Chrystal Bruce, PhD

Expertise

Dr. Chrystal D. Bruce is the Associate Dean for the Sciences, Mathematics, and Health and Professor of Chemistry at John Carroll University. In this role, Dr. Bruce works to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate education and helps to ensure faculty success in teaching, research, and service in STEM departments. Prior to her role as associate dean, Dr. Bruce taught general and physical chemistry at JCU and Erskine College.

As the first female to achieve the rank of full professor of chemistry at JCU, Dr. Bruce has taken a keen interest in the advancement of women within STEM, as well as driving systemic institutional change to reduce barriers for advancement for marginalized groups.

Dr. Bruce is Principal Investigator for the $1M NSF ADVANCE ASCEND grant leading an eight-person steering committee to study, disseminate findings, and provide professional development for grant participants to reduce barriers for advancement of women in STEM.

Her research interests include engaging undergraduate students in meaningful contributions in computational chemistry and the teaching and learning of chemistry at the undergraduate level.

Research

The Bruce lab studies how molecules interact with each other when they are not chemically bonded. These non-bonding interactions are important in applications as varied as drug interactions and cell phone batteries. Current students are studying how shape and charge of small molecules impact their interactions with proteins and DNA using computational chemistry techniques to develop models to explain these phenomena.  

Dr. Bruce is a member of the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY) Consortium. Students in the group may have the opportunity to present their work at local, regional, and national meetings as well as being co-authors on peer-reviewed journal articles.

Recent Publications

“Using Modified Long Chain Fatty Acids to Explore Protein Dynamics in an Intracellular-Lipid Binding Protein” Emily Ellis, Peter Koetting, Jenna Colton, Chrystal D. Bruce. Physical Chemistry Research at Undergraduate Institutions: Innovative and Impactful Approaches, Volume 1; Parish, Carol and Hopkins, Todd, Eds; ACS Symposium Series 1312; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2022; pp 145-156. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2022-1428.ch009

“The Impacts of the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry on the Careers of Women in Computational Chemistry” Kelly Anderson, Sarah Arradondo, K. Aurelia Ball, Chrystal Bruce, Maria A. Gomez, Kedan He, Heidi Hendrickson, Lindsey Madison, Ashley Ringer McDonald, Maria C. Nagan, Caitlin E. Scott, Patricia Soto, Aime’e Tomlinson, Mychel Varner, and Carol Parish.  J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2022, 62, 24, 6316–6322 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00566

“The Value of Peer Mentoring Networks for Developing Leaders and Inspiring Change.” Chrystal D. Bruce, Patricia M. Flatt, Sarah R. Kirk, Elizabeth Roberts-Kirchhoff, and Hala G. Schepmann J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2022, 62, 24, 6292–6296 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00155.

“Conversation among Physical Chemists: Strategies and Resources for Remote Teaching and Learning Catalyzed by a Global Pandemic.” Andrea N. Giordano, David Gardner, William W. Kennerly, Chrystal D. Bruce (corresponding author) J. Chem. Educ. 2021, 98, 7, 2228–2235

“Molecular Dynamics Simulations in First-Semester General Chemistry: Visualizing Gas Particle Motion and Making Connections to Mathematical Gas Law Relationships.” C.D. Bruce. In Using Computational Methods To Teach Chemical Principles; Grushow, Alex and Reeves, M., Eds; ACS Symposium Series 1312; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2019; pp 11-19.

Recent Presentations

“The power of peer networks: Building community, confidence, and capacity”, Mia Bertagnolli, Sarah Kirk, Hala Schepmann, Chrystal Bruce, Patty Flatt, Liz Roberts-Kirchhoff, Victoria Turgeon, and Mary Katherine Watson; Equity in STEM Community Convening, Raleigh, NC June 2023

“Reducing the barriers to the advancement of mid-career female-identifying STEM faculty and driving institutional transformation to create environments where diversity is encouraged and supported”, Chrystal Bruce*, Sarah Kirk*, Mia Bertagnolli,  Patty Flatt, Liz Roberts-Kirchhoff, Hala Schepmann, Erika Stone, Cheryl Swanier,  Victoria Turgeon, and Mary Katherine Watson; Equity in STEM Community Convening, Washington DC; May 31-June 3, 2022

“ASCEND: Advancing STEM Careers By Empowering Network Development”, Mia Bertagnolli*, Patty Flatt*, Liz Roberts-Kirchhoff*, Hala Schepmann*, Erika Stone, Chrystal Bruce, Sarah Kirk, Cheryl Swanier, Victoria Turgeon, and Mary Katherine Watson; International Conference on Hate Studies, Spokane, WA, November 4-6, 2021

Recent National Meeting Presentations by Students

“Molecular Dynamics Simulations of FABP5 with Pyrrole and Thiophene-substituted Long Chain Fatty Acid Ligands,” 17th MERCURY Conference on Undergraduate Computational Chemistry, Furman University, Greenville, SC, July 2018 Student: Peter Koetting

“Analysis of Thiophene- and Pyrrole- Substituted Fatty Acids in FABP5 by Molecular Dynamics Simulations”  16th MERCURY Conference on Undergraduate Computational Chemistry, Furman University, Greenville, SC, July 2017  Student: Emily Ellis

“Interaction Simulations of Fatty Acid Binding Protein 5 with Fatty Acid Substituted Ligands” 15th MERCURY Conference on Undergraduate Computational Chemistry, Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA, July 2016  Student: Blair Bakula

“Molecular dynamics simulations of a series of experimentally active ligands bound to fatty acid binding protein 5” 252nd ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, August 2016 Student: Brendan Brown

“Molecular dynamics studies of the binding of retinoic acid to the transport protein CRABP-II” 252nd ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, August 2016 Student: Nathanael Hunter

“Molecular Dynamics Studies of Retinoid Ligands in the Fatty Acid Binding Protein FABP5 as a Potential Cancer Therapy” 14th MERCURY Conference on Undergraduate Computational Chemistry, Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA, July 2015 Student: Nathanael Hunter