Research Focus Areas

Faculty in the Department of Chemistry are conducting research that involves undergraduate and graduate students in a wide array of research areas.  Below are the research focus areas in the Department of Chemistry. Click on a professors name to learn more about the research going on in their lab.

 

Analytical Chemistry

• Ngee Sing Chong – Professor – Environmental analysis; Materials characterization; Studies of atmospheric pollution
• Charles Chusuei – Assoc. Professor – Carbon nanomaterials; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Electrochemical sensing
• Chengshan Wang – Assoc. Professor – Peptide synthesis; FTIR spectroscopy to study Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases
• Mengliang Zhang – Assoc. Professor – Mass spectrometric analysis of forensic samples, food materials, and natrual products

Biochemistry

• Donald Andrew Burden – Professor – Mechanism of action of DNA Topoisomerase II and anti-cancer drugs
• Paul Kline – Professor – Bioorganic and Biophysical Chemistry; Mechanistic enzymology; Enzyme transition state analysis
• Justin M. Miller – Assoc. Professor – ATP-dependent molecular motors; transient state enzymology; Biophysical chemistry
• Beng Guat Ooi – Professor – Cigarette smoke mutagenicity; Yeast metabolomics; Fermentation and wine quality

Chemical Education

• Katy Hosbein – Assist. Professor – Investigating the influence of STEM learning environments on student STEM identity using equity-centered methods
• Judith Iriarte-Gross – Professor – Increasing the involvement of girls and women in STEM fields
• Patricia Patterson – Professor – Developing outreach and resource programs for teachers and students
• Amy Phelps – Professor – Studying and improving the teaching and learning of chemistry
• Greg Rushton – Professor – Conceptual change in tertiary chemistry learning environments; classroom discourse practices; policy reform in K-16 chemistry education; pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in chemistry
• Michael Sanger – Professor – Designing and evaluating instructional methods to identify and confront student misconception

Computation/Theoretical Chemistry

• Jing Kong – Professor – Ab initio quantum methods to study many-atom systems based on electronic structure theory
• Preston MacDougall – Professor – Quantum chemistry-based design tools; Molecular geometry/chemical reactivity models
• Anatoliy Volkov – Professor – Density-normalized spherical harmonics

Environmental Chemistry

• Ngee Sing Chong – Professor – Environmental analysis; Materials characterization; Studies of atmospheric pollution
• John DiVincenzo – Professor – Pervious concrete quality studies; Detection of petroleum products in water

Inorganic Chemistry

• Keying Ding – Professor – Organometallics; Catalysis; Bioinorganic chemistry
• Greg Van Patten – Professor – Quantum dots; Nanotechnology; Photophysics

Materials Chemistry

• Andrienne Friedli – Professor – Synthesis of organosilanes, organic polyelectrolytes, and liquid crystalline organic dyes
• Dwight Patterson – Assoc. Professor – Synthesis and characterization of organic polymers and polymeric materials
• Greg Van Patten – Professor – Quantum dots; Nanotechnology; Photophysics

Organic Chemistry

• Souvik Banerjee – Assist. Professor – Medicinal Chemistry, Computer Aided Design and Syntheis of Small Bioactive Molecules, Enzyme and Organo catalysis, Peptidomimetics 
• Kevin Bicker – Professor – Bioorganic chemistry; Solid-phase synthesis; Assay development; Enzymology
• Keying Ding – Professor – Organometallics; Catalysis; Bioinorganic chemistry
• Andrienne Friedli – Professor – Synthesis of organosilanes, organic polyelectrolytes, and liquid crystalline organic dyes
• Scott Handy – Professor – Organic synthesis, Deep eutectic solvents; Synthesis and isolation of biologically active natural products 

Physical Chemistry

• Charles Chusuei – Assoc. Professor – Carbon nanomaterials; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Electrochemical sensing
• Greg Van Patten – Professor – Quantum dots; Nanotechnology; Photophysics

Polymer Science

• Dwight Patterson – Assoc. Professor – Synthesis and characterization of organic polymers and polymeric materials