Highlights from ACS Fall 2026

The Department was proud to have a strong presence at ACS Fall 2026 in Chicago. Many members of our department attended the meeting in a variety of capacities, and their impact was noteworthy.

Professors Gunda Georg, Daniel Harki, Carrie Haskell-Luevano, and Mike Walters all attended the Division of Medicinal Chemistry’s Executive Committee meetings and planning sessions. They each hold a role in ACS-MEDI in 2026:

• Prof. Georg is the Chair of the Division
• Prof. Harki is the Chair for Membership and International Relations
• Prof. Haskell-Luevano is the Alternate Academic Councilor 
• Prof. Walters is the Treasurer

Prof. Georg was also heavily involved in award ceremonies, most notably she awarded the two Philip S. Portoghese Early Career Awards and welcomed new members to the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. We are grateful for her continued service and leadership!

Two members of the Tretyakova Lab also did well for themselves representing us within the ACS Division of Toxicology. Prof. Natalia Tretyakova is a Past Chair of the TOXI Division, and she is heavily involved with it to this day. She is currently the Chair of the Nominations Committee for the Division.

Postdoctoral Scholar Abdur Rahim attended the conference via a travel award through the TOXI Division, and he used the opportunity to make a huge impact. In addition to having his poster presentation selected as the best in TOXI, he also organized and chaired the Rising Star Symposium Series. Abdur is currently also a member of the Program Committee for TOXI. We’re proud of his contributions, and he shared his gratitude for the chance to present, network, reconnect, and learn from his peers. 

Tretyakova Lab graduate student Allysha O’Donnell also made a splash with an excellent talk at the Young Investigator’s Session for ACS Division of Toxicology!

We’re grateful to those explicitly mentioned above, and to all the other members and friends of our department who also attended the meeting. Cheers!