The 1,039th Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Education Night
6:30 PM
- Virtual “Meet and Greet” before the ceremony
7:00 PM
- Thomas Gilbert, NESACS Chair presiding
- Address by Leela Dodda, Director, Computational Chemistry, Nimbus Therapeutics
- Awards Presentations: College Students and Faculty
Link to Register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/6R_wm72KRoaJUvsX_D_QtA
Title: Does AI make a better lab partner?
Abstract:
The integration of artificial intelligence into chemistry is transforming the way scientific discoveries are made, fostering a new era of collaboration between human ingenuity and machine precision. This talk explores the evolving partnership between chemists and AI, reframing the narrative from competition to cooperation. By focusing on “augmented chemistry,” we highlight how AI complements human creativity and intuition with its ability to process vast datasets, identify subtle patterns, and systematically explore chemical spaces.
The discussion will delve into how AI “thinks” about chemistry, showcasing its unique approach to molecular representations and predictions, while contrasting this with the irreplaceable strengths of human chemists: contextual understanding, ethical judgment, and creative problem-solving. The talk concludes by answering the question not with a binary choice but with a vision of partnership: AI doesn’t replace chemists—it makes them better. Together, we unlock unprecedented potential for groundbreaking discoveries that neither could achieve alone.
Biography:
Dr. Leela Sriram Dodda navigates the intersection of computational chemistry, machine learning, and drug discovery with expertise honed at Yale University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry. Growing up in India, he discovered his passion for science early on, eventually earning an integrated master’s in chemistry from the National Institute of Science Education and Research. At Nimbus Therapeutics, where he currently serves as Director of Computational Chemistry, he leads efforts tackling hard-to-drug proteins using small-molecule approaches and pioneers the application of physics-based machine learning models for drug discovery.
His scientific journey spans impressive roles at VantAI, Silicon Therapeutics, and Yale, where he created the LigParGen web server—an open-source service accessed over 245,000 times since 2017. He has co-authored six peer-reviewed publications with 2326 citations and holds three patents. His work on developing novel inhibitors and degraders has advanced therapies targeting oncology, immunology, and metabolic diseases through innovative computational approaches.
Selected as a Perplexity Business Fellow for 2025, Leela continues to be recognized for his contributions at the frontier of AI and computational chemistry. When not designing computational workflows or mentoring teams, he can be found presenting at prestigious conferences like the Gordon Research Conference and National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium. He balances his scientific pursuits with a dedication to yoga, meditation, and vegetarian cooking. Currently, his passion project involves leading generative AI initiatives that leverage agentic LLMs to identify opportunities from patent data, bringing together his talents in computational chemistry, machine learning, and cloud computing to reshape the future of drug discovery.
Link to the program: Ed Night Program 2025
AWARDS
College and University Awards
Dr. Ruth Tanner, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Chair, Education Committee, NESACS
Grants in Aid: Travel grants to attend an ACS National Meeting and to present a paper at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session in the Division of Chemical Education
Norris Richards Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarships: Research Awards for the summer of 2025 for a minimum commitment of 10 weeks of full-time research work
Phyllis A. Brauner Memorial Book Award for the best talk by an undergraduate at the Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference (NSCRC) was presented at the Conference.
High School Awards
Dr. Steve Lantos, Brookline High School
Chair, High School Education Committee, NESACS
AVERY A. ASHDOWN HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EXAMINATION CONTEST
The High School Committee continues to oversee the two competitive chemistry examinations offered to section secondary students: The Avery Ashdown Exam (55th year) and the United States National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO, 41st year).
Typically, over 16,000 students nationwide take some form of the local section exam each year in early April. From this entry-level group, the ACS has allotted a fixed number of students to qualify for the next round of competition, the USNCO. Thanks to Ron Ragsdale of the University of Utah who has been involved with the USNCO from its beginning in the mid-1980s, the ACS uses a federated system whereby the number of qualifying students in a section is based on its ACS membership. Given the considerable number of members of NESACS, we are allocated one of the larger groups of qualifiers.
Simmons University Prize
This cash award is given annually to top scorers of the Avery A. Ashdown Exam. The award is presented by a member of the Simmons University Chemistry Dept.
AULA LAUDIS SOCIETY
The Aula Laudis Society recognizes outstanding High School Chemistry Teachers from within the Section. The award is a NESACS Hall of Fame for high school teachers who have made distinguished contributions to secondary chemical education. The evaluation of nominees is based on their students’ performance in chemistry competitions, past recognition that honors their teaching, involvement in students’ extra-curricular activities in chemistry, and enthusiastic feedback from past students and colleagues. Typically, two inductees are awarded every year.
THEODORE WILLIAM RICHARDS AWARD
The Theodore William Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary School Chemistry honors a teacher in the Northeastern Section who, through innovation and dedication, has inspired potential chemists, has communicated chemistry to non-chemists, or has influenced other teachers of chemistry. The selected teacher is officially honored at the Section’s May meeting (“Education Night”) and receives both a $1,500 prize and a Certificate of Recognition.
