemistry—Biology Interface
Daniel Romo, Schotts Professor of Chemistry, Baylor University; co-director, Baylor Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Laboratory
Romo studies the chemistry and biology of natural products to identify leads for basic cell biology studies and drug development. His lab develops novel strategies and methods to synthesize natural products and inquire into how they work at the molecular level, opening possibilities for drug development and understanding fundamental questions regarding these genetically encoded small molecules.
A Path Powered by Bioorganic Chemistry—From a UCSC Reu Participant to a UCSC Professor
Laura Sanchez, associate professor of chemistry & biochemistry, UC Santa Cruz
Sanchez uses and adapts imaging mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry to analyze small molecules in complex systems. She earned her Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz with Roger Linington and was a postdoctoral fellow at UC San Diego. After starting her lab at the University of Illinois Chicago, she relocated to UC Santa Cruz in 2021. She was the K12 BIRCWH (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health) Scholar in 2016–2017 and the Rising Star in the Life Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2019.
Pine Barrens to Professorship and Beyond: Natural Products Chemistry Inspired by Family in the 1800s
Patrick Still, scientific review officer, National Center for Complementary and Integrated Health/NIH
Still’s areas of expertise include natural products chemistry, phytochemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and biological testing of compounds from diverse organismal sources. He received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy from The Ohio State University—where he studied trisubstituted piperidines from tropical plants—and he completed his postdoc at UC Santa Cruz on nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometric methods in the structural elucidation of marine and bacterial compounds.
The Journey From a Pre-College UCSC PREP Student Back to UCSC to Diversify the STEM Classroom
Alegra Eroy‑Reveles, assistant teaching professor of chemistry & biochemistry, UC Santa Cruz
A chemistry educator, Eroy-Reveles creates engaging and supportive learning environments for large general chemistry courses and develops interventions that increase the performance and retention of historically underrepresented students in STEM courses and majors. She recently received the UC Santa Cruz 2020–2021 Excellence in Teaching Award