May 23, 2023
Excellence in teaching and research earns chemistry professor Segebrecht Award
Ryan Rafferty, associate professor of chemistry, is this year's recipient of the Erin W. Segebrecht Honorarium Award. He will receive a $2,000 honorarium.
The Ervin W. Segebrecht Honorarium Award was established in honor of Ervin W. Segebrecht, a 1938 graduate of Kansas State University, to recognize professors who provide inspiration and excellence in teaching. Eligibility for the award is restricted to professors in the departments of chemistry and chemical engineering, and candidates are judged on the basis of excellence in classroom instruction and research and published manuscripts in technical publications.
"Dr. Rafferty has consistently demonstrated very high levels of productivity, scientific creativity and stellar teaching," said Christer Aakeroy, department head and university distinguished professor of chemistry.
Rafferty has made significant contributions to his field with his research on the synthesis of new bioactive small molecules and the development of new transport vehicles through the total synthesis of natural products. To date, Rafferty's lab has completed four total syntheses of natural products with five more in the final stages of completion. Unlike other total synthesis chemists, rather than just making a natural product for the sake of the product, Rafferty's research team utilizes complex intermediates for both the development of new targeted chemical screening libraries and as platforms for new drug delivery vehicles.
Developing targeted chemical screening libraries allows Rafferty's lab to study two of the most pressing issues in antibacterial development and diseases of the central nervous system: understanding how porin-mediated transport occurs in gram-negative bacteria, or GNbac, and the role of rigidity and hydrogen bond acceptors in transport across the blood-brain barrier. Rafferty's work on porin-mediated transport, via total synthesis routes, has shown that charge and spatial orientation are critical, a trend not explored or understood previously. Currently, Rafferty's team is constructing small molecules that possess enhanced porin-mediated transport properties and conjugate them upon the periphery of gram-positive antibiotics. The work has shown good accumulation within GNBac and most importantly retain their antibiotic properties, potentially opening gram-positive antibiotics to treat GNbac infections. The National Science Foundation awarded Rafferty's lab the CAREER award for their work on porin-mediated transport and their new drug delivery platforms.
Rafferty's strong research record is evidenced by his publications in high-quality journals, grant funding and awards. Rafferty has published 15 peer-reviewed papers and given 19 invited talks. In addition to receiving the NSF CAREER award to support his work, Rafferty has received several Innovative Research Awards and Equipment Awards from the Johnson Cancer Research Center.
Rafferty has also made important contributions to K-State's teaching and learning enterprise.
"Dr. Rafferty has been extremely successful in creating a very positive climate in the classes that he teaches, and he has also been able to stimulate and inspire his students and to make them appreciate the importance and relevance of organic chemistry to the outside world," Aakeroy said.
Rafferty has completely reorganized the organic chemistry courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he has modernized the department's undergraduate laboratories in terms of infrastructure and educational content. Rafferty is dedicated to supporting his students' learning. He uses a partial flipped classroom approach that involves the students watching a video prior to class sessions to help build their confidence during class. Additionally, he helps students understand complex content by relating it to real-world problems and non-chemistry examples. Rafferty also seeks feedback from students to facilitate continual improvement of his teaching.
Outside of the classroom, Rafferty is dedicated to supporting student research and career readiness. Students in his lab receive extensive synthesis training and learn how to perform biological assays. In addition, he meets with his students weekly to discuss their work and every member of the lab — undergraduate and graduate — presents full research presentations every semester to aid in their professional development.
"I would like to thank Professor Aakeroy for nominating me for this award and for his constant support," said Rafferty. "Also, thank you to the Graduate School for the award. I'm very honored being given the Segebrecht award. This award is due in great parts to the amazing undergraduate and graduate students we have here at K-State. They make teaching our lectures enjoyable and performing research with them a pleasure. Lastly and most importantly, I thank my colleagues and friends in the chemistry department for their never-ending support."