Her full CV can be viewed by clicking here.
Business Address: Department of Chemistry and the Cell and Molecular Biology Program
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1872,(970) 491-7635
Born August 13, 1955
Professional Position: Professor Laureate College of Natural Sciences (2015-2017)
Professor of Chemistry and Cell and Molecular Biology, 1998-present.
Research areas involve: Biological, Bioinorganic and Bioorganic Chemistry.
Research: My interest in the fundamental chemistry and biochemistry of drugs with particular interest in vanadium and other transition metal ions as metals in medicine and their mechanisms of toxicity. My group and I have synthesized new compounds and characterized them and tested their biological properties. We have been studying the fundamental coordination chemistry of vanadium and other transition metal compounds in aqueous solution and model systems for what might occur in the varied environments of biological systems. Studies of lipid systems and micro-emulsion environments help us understand how drugs and metabolites interact and penetrate lipid interfaces. New projects involve menaquinone metabolism and inhibition of electron transport in tuberculosis bacteria and characterization of amyloid interactions with metal ions and their aggregation leading to a better understanding of new and existing drugs. Our solution studies are carried out using 1D and non-routine 2D NMR spectroscopies, EPR, UV-vis, and IR spectroscopy. Our biochemical studies with vanadium can be characterized as studies of trace metal metabolism in biological systems ranging from isolated proteins to cell culture to plants to animals and humans. Vanadium(V) can act as a metal ion or as a ground state and/or transition state phosphate analog and has served as an excellent model in many studies. Enzyme classes of particular interest include phosphatases, kinases and beta-polymerase. We also study the interactions of lipids with metal ions in confined spaces and recently have become interested in methods of drug formulation and delivery.
Education:
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, 1980-1985
Advisor: Dr. George M. Whitesides
Title of Thesis: Methodology in Enzyme-Catalyzed Organic Synthesis:
Glycerol Kinase Catalyzed Phosphorylations
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN
H. C. Orsted Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Cand. Scient. 1. part (BS) 1974-1978
Cand. Scient. 2. part (research) 1978-1980
Postdoctoral UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, 1985-1986
Education Joint project with Orville L. Chapman and Paul D. Boyer. Research:
Mechanistic Enzymology on F1-ATP Synthase from Chloroplasts and Beef Heart.
Professional Appointments:
2015-2017 Professor Laureate College of Natural Sciences, Colorado State University
1998-present Professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University
1991-1998 Associate Professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University
1987-1991 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University
1989-present Member of the Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Colorado State University
1986 Instructor (1 semester) University of California, Los Angeles
Awards:
2015 Arthur P. Cope Scholar award (Late Career) American Chemical Society
2014 AAAS Fellow
2012 Lectureship Award, Japanese Coordination Chemistry Society
2011 Best Teacher Award, Alumni Association, Colorado State University
2011 American Chemical Society Colorado Section Award
2009 American Chemical Society Fellow (Inaugural Awardee)
2005 CSU Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award
2004 Vanadis Award (first time this award was given)
2003 Margaret Hazaleus Award, Colorado State University
2001 Japan Society of Promotion of Science Fellowship
2000/2001 Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Awardee
1993-96 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow Award
1994 Alberta Heritage Foundation Award
1990-1992 Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award
1989-1994 NIH FIRST Award
1986-1987 American Heart Junior Fellowship
Spring, 1980 Fellowship awarded by the Egmond H. Petersens Fund
1979-1980 Scholarstipendium, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
1976-1977 Exchange Student Fellowship, Washington State University
Professional Service and Honors:
2022 Chair, ICCC (International Coordination Chemistry Conference), Colorado
2016 ICCC-42 International Advisory Board
2015-2016 ACS Presidential Task Force on U.S. Employment of Chemists
2015 Chair-Elect, Colorado Section, American Chemical Society (Chair 2016)
2015 Past Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2014 Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2014-2018 Chair, Vanadis Award Committee
2014-2028 Advisory Board of the International Coordination Chemistry Conference
2014-2017 Editorial Board, J. Inorganic Biochemistry
2013-present Assistant Editor, Presentation on Demand, American Chemical Society
2013 Chair Elect, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2013 Zing Coordination Chemistry Conference Chair
2012-2017 Committee of Science, American Chemical Society
2012-present Associate Editor, Presentation on Demand, American Chemical Society
2011 Zing Coordination Chemistry Conference Chair
2011-2012 Bioinorganic Chemistry Subcommittee Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, ACS
2011-2016 Editorial Board, New Journal of Chemistry
2010-present Assistant Program Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, ACS
2010 Chair, Metals in Medicine, Gordon Research Conference
2010-2013 Editorial Board, Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2010-2011 Bioinorganic Chemistry Chair-Elect, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, ACS
2010-2013 Member, Council of Society for Biological Inorganic Chemists
2008-2012 Editorial Board, Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry
2009 Zing Coordination Chemistry Conference Chair
2008 Zing Coordination Chemistry Conference Chair
2007-present Editorial Board, Chemija
1999-2009 Program Chair, Inorganic Division, American Chemical Society
1997-1999 Assistant Program Chair, Inorganic Division, American Chemical Society
1996-2000 Member, Biophysical Biochemistry Study Section, NIH
1996-1998 Advisory Board Member, Chemical and Engineering News
1993 Ad hoc Reviewer NIH “Biophysical Biochemistry” Study Section
1992-1993 Nomination Committee, Division of Biological Chemistry, ACS
1992-1993 Ad hoc Reviewer NIH “Biochemistry” Study Section
1991-1993 International Faculty, Danish Research Academy
1991 NSF Panel Member for review of Post-Doctoral Research Grants
1991 Tenth NSF Workshop on Reactive Intermediates (WORI)
1991-1994 BRSG Panel Member for review of Colorado State University Research Grants
1989 Twentieth Annual NSF Workshop on Organic Synthesis and Natural Products Chemistry (WOSNPC – XX)
Visiting Professorships:
University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada, the month of November 1994
University of Bielefelt, Bielefelt, Germany, Jan. through Sept. Humboldt Awardee, 2000
University of Toyama, Osaka and Hiroshima, Toyama, Osaka and Hiroshima, Japan, Japan Society of Promotion of Science Fellowship, the month of November 2000
New Mexico State University, NSF-Advance Visiting Professor, Dec. 3-7, 2002
Invited Fellow of the Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Conference 2008
University National Cheng-Kung University, Taipei; Academia Sinica, Taipei; National Tsing Hua U Taiwan, Sept. 2012
University of Wuhan, Wuhan, China, Sept. 2014
University of Vilnis, Lithuania, Nov. 1-7, 2014
University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France, June 7th-28th, 2015
International Research Collaboration Awardee, University of Sydney, Australia,Oct.18-Nov.8,2015
Plenary Lectures, Award Lectures and Named Lectureships:
Howard Hughes Lecturer, Dept. Chemistry, William & Mary University, Williamsburg, VA, Feb. 25, 1994
Plenary lecture, Annual Humboldt meeting, Bamberg, Germany March 29-31, 2001
NSF-Advance Lecturer, New Mexico State University, Dec. 5, 2002
Vanadis Award Lecture, The Fourth International Symposium on Chemistry and Biological Chemistry of Vanadium, Szeged Hungary 3-5 September 2004
Colorado Section Award Lecture, Colorado State University, March 7, 2011
Plenary presentation, International Vanadium Symposium, Crystal City, Virginia, August 2012
Lectureship Award at the Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry Conference (JSCC), Sept. 21-23, 2012
Plenary Presentation, Zing Bioinorganic Chemistry Conference, February 2013
XIX National Symposium on Organic Chemistry (XIX SINAQO), Nov. 16 to 19, 2013 in Mar del Plata, Argentina
Arthur P. Cope Scholar Award lecture in the Cope Scholar Symposium, 250th ACS meeting Aug. 19, 2015
International Research Collaboration Lecture, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, Oct.18-Nov. 8, 2015
Australian Chemical Society Lecturer, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Australia, Nov. 11,2015
Plenary Lecture, MTIC-XVI, Dept. Chemistry, Jadavpur University, India, Dec. 3-5, 2015
Idless Seminar, University of New Hampshire, April 4, 2016
Idless Seminar, University of New Hampshire, April 5, 2016
Undergraduate Teaching:
Organic Chemistry for majors and pre-professional students (semester long courses, CHEM341, CHEM343 or C345, C346)
Organic Chemistry for non-majors (one semester course, C245)
General Chemistry II (second course of two semester sequence, C113)
Basic Inorganic Chemistry (one semester course, C261)
Independent Study (CHEM495)
Undergraduate Research (CHEM498)
Introduction to Research (NS 295, NS296)
Senior Seminar and Capstone Class (CHEM493)
Graduate Teaching:
Physical Organic Chemistry (C543)
Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM547)
Spectroscopy for Organic Chemists (CHEM541)
Spectroscopy for Inorganic Chemists (CHEM563D, the spectroscopy portion)
Metabolism (participant in C510 Cell and Molecular Biology Program)
Seminar Series, Introduction to the Seminars (C792)
Biological Chemistry (CHEM651)
Bioinorganic Chemistry (CHEM651)
Bioinorganic and Medicinal Chemistry (CHEM566)
Teaching Innovation:
Dr. Crans’s teaching innovation is apparent both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. At the undergraduate level she has developed teaching materials using i-clickers in CHEM341 Modern Organic Chemistry, and is currently the only organic faculty member to use them. In addition, she had incorporated service-learning approaches into CHEM261 Basic Inorganic Chemistry and NS295 and NS296 Introduction to Research classes.
At the graduate level she has developed an Organic Spectroscopy class, which contains a combination of theory, workshops covering real spectroscopic problems in the department and a hands-on section, where the students determine components of an unknown sample using methods they learned in the course. This class has been taught for more than 20 years and has been become a critical stepping-stone for the incoming beginning organic graduate students. In addition, Dr. Crans has taught C543 Structure and Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry and CHEM547 Physical Organic Chemistry, as well as specialty classed, Bioorganic Chemistry, and Bioinorganic and Medicinal Chemistry.
Outreach and Service Learning:
Dr. Crans has been working to bring state-of-the-art science experiments and college student role models to elementary and middle schools in Colorado. The focus has been on activities in schools that are further away from Universities in Colorado, and has involved starting and running a schools Science Fair, special Science Events as well as assisting 2nd grade teachers in development of science experiments during curriculum changes. Some of these activities has been done as part of a NSF grant and others as part of teaching assignments at CSU. As a result service-learning components have been included in Inorganic Chemistry (C261) and in the Introduction to Research Class (NS295, NS296). Occasionally service-learning activities have been used as extra curricular activities in the Organic Chemistry classes.
Professional Societies:
American Chemical Society
American Association for Advancement of Science
Society for Bioinorganic Chemists
International EPR (ESR) Society
Society for Vanadium Chemists
Research Group (current):
In total Crans has mentored more than 200 students. A large number of these students have been undergraduates (144), and 60 students have been graduate or postgraduate students.
Graduate and Post-Graduate Students
Fabio Fontes (graduate student 2012 – )
Jim Carsella (graduate student 2012 -)
Mary Fisher (researcher and laboratory manager 2013 – )
Cheryle Beuning (graduate student 2013 – )
Estela Magallenes (graduate student 2013 – )
Jordan Koehn (graduate student 2013 – )
Zeyad Arhouma (graduate student 2014 – )
Nada Elhabush (graduate student 2014 – )
Kaitlin Douchette (graduate student 2015 – )
Prangthong Chaiyasit (graduate student/exchange student 2015 – )
Undergraduate Students
Susannah Miller (undergraduate student 2013 – graduating 2016)
Taylor Lucia (undergraduate student 2014 – graduating 2016)
Sara Dellinger (undergraduate student 2014 – graduating 2016)
Xiao (Sherry) Wu (undergraduate student 2014 – graduating 2016)
Olivia Kinney (undergraduate student 2014 – )
Allison Gronninger (undergraduate student 2014 – )
Caleb M. Glover (undergraduate student 2014 – )
Jackson McCue (undergraduate student 2014 – )
Eric Bleem (undergraduate student 2014 – )
Katarina Werst (undergraduate student 2015 – )
Nicole Segaline (undergraduate student 2015 – )
Morgan Salter (undergraduate student 2015 – )
David Dummer (undergraduate student 2015 – )
Thomas Olson (undergraduate student 2015 – )
John Peter Hough (undergraduate student 2015 – )