James S. Nowick

Distinguished Professor Department of Chemistry

Distinguished Professor Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Biography

James S. Nowick is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. He obtained his A.B. summa cum laude in Chemistry from Columbia University in 1985, where he conducted undergraduate research with Professors Jacqueline Barton, Thomas Katz, and David R. Tyler. Nowick earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990, with a thesis titled "I. The Synthesis and Chemistry of Functionalized Acylsilanes. II. An Efficient Synthesis of β-Lactones and Alkenes," under the guidance of Rick L. Danheiser. He furthered his studies as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT, focusing on molecular recognition under the mentorship of Julius Rebek, Jr.

Nowick's research interests encompass bioorganic chemistry, chemical biology, molecular recognition, supramolecular chemistry, and the structure of peptides and proteins. He has published extensively, contributing significantly to the understanding of β-sheet structures and their implications in amyloid diseases. His work includes the development of macrocyclic β-sheet peptides that have potential therapeutic applications in amyloid-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Among his many accolades, Nowick has been recognized as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow and an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow. His research has also led to several patents in antimicrobial compositions and synthetic peptides capable of forming stable antigenic oligomers.

In addition to his research, Nowick is actively involved in teaching and educational outreach. He is responsible for developing the UCI Chemistry Outreach Program and pioneering the UCI OpenChem initiative, which provides free access to full video lectures of chemistry courses on YouTube. Nowick has taught a variety of chemistry courses at UCI, mentoring numerous students, and contributing to the university's academic community. His professional service extends to participating in various advisory boards and conferences, as well as engaging in efforts to promote diversity and inclusion within the chemical sciences.

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Education

A.B. in Chemistry, Columbia University, 1985
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990

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Distinctions

Charles R. Bennett Service Through Chemistry Award from the ACS Orange County Section, 2017
American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow, 2016
Open Education Consortium Creative Innovation Award for Open Education Excellence, 2015
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, 2009
NOGLSTP Scientist of the Year Award, 2009
UCI School of Physical Sciences Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, 1999
American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar, 1998
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, 1997
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 1997
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 1996

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Areas of Expertise

Bioorganic Chemistry
Chemical Biology
Molecular Recognition
Supramolecular Chemistry
Peptide and Protein Structure
X-ray Crystallography
Chemical Model Systems
Protein-Protein Interactions
Alzheimer's Disease Research
Antibiotic Development

Recent Publications

Samdin T.D., Kreutzer A.G., Sahrai V., Wierzbicki M., Nowick J.S., “α-Methylation Enables the X-ray Crystallographic Observation of Oligomeric Assemblies Formed by a β-Hairpin Peptide Derived from Aβ” (opens in new tab), Journal of Organic Chemistry, vol. 90, pp. 394-400, 2025.
Brunicardi J.E.H., Small J.J., Padilla M.S.T.L., Carrera Plancarte J.I., Nowick J.S., “Potent Analogues of Clovibactin from Commercially Available Amino Acid Building Blocks” (opens in new tab), Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2025.
Kreutzer, A. G., Malonis, R. J., Parrocha, C. M. T., Tong, K., Guaglianone, G., Nguyen, J. T., Diab, M. N., Lai, J. R., Nowick, J. S., “Generation and Study of Antibodies against Two Triangular Trimers Derived from Aβ” (opens in new tab), Peptide Science, vol. 116, pp. e24333, 2024.
Kreutzer, A. G., Parrocha, C. M. T., Haerianardakani, S., Guaglianone, G., Nguyen, J. T., Diab, M. N., Yong, W., Perez-Rosendahl, M., Head, E., Nowick, J. S., “Antibodies Raised Against an Aβ Oligomer Mimic Recognize Pathological Features in Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Amyloid-Disease Brain Tissue” (opens in new tab), ACS Central Science, vol. 10, pp. 104–121, 2024.
Samdin, T. D., Jones, C. R., Guaglianone, G., Kreutzer, A. G., Freites, J. A., Wierzbicki, M., Nowick, J. S., “A β-Barrel-Like Tetramer Formed by a β-Hairpin Derived from Aβ” (opens in new tab), Chemical Science, vol. 15, pp. 285-297, 2024.
Ruttenberg, S. M, Kreutzer, A. G., Truex, N. L, Nowick, J. S., “β-Hairpin Alignment Alters Oligomer Formation in Aβ-Derived Peptides” (opens in new tab), Biochemistry, vol. 63, pp. 212–218, 2024.
Yang, H., Kreutzer, A. G., Nowick, J. S., “Supramolecular Interactions of Teixobactin Analogues in the Crystal State” (opens in new tab), J. Org. Chem., vol. 89, pp. 5104–5108, 2024.
Ruttenberg, S. M, Nowick, J. S., “A Turn for the Worse: Aβ β-Hairpins in Alzheimer’s Disease” (opens in new tab), Bioorg. Med. Chem., vol. 105, pp. 117715, 2024.
Jones, C. R., Lai, G. H., Padilla, M. S. T. L., Nowick, J. S., “Investigation of Isobactin Analogues of Teixobactin” (opens in new tab), ACS Med. Chem. Lett., vol. 15, pp. 1136–1142, 2024.
Brunicardi, J. E. H., Griffin, J. H., Ferracane, M. J., Kreutzer, A. G., Small, J., Mendoza, A.-T., Ziller, J. W., Nowick, J. S., “Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of the Peptide Antibiotic Clovibactin” (opens in new tab), J. Org. Chem., vol. 89, pp. 12479–12484, 2024.
Griffin, J. H., Mendoza, A.-T., Nowick, J. S., “Teixobactin “Swapmers” With L Tail Stereochemistry Retain Antibiotic Activity” (opens in new tab), J. Org. Chem., vol. 89, no. ASAP, 2024.
Marie T. Parrocha, C. M. T., Nowick, J. S., “Current Peptide Vaccine and Immunotherapy Approaches Against Alzheimer’s Disease” (opens in new tab), Peptide Science, vol. 115, pp. e24289, 2023.
Krumberger, M., Li, X., Kreutzer, A. G., Peoples, A. J., Nitti, A. G., Cunningham, A. M., Jones, C. R., Achorn, C., Ling, L. L., Hughes, D. E., Nowick, J. S., “Synthesis and Stereochemical Determination of the Peptide Antibiotic Novo29” (opens in new tab), J. Org. Chem., vol. 88, pp. 2214–2220, 2023.
Kreutzer, A. G., Guaglianone, G., Yoo, S., Parrocha, C. M. T., Ruttenberg, S. M., Malonis, R. J., Tong, K., Lin, Y.-F., Nguyen, J. T., Howitz, W. J., Diab, M. N., Hamza, I. L, Lai, J. R., Wysocki, V. H., Nowick, J. S., “Probing Differences Among Aβ Oligomers with Two Triangular Trimers Derived from Aβ” (opens in new tab), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol. 120, no. 22, pp. e2219216120, 2023.
Nowick, J. S., Lutterbach, G., “Lithium Chloride”, Encylcopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis, Wiley, vol. 5, pp. 3064-3064, 2023.
Nowick, J. S., Lutterbach, G., “Sodium Bromide”, Encylcopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis, Wiley, vol. 7, pp. 4529-4530, 2023.
Nowick, J. S., “2,7-Di-tert-butyl-9-fluorenylmethyl Chloroformate”, Electronic Encylcopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis (eEROS), Wiley, 2023.
Zhang, S., Yoo, S., Dalton T., Snyder, D. T., Katz, B. B., Henrickson, A., Demeler, B., Wysocki, V. H., Kreutzer, A. G., Nowick, J. S., “A Disulfide-Stabilized Aβ That Forms Dimers but Does Not Form Fibrils” (opens in new tab), Biochemistry, vol. 61, pp. 252-264, 2022.
Morris, M. A., Jones, C. R., Nowick, J. S., “Synthesis and Application of Fluorescent Teixobactin Analogs” (opens in new tab), Meth. Enzymol., vol. 665, pp. 233–258, 2022.
McKnelly, K. J., Kreutzer, A. G, Howitz, W. J., Haduong, K., Yoo, S., Hart, C., Nowick, J. S., “Effects of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease Mutations on the Assembly of a β-Hairpin Peptide Derived from Aβ16–36” (opens in new tab), Biochemistry, vol. 61, pp. 446–454, 2022.

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Most Cited Publications

Stigers, K. D., Soth, M. J., Nowick, J. S., “Designed Molecules that Fold to Mimic Protein Secondary Structures” (opens in new tab), Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol., vol. 3, pp. 714-723, 1999.
Cheng, P.-N., Liu, C., Zhao, M., Eisenberg, D., Nowick, J. S., “Amyloid β-Sheet Mimics that Antagonize Protein Aggregation and Reduce Amyloid Toxicity” (opens in new tab), Nature Chemistry, vol. 4, pp. 927-933, 2012.
Nowick, J. S., “Chemical Models of Protein β-Sheets” (opens in new tab), Acc. Chem. Res., vol. 32, pp. 287-296, 1999.
Nowick, J. S., “Exploring -Sheet Structure and Interactions with Chemical Model Systems” (opens in new tab), Acc. Chem. Res., vol. 41, pp. 1319-1330, 2008.
Nowick, J. S., Chen, J. S., Noronha, G., “Molecular Recognition in Micelles: The Roles of Hydrogen Bonding and Hydrophobicity in Adenine-Thymine Base-Pairing in SDS Micelles” (opens in new tab), J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 115, pp. 7636-7644, 1993.
Talbot, J. M., Yelle, D. J., Nowick, J. S., Treseder, K. K., “Litter Decay Rates are Determined by Lignin Chemistry” (opens in new tab), Biogeochemistry, vol. 108, pp. 279-295, 2012.
Cheng, P.-N., Pham, J. D., Nowick, J. S., “The Supramolecular Chemistry of β-Sheets” (opens in new tab), J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 135, pp. 5477–5492, 2013.
Nowick, J. S., Powell, N. A., Nguyen, T. M., Noronha, G., “An Improved Method for the Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Amino Acid Ester Isocyanates” (opens in new tab), J. Org. Chem., vol. 57, pp. 7364-7366, 1992.
Nowick, J. S., Feng, Q., Tjivikua, T., Ballester, P., J. Rebek, J., Jr., “Kinetic Studies and Modeling of a Self-Replicating System” (opens in new tab), J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 113, pp. 8831, 1991.
Nowick, J. S., Chung, D. M., Maitra, K., Maitra, S., Stigers, K. D., Sun, Y., “An Unnatural Amino Acid that Mimics a Tripeptide β-Strand and Forms β-Sheetlike Hydrogen-Bonded Dimers” (opens in new tab), J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 122, pp. 7654-7661, 2000.

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Contact Information

Website: http://tinyurl.com/jsnowick

Email: jsnowick@uci.edu

Phone: (949) 824-6091

Address: 4126 Natural Sciences 1 Department of Chemistry University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-2025

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 2/14/2025.