If you are a visitor to this site, and you work in industry, please consider sponsoring a student.  It is a great learning experience for undergraduates. Or consider hiring them in your company!

If you are an undergraduate student interested in doing research, please contact Prof. Silverberg.  

If you are former researcher in our group, please send me an email or otherwise keep in touch!

Connect with me on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lee_Silverberg

*****

(not a brand endorsement, it’s just what we do…}

The research we are primarily engaged in now is investigating the synthesis, chemistry, structure, and bioactivity of novel 1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones, 1,3-thiazin-4-ones, and 1,3-thiazepan-4-ones.  These rings are known to show a wide range of bioactivities.  We have found a method for synthesizing the N-aryl six- and seven-membered rings that is allowing us ready access to a variety of these molecules.  We have also been successful in obtaining X-Ray Crystal structures of a number of them.  Many aspects of the work are ongoing, including

• synthesis of a variety of 2,3-diaryl-1,3-thiaza-4-ones,
• gathering and analysis of their spectroscopic data,
• studying their structures,
• investigation of reactions of the compounds prepared (e.g. oxidation, reduction, tin complexes, ring-opening, C-5 functionalization)
• and screening for biological activity of the the compounds.  We are excited that initial tests have shown some of the compounds have shown activity against human pathogenic fungi and human disease causing parasites.

We collaborate with many other researchers, including Dr. John Tierney (Penn State Brandywine), Dr. Kevin Cannon (Penn State Abington), Dr. Hemant Yennawar (Penn State University Park), Dr. Megan Povelones (Villanova), and Dr. Hany Sobhi (Coppin State University).

Many undergraduate students have been involved in the research and a lot of them have already been published.  Doing research is a great learning experience for students, and one I try to give to as many students as possible.  One of the ways I do this is by including research in our Organic Lab class, CHEM 213.  Many of the undergraduates who have done research in the lab are pictured below. (Some pictures are thumbnails and if you click on them you’ll see a larger and better image.) A complete list of students is after that.

Emily Bear, who did research in Spring 2010, returned to campus to speak after being awarded a Penn State Alumni Achievement Award for her work as a nurse.

Spring 2011. l-r: Kal Ali, Dana Valinsky, Gabe Yeasted, Kyle Brobst, Shalay Foster, Javon Rabb, Nicole Celani, Lee Silverberg.

Shay Foster now has a doctorate in physical therapy. Here she is in a service trip to the Dominican Republic during graduate school (far right).

CHEM 213, Spring 2012. l-r: Rebekah Youse, Mishel Jerjos, Dennis Grossman, Patrick Hullihen, Stefan Hegel, Roman Diebert. 

Summer 2013. l-r: Aaron Cali, Ryan Bendinsky, David Coyle, Michael Minehan.

Fall 2014. l-r: Joshua Bachert, Ben Blake, Caitlyn Mroz, J. Austin Bayliff, Jonathon Dahl.

Fall 2014. Yiwen Xie.
Summer 2015. l-r: Aggie Gradkowski, Duncan Noble, Ryan Fox.

Summer 2016: Duncan Noble and Quentin Moyer.

Fall 2016. l-r: Maddy Lawler, Haley Reppert, Kristen Perhonitch, Heather Bradley, Connor  Verhagen, Baylee Colburn, Jasra Islam, Emily Kimmel, Omar Cardenas.

CHEM 2013, Spring 2018. l-r: Julia Hahn, Nicole Sacco,, Tianna Klinger, Jordyn Reilly, Melissa Ramirez,  Alexandra Sheidy, Casey Gregory, Soroush Yazdani, Eric Thompson, Marla Stoner, Alyssa Hatter, Michael Fleming, Craig Eroh.

Lab selfie with Grace Muench, Fall 2019.

Mike Russell, Fall 2019.

Spring 2021: (l-r) Mike Russell, Kayla Baney, Lexi Johns, Grace Muench, Andrew Menig (missing: Joe Medica).

Elyssa Yeagley, Spring 2022, at the Penn State Eastern Regional Undergraduate Research Symposium. Elyssa’s poster won an University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award at our campus poster session.

CHEM 213, Spring 2022; (l-r) Ari Cespedes, Logan Maurer, Bethany Hollenbush, Samantha Palacz, Dominic Agnello, Dylan Reber, Jeremy Morales.

Fall 2022: (l-r) Kaely Walshaw, Isabela Caruso, Elyssa Yeagley, Kaitlyn Cheng.

Fall 2022: Kaely presents her poster to Penn State Board of Trustees Vice Chair David Kleppinger.

Fall 2024: (l-r): Wesley Kwenin, Ivan Magny-Garcia, Brandon Long, Aramis Rosario-Gonzalez, JiaYi Gong, , Izzy Frederick.

All researchers, 2010-present: 

Emily Bear, Kristin Foose, Kory Kirkland, Rachel McElvaney, Khalid Ali, Kyle Brobst, Nicole Celani, Javon Rabb, Dana Valinsky, J. Gabe Yeasted, Shalay Foster, Ashbyilyin Blatt, Michael Minehan, Kassandra Pelton, Dennis Grossman, Joe Reno, Becky Youse, Roman Deibert, Stefan Hegel, Patrick Hulihen, Mishel Jerjos, KwangZheng Zhu, Lucas Baker, Aaron Cali, Ryan Bendinsky, David Coyle, Harnoor Singh, Avril Cooper, Liuxi Chen, Yiwen Xie, J. Austin Bayliff, Benjamin Blake, Caitlin Mroz, Jonathon Dahl, Joshua  Bachert, Stacy Koperna, Duncan Noble, Alex Weisbeck, Kaitlyn Bandholz, Ryan Fox, Megan Felty, Agatha Gradkowski, Ziwei Yang, Heather Bradley, Ryan Vidal, Quentin Moyer, Kaitlin Alemany, Michaela Buchwalter, Maddie Lawler, Emily Kimmel, Haley Reppert, Connor Verhagen, Kristen Perhonitch, Baylee Colburn, Omar Cardenas, Jasra Islam, Kyanna Gonzalez, Jen Pothering, Joshua Leitgeb, Matt Mammen, Michael Potts, Winnie Li, Melissa Ramirez, Casey Gregory, Eric Thompsen, Eddie Li, Samuel Petersen, Jennie Li, Jacklyn Avery-Trokon, Michael Fleming, Shaheem Mack, Kelsey Shaffer, Tracy Garcia, Laine Hackenberg, Dominique Varra. Julia Hahn, Nicole Sacco, Tianna Klinger, Jordyn Reilly, Alexandra Sheidy, Soroush Yazdani, Marla Stoner, Alyssa Hatter, Craig Eroh, Jessica Mattera, Robin Bozeman, Saige Lowe, Michael Russell, Grace Muench, Vraj Patel, Madison Throne, Alma Cardona, Emily Alarcon, Maddie Meyer, Joe Medica, Kayla Baney, Lexi Johns, Michael Johnson-Ponce, Elyssa Yeagley, Jeremy Morales, Samantha Palacz, Bethany Hollenbush, Logan Maurer, Ari Cespedes, Dylan Reber, Dominic Agnello. Kaely Walshaw, Isabela Caruso, Kaitlyn Cheng, Stephan Spolski, Aloura Gavalis, Evelyn Louca, Sarah Tran, Cierrah Ford, Valerie Sleva, Jordan Zelinsky, Carter Thompson, Evan Vidal, Zoe Tidmore, Mahea Kelley, Arabi Chavira, Aimen Mir, Jared Sterner, Sydney Morton, Saidah Burke, Izzy Frederick, Brandon Long, Wesley Kwenin, Ivan Magny-Garcia, JiaYi Gong, Aramis Rosario-Gonzalez