Joint Research Safety Initiative
Chemistry happens. Don’t let it happen to you.
JRSI
sustainable safety culture
educational tools
organized and centralized resources
By Researchers, For Researchers
The Joint Research Safety Initiative (JRSI) is a new safety community run by students, post-docs, and research assistants on campus that aims to provide centralized and accessible safety and educational resources for students and faculty. Our safety and efficiency is up to us, and only us.
What We Do
gather departmental data
We develop and implement surveys to measure the effectiveness of our initiative and the culture of our departments.
facilitate open dialogues
We put on events, safety demos, vendor fairs, and safety programs to encourage open dialogue and participation.
train lab safety contacts
We are working to improve the quality and availability of training resources for current and future LSCs.
gather departmental data
We develop and implement surveys to measure the effectiveness of our initiative and the culture of our departments.
facilitate open dialogues
We put on events, safety demos, vendor fairs, and safety programs to encourage open dialogue and participation.
train lab safety contacts
We are working to improve the quality and availability of training resources for current and future LSCs.
gather departmental data
We develop and implement surveys to measure the effectiveness of our initiative and the culture of our departments.
facilitate open dialogues
We put on events, safety demos, vendor fairs, and safety programs to encourage open dialogue and participation.
train lab safety contacts
We are working to improve the quality and availability of training resources for current and future LSCs.
Leadership
Serving Chemistry & PME
people
Mason Dearborn
masondearborn@uchicago.edu
Co-president
Publicity Committee Chair
Mason Dearborn is currently a 4th-year graduate student in Prof. Aaron Esser-Kahn’s lab in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Mason grew up in the suburbs of Chicago but headed south for his undergraduate career at the University of Southern Mississippi. Now, he uses frontal polymerization for rapid, energy-efficient manufacturing of polymers and composites with autonomous patterning.
andrew Grorud
apgrorud@uchicago.edu
Co-president
Education Committee Chair
Andrew is originally from Hutchinson, MN, and came to the University of Chicago after completing his B.S. in Chemistry from Wheaton College. Andrew is now a 5th-year graduate student in Prof. Michael D. Hopkins’s lab; his research interests include the investigation of photo- and redox-active molecules that self-assemble into ordered monolayers on surfaces.
aritrajit Gupta
aritrajit@uchicago.edu
Finance Committee Chair
Aritrajit grew up in West Bengal, India and joined the Chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago after completing his B.S. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with a Chemistry major and Materials Science minor. He is presently a 4th-year graduate student in Prof. Dmitri Talapin’s lab; exploring the synthesis and optical properties of alloyed III-V colloidal quantum dots intended for display applications.
Lauryn Carver
lcarver@uchicago.edu
Publicity Committee Member
Education Committee Member
Lauryn is currently a 2nd-year PhD Candidate in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering co-advised by Profs. Matthew Tirrell and Yun Fang. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May 2019 where she received B.S. in Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology. Her current research surrounds the use of nanoparticles in medical applications, specifically for the potential treatment of cardiopulmonary diseases and fibroses.
Abhirup Guha
abhirupg@uchicago.edu
Publicity Committee Member
Finance Committee Member
Elizabeth Kelley
ewkelley@uchicago.edu
Survey Committee Chair
Elizabeth graduated from the College of William & Mary with a BS in chemistry and classical studies. In addition to working with JRSI, Elizabeth is currently a Lead Fellow at the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a member of the Graduate Council’s funding committee, and a PhD Candidate with Prof. Scott Snyder in the Chemistry Department. Her research spans organic chemistry and chemical education research. She currently investigates topics in hands-on laboratory learning and the nature of graduate student training.
carlos medina
cjmedina@uchicago.edu
Publicity Committee Member
Finance Committee Member
Born and raised in Panama, Carlos attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BSE in Materials Science and Engineering in 2019. Carlos then came to the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, where he is currently a 3rd-year student advised by Prof. Matthew Tirrell. He is currently investigating the behavior of zwitterionic polymers in aqueous solutions using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy and X-ray scattering.
Josh Portner
Kavya Smitha Pillai
kavya779513@uchicago.edu
Publicity Committee Member
Kavya is a fourth year student in the Chemistry Department. She is currently working with Prof. Raymond Moellering and focuses on answering the differences in activity signatures of enzymes in different conditions. Kavya was born and raised in India and she graduated from IISER-TVM. She aspires to improve the safety culture in labs in India.