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Laura is the recipient of the 2016 Bourke Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, honored for her contributions to quantum chemistry.

This award honors the top scientists in their fields for the originality of their research, the impact of their research, quality of their publications, patents or software, innovation, professional standing, and collaborations and teamwork.

A theoretical study was recently performed by Gagliardi group postdoc and Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center (ICDC) scientific coordinator Varinia Bernales, within a collaboration of the members of the ICDC, on the NU-1000 metal-organic framework (MOF).

This study resulted in a major achievement – the discovery that the adsorption processes of glucose and cellobiose on the NU-1000 MOF occur at the hydrophobic sites. Until now, only enzymes have demonstrated the ability to selectively bond the β-linked dimer of glucose (cellobiose), while completely rejecting the bonding of glucose itself. Great work, Varinia!