Eriks Rozners, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair of Chemistry Department at Binghamton University

Speaker

Eriks Rozners received a degree in Chemical Engineering (equivalent to M.S.) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Riga Technical University in Latvia. After postdoctoral stays at Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and University of Wisconsin, Madison and University of Michigan (USA) he started his independent research career in 2001 as Assistant Professor at Northeastern University in Boston. Dr. Rozners moved to Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY), as Associate Professor of Chemistry in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2015. Dr. Rozners has served as a Chair of Chemistry Department at Binghamton University (2017-2023) and has served as Chair, Program Chair and Secretary of the Carbohydrate Division of American Chemical Society (ACS, 2012-2019). Dr. Rozners' research interests are in organic chemistry and biochemistry of nucleic acids with a focus on RNA structure and function elucidation. His research group uses organic chemistry as the enabling discipline to create unique model systems and tools for fundamental studies and practical applications in nucleic acid biochemistry, biophysics and biomedicine. The research projects are interdisciplinary in nature and involve design and synthesis of chemically modified RNA and peptide nucleic acids, and the study of structure, biophysical properties, and biological activity of the synthesized analogs. For this work, he received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2016 and the ACS Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry, Melville L. Wolfrom Award in 2021.