Parth V. Joshi

Prof. Michael Grove

English 21003- Writing for the Sciences

Scientist Profile Outline

9/24/2018

 

Professor Mahesh Lakshman, professor of organic chemistry at the City College of New York, has done his research in organic chemical synthesis pertaining to questions of biological interest. Having studied the tremendous career he has behind him, one can easily see his soft spot for cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons, be it his research on purine derivatives in his latest published paper, or his work on peptide agents on benzotriazoles have a game-changing breakthrough in the field of biochemistry and clinical development. His new methods show an interesting perspective to the field of biotechnology and would help us speed up the process of identifying cancer cell-producing genes and isolate them from bacterial DNA and use for medication to counter cancer risk-free medicines.

Professor Lakshman has done his bachelor’s and master’s in science from the University of Bombay in Mumbai and then come to the United States to so his MS and Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma. After Prof. Lakshman obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma, he did postdoctoral work as a Fogarty Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK).  He then took up an industrial position as Senior Scientist before returning to academia 1998. Prof. Lakshman started his academic career at the University of North Dakota before joining CCNY. From 2008-2011, Prof. Lakshman was the Executive Officer for the CUNY Ph.D. program in Chemistry. Ever since he has been a part of the active teaching staff for the chemistry department.

His ongoing researched has Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as well as their aza- and sulfur- analogs are widely prevalent in the environment and many members of this family are metabolized to ultimate carcinogens.  These compounds, therefore, represent a health risk to humans with direct and indirect contact with the substances.

To understand better the biochemical processes involved in mutagenesis by diol epoxide-DNA adducts, research in his group is directed towards the stereoselective synthesis of individual diol epoxide-nucleoside adducts and incorporation of these into specific sites in DNA.  This entails in most cases development of new synthesis methodology. Once the site-specifically modified DNA are available, then a variety of physical measurements can be undertaken, as well as the determination of their solution structures by NMR. Experimentation in collaboration with biochemists is aimed at understanding the cellular process that can then be related to the structures of the specific diol epoxide-DNA lesion.

Trying to understand more about his current project, the interviewer asked him about the preliminary procedure he goes with his research, to which he confirmed that almost all his researches have had something that would overlap and wouldn’t feel like doing something that he does not want to do. His research is conducted with the idea that Fundamental Understanding drives New Chemistry (FUNCy).  Thus, the development of chemical methodology and synthesis of novel molecules require a sound understanding of mechanistic organic chemistry, as being integral to the research.

Considering why this concept is clearly important to single out the carcinogenic complexes, it also raises questions about more compounds that are optical and stereoisomers. Of such PAH molecules, a lot of them are still ingredients in industrial solutions for a variety of purposes. This research has a high possibility of affecting economically the mass production of multiple product lines that use PAH and compounds.

Prof. Lakshman has been an integral part of many research programs throughout his career, one of his most recent being the paper he had published in 2016 with a few graduate students in CCNY (Basava, V.; Yang, L.; Pradan, P.; Lakshman, M. K.: A novel bis(pinacolato)diboron-mediated N–O bond deoxygenative route to C6 benzotriazolyl purine nucleoside derivatives, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 2016, 14, 7069–7083.)  Soon after this paper was published, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry at the Washington, D.C. charter.

He had worked with some students and researchers to publish papers that in turn roused a lot of discussion in the field of organic chemistry. One such paper of his was his work on ruthenium-catalyzed C–H bond activation approach to azolyl amines and hemiaminal ethers, mechanistic evaluations, and isomer interconversion, which was featured on the front cover of the issue of ACS Catalysis in the year 2006.

His constant push to understand the concepts of organic chemistry has been an inspiring one. As the interviewer asked him of his motivations to unravel the secrets of organic chemistry, he instantly replied that “understanding the unseen side of one the most important aspect of modern science is the key to a sustainable present for all of the civilization and that without it, there is no agenda to preserve for the future generations.” Such an innovative thinking can be clearly seen in the work of Prof. Lakshman.  

His other papers include the his work on many important topics of organic chemistry which further the process of scientific understanding that include Diarylmethanes via an unprecedented Pd-catalyzed C–C cross-coupling of 1-(aryl)methoxy-1H-benzotriazoles with aryl boronic acids (ChemCatChem 2015, 7, 4156–4162), Modular, metal-catalyzed cycloisomerization approach to angularly fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their oxidized derivatives (The Journal of Organic Chemistry 2015, 80, 7435–7446.), Mild and general access to diverse 1H-benzotriazoles via diboron mediated N–OH deoxygenation and Pd-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation (Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis 2015, 357, 451–462.) and Purinyl N1-directed C-H oxidation in 6-arylpurines and 6-arylpurine nucleosides (The Journal of Organic Chemistry 2013, 78, 7423-7435.)

Not only has the merits of his papers have reached international eyes and ears but has led the CCNY to benefit from his administration expertise. He has been awarded the “In Honor of Outstanding Scholarly Achievements and Contributions to the Creation and Transmittal of Knowledge” Certificate of Recognition from The City University of New York in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014. These accolades have not been a surprise to anyone as he has always had good feedback from all his students and co-workers in terms of his teaching and problem-solving skills.

He has always worked well with minority students as he once was an international student once and has since then extremely devoted his attention to the helping of the minority students. For his pedagogical upbringing of students to further the cause of science, he has been awarded ‘Certificate of Appreciation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for “Commitment to Advancing Underrepresented Minority Students in Mathematics, Science and Engineering and for Partnering with the Foundation’s Minority Program’ in the year of 2007

Excelling as one of the top researchers of the chemistry department he has also been actively seeking funds to help with his experiments and in turn help the department, the City College of New York has also been awarded the “For Securing Major Institutional Grant Funds in 2005” Certificate of Recognition in the year of 2006.

His work has made a deep impact on a lot of other countries. For example, he has been a recipient of a 2014 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship. He has also been a model researcher in India where was a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which is the most prestigious engineering university in India from a span of September-November 2013. He has also been honored by being profiled in the June 1st, 2007 issue of India Abroad which highlighted his work and career growth along with his research.

In Europe, he was awarded the ‘Excellent Service to the Editors and Authors of EurJOC European Journal of Organic Chemistry’ Certificate of Recognition from Wiley-VCH and ChemPubSoc Europe that boosted his popularity and weight of his research ever since.

He has also been an integral part of administrative reforms and executive positions put by the CCNY and the institutions he used to work before. He is now looking up to his future research for the applications of his current research material to good use.

 

Works Cited

1. Lakshman, M. P.hD.; Science Division Forum, Department of Chemistry and Biology, http://forum.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/people/science-division-directory/b013
2. City College of New York Directory; https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/profiles/mahesh-lakshman
3. Lakshman, Mahesh K., and Prasanna K. Vuram. “Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling and Oxidative-Amination Reactions of Ethers and Alcohols with Aromatics and Heteroaromatics.” Chemical Science, vol. 8, no. 9, 2017, pp. 5845–5888.
4. Thomson, Paul F, et al. “Modular, Metal-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization Approach to Angularly Fused Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Oxidized Derivatives.” The Journal of Organic Chemistry, vol. 80, no. 15, 2015, pp. 7435–46.

 

 

This is Professor Grove’s response:

Parth-

While there are still some issues here, it’s dramatically improved from your previous draft.  Moving forward, just keep paragraph level organizational issues in mind, citing inside your text consistently, and don’t be afraid to say “I” when it’s appropriate to do so.  You get your central idea out here quite well – it’s just that, at times, the surrounding structure feels a bit strange. Ironing out those paragraph level issues could help to address that.

8/10 – B

– Professor Grove