Chemistry and Biochemistry
Student Research Opportunities in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Below you will find a listing of available research opportunities in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Please use the contact information listed in each posting for further information regarding the research opportunities.
Bob Kane
Local delivery of synthetic small-molecule immunomodulators for transplantation
We design and synthesize molecules for localized immunotherapy in transplantation and evaluate them in biochemical and in vitro and in vivo assays; Researchers should join the group in their first or second year at Baylor. www.bobkanelab.com
Required Courses:
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V9R, CHE 2V9R, CHE 4V9R
Begin Date: Anytime
Semesters Available: Fall/Spring/Summer 1/Summer 2
Contact Information: bob_kane@baylor.edu
Caleb Martin
Synthetic boron chemistry for electronic materials
Note: will only accept freshman, sophomores, and possibly juniors. This requirement is so that students get results for publications.
Required Courses: CHE 1301
Course Credit Offered: Yes
Begin Date: Anytime
Semesters Available: Fall/Spring/Full Summer
Contact Information: Caleb_D_Martin@baylor.edu
Daniel Romo
Synthesis (Molecular Modeling & Biological Assays) of Potential Anticancer Agents
Become part of the Baylor Undergraduate MiniPharma Program! Participating undergraduates will get a 'taste' of the pharmaceutical industry with respect to development of small molecule inhibitors as potential chemotherapeutics with a focus on early stage drug lead development for human disease. In a current project, MiniPharmers are engaged with either synthesis (Romo Group), biological screening (Taube Group), or in silicon docking experiments (Shuford Group) of a protein translation elongation inhibitor for glioblastoma and other cancers. Students will be engaged primarily in one area of research but will interact with all students involved in this Project in a semi-autonomous, student-led, team environment. Thus, this Project will enable students to gain team-work and leadership skills in addition to knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry, biological assays, and computational studies. The Romo lab is engaged in bioactive natural product synthesis to enable fundamental discoveries in cell biology and in particular the biology of human disease. Thus, my group performs organic synthesis experiments to enable studies at the chemistry-biology interface to answer questions regarding the mechanism of action of novel natural products.
Baylor MiniPharma Team: http://sites.baylor.edu/minipharma/
Romo Research Group: http://www.danielromogroup.com/
Recommended Pre-requisites:
For the Synthesis MiniPharma Group: CHE 3331 and CHE 3332 (or concurrent enrolment); CHE 3238 (or even better: CHE 4237)
For the Biological Assay MiniPharma Group: (ideal but not essential) Biology: BIO 4301, BIO 4306, BIO 4307 or BIO 4308
For the Molecular Modeling MiniPharma Group: CHE 4321 or CHE 4327 (ideal but not essential)
Course Credit Offered: Yes
Begin Date: Beginning of each semester offered
Semesters Available: Fall, Spring, Full Summer
Contact Information: Daniel_Romo@baylor.edu
Patrick Farmer
Chemistry and biochemistry of oxidative stress
Oxidative stress is a physiological process related to many diseases, typically described as driven by ROS, reactive oxygen species. But in the two decades the importance of reactive nitrogen and sulfur species, termed RNS and RSS, has been dramatically demonstrated in human disease. RNS, termed nitrosative stress, derives from the generation and consumption of NO, an amazingly ubiquitous signalling agent . Like NO, H2S is a toxic but biologically important molecule, bot appear to affect a wide spectrum of biological activities such as vasorelaxation, neuromodulation and inflammation. This diversity of functions may result from the range of species that derive from H2S and NO by poorly defined redox reactivity, likely yielding novel species whose presence and physiological importance remains unknown. We several have projects concerning RNS, such as models for Nitric Oxide Dioxygenase activity, and RSS, to characterize polysulfane and other products formed from reductive reactions of nitrosothiols with H2S and other reductants; to interrogate the reaction pathways using a combination of high resolution mass spectroscopy, isotopic labeling and chemical probes.
Recommended Pre-requisites: CHE 3331/2 and 3348
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V98, CHE 2V98, CHE 4V98
Begin Date: Any time
Semesters Available: Fall, Spring, Full Summer
Contact Information: Patrick_Farmer@baylor.edu
Touradj Solouki
Metabolomics Studies Focused on Early Detection of Human Disease Biomarkers Using Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry
We are an analytical chemistry group performing "X-omics" research at Baylor University. Our activities include various areas of modern mass and ion mobility spectrometry, ion-molecule reaction kinetics, bioinformatics, biomarker discovery, tissue imaging, artificial intelligence and neural networks in chemical analysis, and high-performance instrumentation to address current scientific challenges in fields of biomedical and environmental research. For more information, please visit our webpage at https://sites.baylor.edu/soloukilabs/dr-touradj-solouki/
Recommended Pre-requisites: NA
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V98, CHE 2V98, CHE 4V98
Contact Information: Touradj_Solouki@baylor.edu
Elyssia Gallagher
Analytical chemistry
Glycosylation is a post-translational modification that affects cellular adhesion and host-pathogen interactions, with changes occurring during differentiation, immune response, and in cancerous tissue. Though as much as 70% of the proteome is glycosylated, determining the structure of these modifications is difficult. My research involves the expression and analysis of glycoproteins to develop a molecular understanding of how glycan heterogeneity and structure affect glycoprotein function. My group utilizes traditional and novel methods in capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry to characterize glycoproteins. This work will provide insight into the relationship between dysregulation of cellular glycosylation and development and progression of disease states.
Recommended Pre-requisites: CHE 1301/1302
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V98, CHE 2V98, CHE 4V98
Begin Date: ongoing
Contact Information: Elyssia_Gallagher@baylor.edu
Michael Trakselis
DNA replication and repair: Molecular Biology, cloning, protein purification, enzyme assays, cell biology
For more information on our research please visit our website at https://sites.baylor.edu/trakselisgroup/research-projects/
Recommended Pre-requisites: Org/ biochem Labs
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V98, CHE 2V98, CHE 4V98
Begin Date: ongoing
Contact Information: Michael_Trakselis@baylor.edu
Bryan Shaw
Biochemistry
Research in the Shaw laboratory is a mix of bio-inorganic chemistry, protein biophysics-with a focus on protein misfolding and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-and a dash of medicinal chemistry and proteomics.
Recommended Pre-requisites:
Course Credit Offered: CHE 1V98, CHE 2V98, CHE 4V98
Begin Date: ongoing
Contact Information: Bryan_Shaw@baylor.edu