Our Faculty and Staff

	P.J. Alaimo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Telephone: (206) 296-5944 Office: Bannan 611 e-mail:  alaimop@seattleu.edu
Education Professional Experience Presentations Publications View C.V. (pdf) Research Group Research Group News

P.J. Alaimo received his B.S. degree in 1994 from the University of Michigan where he studied chemistry and philosophy. His doctoral studies were conducted under the direction of Prof. Robert G. Bergman at the University of California, Berkeley. P.J. then moved across San Francisco Bay for his post-doctoral studies in chemical genetics with Prof. Kevan M. Shokat at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the Chemistry faculty at Seattle University in 2004.

Dr. Alaimo's teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of organic chemistry, biochemistry and cell biology. This school year (2007-2008) he is teaching Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM 436) as well as numerous sophomore-level Organic Chemistry courses (CHEM 336, 337, 345, 346, and 347). In the past he has taught courses in organic, inorganic, bioorganic and bioinorganic chemistry, as well as biochemistry and cell biology to undergraduate, graduate and medical students.

Dr. Alaimo's research interests are in the development of chemical probes directed toward better understanding cell biology. Currently, research is focused on the development of methods for the synthesis of novel nitrogen-containing heterocycles.

Education

Ph.D. 1999 University of California, Berkeley, CA ( R.G. Bergman, advisor )

B. S. 1994 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI ( B.P. Coppola, advisor )

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, 2004-present
Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Engineering
Seattle University, Seattle, WA

Postdoctoral Associate, K.M. Shokat Laboratory, 2000-2004
Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Summer Research Intern, Raychem Corporation, 1994
Menlo Park, CA

Conference Presentations

P.J. Alaimo, J.M. Langenhan. Teaching Professional Writing in an Organic Chemistry Laboratory by Abolishing the Lab Report. Contributed talk, Ninth Biennial 2008 International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference. (May 2008)

P.J. Alaimo, R.V. O’Brien III, A. Johnson, S. Slauson, J. O’Brien, E. Tyson, J. Chacon, L. Wallace, S. Connell. Development of sustainable synthetic methods: Construction of 4-dihydropyridinones and beta-amino esters by domino reactions in aqueous ethanol. Contributed Poster, 234th ACS National Meeting. (Aug. 2007)

P.J. Alaimo, J. Loertscher, J.M. Langenhan. Teaching students professional writing in organic chemistry lab courses. Contributed Poster, 234th ACS National Meeting. (Aug. 2007)

J.M. Langenhan, P.J. Alaimo. Chemical safety teams: an approach for teaching laboratory safety. Contributed Poster, 234th ACS National Meeting, (Aug. 2007)

P.J. Alaimo, R.V. O’Brien III, A. Johnson, S. Slauson, J. O’Brien, E. Tyson, J. Chacon, L. Wallace, S. Connell. Sustainable synthetic methods: Construction of 4-dihydropyridinones by domino reactions in aqueous ethanol. Contributed Poster, Gordon Research Conference on Heterocyclic Compounds. (June 2007)

P.J. Alaimo, Z.A. Knight, K.M. Shokat. Progress Toward the Development of Allele-Specific Inhibitors of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase. Contributed Poster, 226th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. (September 2003)

P.J. Alaimo, Z.A. Knight, K.M. Shokat. Using Chemical Genetics to Obtain Allele-Specific Inhibitors of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase. Contributed Poster, National Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology. (December 2002)

P.J. Alaimo, Z.A. Knight, K.M. Shokat. Using Chemical Genetics to Obtain Allele-Specific Inhibitors of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase. Contributed Poster, Cell Biology Division, 18th Union of the International Cancer Congress. (July 2002)

P.J. Alaimo, R.G. Bergman. Synthesis of Cationic Iridium(V) Complexes: Putative Intermediates on the C-H Activation Pathway. Contributed Poster, 216th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. (August 1998)

P.J. Alaimo, B.A. Arndtsen, R.G. Bergman. Using Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activation for the Synthesis of Tertiary-Alkyl Iridium Complexes. Contributed Seminar, 213th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. (April 1997)

Publications - Journal Articles

10. P.J. Alaimo, R. O’Brien III, A.W. Johnson, S.R. Slauson, J.M. O’Brien, E.L. Tyson, J.G. Chacon, L. Wallace, and S. Connell Sustainable synthetic methods: Efficient construction of dihydropyridin-4-ones and beta-amino esters by domino reactions in aqueous ethanol. In review.

9. P.J. Alaimo, Z.A. Knight, K.M. Shokat, Targeting the Gatekeeper Residue in Phosphoinositide 3-Kinases. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2005, 13, 2825-2836.

8. Z.A. Knight, G.G. Chiang, P.J. Alaimo, D.M. Kenski, C.B. Ho, K. Coan, R.T. Abraham, K.M. Shokat, Isoform-Specific Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Inhibitors from an Arylmorpholine Scaffold. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2004, 12, 4749-4759.

7. H. Wang, E. Shimizu, Y.-P. Tang, M. Cho, M. Kyin, W. Zuo, D.A. Robinson, P.J. Alaimo, C. Zhang, H. Morimoto, M. Zhou, R. Feng, K.M. Shokat, J.Z. Tsien, Inducible Protein Knockout Reveals Temporal Requirement of CaMKII Reactivation for Memory Consolidation in the Brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 2003, 100, 4287-92.

6. P.J. Alaimo, M.A. Shogren-Knaak, K.M. Shokat, Chemical Genetic Analysis of Protein Kinase Cascades. Sci. World J. 2002, 2(S2), 108-110.

5. P.J. Alaimo, M.A. Shogren-Knaak, K.M. Shokat, Chemical Genetic Approaches for the Elucidation of Signaling Pathways. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2001, 5, 360-7.

4. P.J. Alaimo, D.W. Peters, J. Arnold, R.G. Bergman, Suggested Modifications to a Distillation-Free Solvent Purification System. J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 64.

3. P.J. Alaimo, B.A. Arndtsen, R.G. Bergman, Alkylation of Iridium via Tandem Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activation/Decarbonylation of Aldehydes: Access to Complexes with Tertiary and Highly Hindered Metal-Carbon Bonds. Organometallics 2000, 19, 2130-43.

2. P.J. Alaimo, R.G. Bergman, Modeling the Proposed Intermediate in Alkane Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activation by Cp*(PMe₃)Ir(Me)OTf: Synthesis and Stability of Novel Organometallic Iridium(V) Complexes. Organometallics 1999, 18, 2707-17.

1. P.J. Alaimo, B.A. Arndtsen, R.G. Bergman, Synthesis of Tertiary and Other Sterically Demanding Alkyl- and Aryl Complexes of Iridium by Aldehyde CH Bond Activation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 5269-70.

Books and Book Chapters

2. M.A. Shogren-Knaak, P.J. Alaimo, K.M. Shokat Recent Advances in Chemical Approaches to the Study of Biological Systems. Annu. Rev. Cell Develop. Biol. 2001, 17, 405-433.

1. P.J. Alaimo, D.S. Daniels, D.J. Pallin, A. Johnson, C. Volpe MCAT Organic Chemistry The Princeton Review MCAT Preparation Course, 1997.

Please direct questions and comments to chemdept@seattleu.edu