Research & Facilities
Research is a major part of our mission and day-to-day life in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Our research laboratories are housed in the Life Science and Bioengineering Center (LSBC) at Gateway Park, a state-of-the art, major research facility that opened in spring 2007.
Students find in the LSBC an exceptional research environment to pursue their undergraduate and graduate careers in a highly interdisciplinary environment, with world-class instrumentation for modern chemistry and biochemistry research. In addition to faculty from the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the LSBC houses faculty from the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Biology and Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics, with a research emphasis in the life sciences.
Our professors’ research interests include the following:
José M. Argüello
Mechanisms of micronutrient metal transport in biological systems; membrane protein chemistry; role of micronutrient metals in pathogenic virulence and endocytic symbiosis; role of bacterial metal transport proteins in tuberculosis and in plant nitrogen fixation.
Shawn Burdette
Bioorganic zinc chemistry; metals in neurotransmission; metal ion signaling in biology; metal in homeostasis; metal ion chelators: binding and selectivity; organic photochemistry/photochemical tools; small molecule and polymer based fluorescent sensors; new fluorophores and chromophores; ligand synthesis; living polymerization methods.
Robert E. Connors
Molecules that generate, store, and release singlet oxygen; photophysics; photochemistry; photocatalysis.
Robert E. Dempski
Investigation of the conformational dynamics of membrane proteins on the surface of single cells using voltage clamp fluorometry; examination of the molecular determinants of zinc transport by the ZIP family of proteins.
James P. Dittami
Organic synthesis; natural product synthesis; synthetic photochemistry; drug development and drug discovery.
Joseph B. Duffy
Signal transduction; cancer biology; neurobiology; adhesion/barrier biology; evo-devo/pattern formation.
Marion H. Emmert
Homogeneous catalysis; organometallic chemistry; CO2 conversion/solar fuels; waste-free chemical processes; direct C-H functionalization; green chemistry; mechanistic investigations of catalytic processes.
Arne Gericke
Membrane biophysics; lipid-mediated protein functions (phosphoinositides, sphingolipids); membrane trafficking; vibrational spectroscopic imaging of tissue.
Destin Heilman
Animal virus protein; apoptosis; cancer cell selectivity; subcellular localization; functional domain mutagenesis.
George A. Kaminski
Computational chemistry/molecular modeling; protein simulations; force field development; Monte Carlo simulations.
Christopher R. Lambert
Antimicrobial surfaces for device implantation; neuroprosthetics for regenerating nerves and enabling devices; passive cell sorting for blood purification; bioreactor development for tissue growth, manufacturing therapeutics, and creating biofuels; organic photovoltaics; acetylcholinesterase inhibition sensing; blood analytes sensing.
John C. MacDonald
Surface chemistry: molecular thin films; materials chemistry: porous solides (environmental remediation); solid-state organic chemistry: crystal engineering, polymorphism, chiral separations.
Reeta Prusty Rao
Fungal pathogenesis—fungal virulence factors, host immune system modifies, secondary metabolite signals in pathogenesis; therapeutics—high-throughput drug screens; biofuels—bio-butanol from cellulosic feedstock.
Pamela Weathers
Artemisinin biosynthesis in the plant, Artemisia annua; development of an edible artemisinin for use in combating malaria and other artemisinin-sensitive diseases, especially in developing countries; development of bioreactors for culture of differentiated tissues of plants and animals; production of biofuels from oil-forming algae.
For more information, please contact us at chem-biochem@wpi.edu.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: October 27, 2011 17:20:50