Michael Bertucci

The courses I teach most often are Organic Chemistry I and II. I have had the opportunity to also teach General Chemistry I, Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, and the course-based undergraduate research experience known as Superlab. I strive to create an academically rigorous but supportive classroom environment that challenges students to actively engage in the scientific content, while more broadly fostering their abilities in problem-solving and communication. Despite the daunting reputation of organic chemistry, I want my students to feel that if they are willing to work hard and think critically about the course material, they have the same opportunity to succeed as they do in any other course. I believe that chemistry—even organic chemistry—when presented in the right way can be accessible, broadly relevant, and fun!

I have always been interested in working on chemical problems that are relevant to biological systems. My research program focuses on the study of molecules, particularly short proteins (peptides) that are involved in a cell density-dependent communication phenomenon in bacteria known as quorum sensing. Designing chemicals that modulate bacterial quorum sensing has been shown to have downstream impacts on human health. Consequently, my work spans the fields of organic chemistry, microbiology, and everything in between. My laboratory currently has several ongoing projects within this area, including characterizing and modulating quorum sensing in the probiotic bacterial species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and the opportunistic pathogen Streptococcus gordonii. My students and I have also previously published on novel molecules capable of interrupting quorum sensing in two other infection-causing bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Bacillus cereus. These projects were completed in collaboration with other laboratories at University of Nevada, Reno, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. We have also just begun work on some new non-quorum sensing projects, so stay tuned!

As I am the product of both a primarily undergraduate institute of technology and a state university grounded in the liberal arts, Lafayette College is truly aligned with my core values as an educator. Our students have talents and interests that extend beyond the sciences. Lafayette fosters this holistic intellectual growth while encouraging opportunities for students and faculty to have substantive, individualized interactions within their majors, like through faculty-mentored research. There is such a positive energy around undergraduate research in the Chemistry Department. That strong departmental culture is one of the biggest supports to my scholarship. The students and faculty within our department also spend a lot of time doing fun things outside the classroom (i.e., trivia, scavenger hunts, Wednesday cookies, etc.), which helps the relationships fostered last for years after graduation.

• Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation (2023)
• NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2021)
• Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, Omicron Delta Kappa (2017)

Outside of the laboratory, I am the founder and director of the Institute for Future PUI Faculty (IFPF), a new program supported by my NSF CAREER award since 2021. Each year, four to five chemistry graduate and/or postdoctoral students who are interested in a career at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) like Lafayette are selected to visit Lafayette for two weeks. During that time, they participate in class observations as well as workshops on teaching and professional development, and even teach two classes! The program is made possible in partnership with chemistry faculty, faculty outside of the Chemistry Department, CITLS, the Hanson Center, the Provost’s Office, and other Lafayette faculty and staff. This is all with the hope of addressing the lack of exposure graduate and postdoctoral students often have to contemporary science pedagogy and life at a PUI prior to applying for these positions. In addition, it provides undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about a variety of research projects and life as a graduate student firsthand.

My work in the scientific community outside of Lafayette includes membership in the:

• American Peptide Society (national/international), whose approximately 1,500 members are peptide chemists from academia and industry; I currently hold three positions:
  • Council member (2023 to present): One of 15 elected academic/industry professionals charged with advising the society’s executive board
  • Student activities coordinator (2019 to present): In collaboration with my co-chair and the association manager, I plan and coordinate all of the graduate student and postdoctoral events for the society.
  • Nominating committee (2022 to present): I recruit and nominate academic and industry professionals for leadership roles within the society.
• Lehigh Valley American Chemical Society (local), responsible for enhancing scientific knowledge, networks, and outreach in the greater Lehigh Valley. I currently hold two positions:
  • Organic Chemistry Scholarship coordinator (2018 to present): I organize the annual scholarship exam and essay contest for undergraduates who have recently completed organic chemistry.
  • Nominating chair (2021 to present): I am responsible for recruiting and nominating academic and industry professionals for leadership roles within the society.
• Remote Supergroup for Chemistry Undergraduates (national): This is a consortium of professors and students from more than 18 PUIs who banded together when COVID suspended in-person research experiences for students in summer 2020. I have been participating in and helping to plan RSCU since it was founded, and co-organized an RSCU symposium at the spring 2024 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.
• Chemistry and Chemical Biology External Advisory Board, Stevens Institute of Technology (2023 to present)

As for my other interests, I love to play volleyball! I played in college and graduate school, and now I play any chance I get in adult leagues and tournaments.

• My research group website

Gong, X.*; Brand, C. J.*; Bertucci, M. A. Designing and Synthesizing Peptide-Based Quorum Sensing Modulators. In Methods in Enzymology; Elsevier, 2024, 698, 263–299.

Gorgan, M.*, Vanunu Ofri, S., Engler, E. R.*, Yehuda, A., Hutnick, E.*, Hayouka, Z., Bertucci, M. A., The importance of the PapR7 C-terminus and amide protons in mediating quorum sensing in Bacillus cereus. Research in Microbiology, 2023, 174, 8, 104139.

Bertucci, M. A. and Hamacher, A.*, The Institute for Future PUI Faculty (IFPF) and its impact on participant motivation and perception of being a chemistry faculty member at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI). J. Chem. Educ., 2023, 100, 2, 619 – 626.

Milly, T. A., Buttner, A. R.*, Rieth, N.*, Hutnick, E.*, Engler, E. R.*, Campanella, A. R*., Lella, M., Bertucci, M. A. and Tal-Gan, Y., Optimizing CSP1 analogs for modulating quorum sensing in Streptococcus pneumoniae with bulky, hydrophobic nonproteogenic amino acid substitutions. RSC Chemical Biology, 2022, 3, 301 – 311.

Milly, T. A., Engler, E. R.*, Chichura, K. S.*, Buttner, A. R.*, Koirala, B., Tal-Gan, Y., Bertucci, M. A. Optimizing CSP:ComD binding interactions by assessing the steric limitations of the ComD receptor in group1 Streptococcus pneumoniae. ChemBioChem, 2021, 11 (22), 1940 – 1947

Bertucci, M.A. and Smith, K.J., The future of peptide science: Recognizing the American Peptide Society’s Young Investigators. Peptide Science, 2020 112: e24211.

Schmucker, D. J.*, Dunbar, S. R.*, Shepherd, T. D., Bertucci, M.A. n 🡪 π* Interactions in N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone (AHL) Derivatives and Their Effects on Hydrolysis Rates. J. Phys. Chem. A., 2019, 123 (13), 2537 – 2543.

Koirala, B., Hillman, R. A.*, Tiwold, E. K.*, Bertucci, M. A., Tal-Gan, Y., Defining the Hydrophobic Interactions that Drive Competence Stimulating Peptide (CSP):ComD Binding in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Beilstein J. Org. Chem., 2018, 14, 1769 – 1777.

Hillman, R. A.*, Nadraws, J. W.*, Bertucci, M. A. The Hydrocarbon Staple & Beyond: Recent Advanced Towards Stapled Peptide Therapeutics that Target Protein-Protein Interactions. Curr. Top. Med. Chem., 2018, 18, 611 – 624.

* Indicates an undergraduate co-author