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FSU Chemistry Professor honored for cutting-edge research
BY SUSAN RAY
Rafael P. Bruschweiler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Florida State University and associate director for biophysics at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, has been awarded a share of the prestigious Laukien Prize in NMR Spectroscopy.
The award, presented by the executive committee of the Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference, recognizes cutting-edge nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) research that is expected to lead to new applications of NMR technology. Bruschweiler was honored for his development of Covariance NMR, which shortens the NMR measurement time for multidimensional spectra and facilitates their analysis and interpretation. The method can be applied to both solution and solid-state NMR.
Naresh Dalal, chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU, praised Bruschweiler as a pioneer in the field.
"Covariance NMR constitutes a powerful new NMR methodology for elucidating the chemical structure of biological compounds," Dalal said.
Gregory S. Boebinger, director of the magnet lab, also had praise for Bruschweiler.
"Rafael's award is another example of the growing visibility and prestige of the magnet lab's NMR program," Boebinger said. "His in-house expertise directly strengthens the lab's NMR user program."
Much of the applications for Covariance NMR were done in collaboration with Fengli Zhang, a scholar-scientist for liquid-state NRM at the magnet lab. The award is named for Günter Laukien, a co-founder of Bruker-BioSpin Corp., one of the world's leading producers of spectrometers. The award carries with it a $5,000 award funded by the company.
The Laukien Prize was presented this week at the 47th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference (ENC), which runs through April 28 in Pacific Grove, Calif. The ENC is the world's largest scientific conference on NMR, attracting more than 1,200 specialists from around the world. The conference's executive committee selects the prize recipient.
For more information about the magnet lab's NMR user program, please visit http://nmr.magnet.fsu.edu/. To learn more about FSU's chemistry and biochemistry program, see www.chem.fsu.edu/.
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (www.magnet.fsu.edu) develops and operates state-of-the-art high-magnetic-field facilities that faculty and visiting scientists and engineers use for research in physics, biology, bioengineering, chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry, and materials science. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida, the lab is operated by Florida State University, and its 330,000-square-foot main facility is located in Tallahassee's Innovation Park. The magnet lab also has facilities at the University of Florida and at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
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