發信人: liuph (LiuPh in France)    看板: chemistry88
日期: Tue Jan 12 14:59:29 2021
標題: In Memoriam: Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung


https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/faculty/in-memoriam-frank-tsung.html#


In Memoriam: Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung
An associate professor of chemistry at Boston College, his nanotechnology 
research held potential pathways for energy, cancer solutions

Campus & Community / Faculty - Published on January 06, 2021
Associate Professor of Chemistry Chia-Kuang “Frank” Tsung, whose research 
in nanotechnology offered potential pathways for solving the world’s energy 
crisis and battling cancer, died on January 5 from complications due to 
COVID-19. He was 44.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung

Dr. Tsung, who joined the Boston College faculty in 2010, cultivated a 
research program that lay at the interface between chemistry, nanotechnology, 
and materials science. He focused on photocatalytic materials for energy 
conversion and heterogeneous catalysts for energy-synthesis reactions—
research that could lead to the development of high-performance 
nano-catalysts, a possible solution to the global energy shortage.

Lauding Dr. Tsung’s achievements in research, colleagues also cited his 
contributions as a teacher and mentor, and his collegiality within the 
department and the larger University.

“In addition to being an accomplished scientist, Frank was an excellent 
teacher, a compassionate adviser, and a kind and generous colleague,” said 
Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang, the department chair. “His 
passion for science and education has been and will remain an inspiration for 
us all. We'll forever miss him.”

“Frank was a gifted teacher, a creative scientist, a generous collaborator, 
and an integral contributor to our physical chemistry group,” said Morrissey 
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J. “He brought 
energy, enthusiasm, and a positive spirit to his service as the Chemistry 
Department's graduate program director, and that same energy and enthusiasm 
characterized all of my interactions with him. His presence in the life of 
the department and the University community will be deeply missed.”

Dr. Tsung was among a team of BC chemists that developed a tandem catalytic 
system to efficiently convert carbon dioxide to methanol. Describing their 
project in the journal Chem last summer, Dr. Tsung and colleagues said the 
method could be applied to other tandem catalytic processes, allowing more 
efficient access to alternative fuels, commodity chemicals, and valuable 
pharmaceutical products.

The team drew its inspiration from the biological machinery in cells, which 
use multicomponent chemical reactions with great efficiency, he noted.

Dr. Tsung also was involved in developing a nano-scale cage of chemical bonds 
that served as a “smart” drug delivery mechanism to fight cancer and other 
illnesses. Seeking to improve the work of drugs that fight cancer and other 
diseases, researchers had sought to exploit the advantages of nanotechnology, 
in this case a nano-scale metal organic framework, or MOF. These frameworks 
have proven useful in certain functions, but had demonstrated instability in 
the body’s watery physiology, Dr. Tsung said in a 2014 interview with Boston 
College Chronicle.

He and Associate Professor of Chemistry Eranthie Weerapana created a 
framework to effectively transport the drug through the body and deliver it 
to target cells. Their nanosphere was able to overcome significant challenges
—some drugs fail to fully penetrate cell membranes, and/or erode before they 
find their targets, requiring increased dosages, which are expensive and can 
produce unwanted side effects in patients.

“We were very excited to see the results,” said Dr. Tsung. “We always want 
our solutions to work, but to see our organic-based drug delivery system 
attack and kill cancer cells in our lab tests was extremely gratifying. We 
know there is much work to be done, but we’re excited about the potential in 
this advance.”
“In addition to being an accomplished scientist, Frank was an excellent 
teacher, a compassionate adviser, and a kind and generous colleague. His 
passion for science and education has been and will remain an inspiration for 
us all. We'll forever miss him.”
VANDERSLICE PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY DUNWEI WANG, DEPARTMENT CHAIR
In another project, Dr. Tsung and his lab achieved a breakthrough in 
controlling a typically stubborn method of catalysis. Scientists had been 
looking for ways to exert greater selectivity in heterogeneous catalysis in 
an effort to expand its application and extend “green chemistry” benefits 
of reduced byproducts and waste. The Tsung team developed a nanostructure 
capable of regulating chemical reactions thanks to a thin, porous skin 
capable of precisely filtering molecules based on their size or chemical 
make-up.

“The idea is to make a smarter catalyst,” said Dr. Tsung, in an interview 
with the BC Office of University Communications. He explained that by using 
the nanostructure, “we can make these pores very precisely, just like your 
skin or like the membrane surrounding a cell. We can change their composition 
and chemical properties in order to accept or reject certain types of 
reactions. That is a level of control chemists in a variety of fields are 
eager to see nurtured and refined.”

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Tsung traced the inspiration for his career path to a 
childhood achievement: earning a bronze medal in a national elementary school 
science fair.

“It was definitely one of the major events that led me to decide on science,
” he said in a 2016 Chronicle interview. “It’s pretty amazing that one 
experience can have such a significant impact on the course of your life.”

Dr. Tsung sought to instill a similar level of enthusiasm for science in 
young people, college-age and younger. In 2016, he was among the BC faculty 
members leading teams from the University at the country’s largest science 
showcase, the fourth biennial USA Science & Engineering Festival, Expo and 
Book Fair, held in Washington, DC. At the event, the delegation—the first 
from the University to participate in the fair—joined academic and 
private-sector researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates from across 
the United States in presenting hands-on exhibits of research, inventions, 
and other scientific highlights to showcase the world of science to hundreds 
of thousands of K-12 students.

“It’s very exciting,” Dr. Tsung told Chronicle. “I hope to help build 
momentum for these students to help them enjoy science more.”

Dr. Tsung earned a bachelor’s degree from National Sun Yat-sen University 
and a doctorate from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Prior to 
BC, he worked was a post-doctoral fellow and mentor of undergraduate research 
interns at the University of California-Berkeley.

He is survived by his sister, Frances Tsung.


University Communications | January 2021

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    愛 本就不是用 真實不真實 可以衡量的,因為在真與不真之間,似乎永遠找
不出一條明顯的界線 重要的是 你是否以一顆 �u�� 去對待 " 他 " (她 )
我們無法要求對方以100% 的真心相待,卻能以100%的真情,為我們所愛的人付出
                                                  ....㊣漢王§劉邦㊣

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* Origin: 中山大學 West BBS-西子灣站 
* From: ::ffff:140.96.1 [已通過認證]