NSF Summer Analytical Research Experience

2016-06-29

Writer(s): Steve Scherer

Nearly a dozen top students from other universities are spending the summer here on campus conducting cutting-edge analytical chemistry research thanks to a NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates awarded to Professor Greg Michalski.

Mallory Evanoff, a senior at Carnegie Mellon, is working with Professor Mary Wirth to develop materials that enhance separation of biomolecules. “A current project the group is focusing on involves optimizing column conditions for separation of glycoforms of Prostate Serum Antigen, a biomarker for prostate cancer,” explained Evanoff, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Maya Sattler, a student at Ohio University from Athens, Ohio, is working with Professor Andy Tao to optimize a method for selectively labeling phosphoproteins in a complex mixture in order to differentiate phosphorylation levels between two samples in differential, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Anne Marie Esposito is also a student at Ohio University working on a way to use a Raman microscope to determine the concentration of DNA in biological samples in Professor Ji-Xin Cheng’s laboratory. “Purdue Chemistry is much bigger than what I am used to and has many more opportunities to collaborate with other types of scientists,” added Esposito, a native of Port Chester, New York. “My school has three analytical chemistry professors and this school has so many more.”

Lauren Petrina, a freshman at Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania, is using mass spectrometry to analyze samples of crude oil in Professor Hilkka Kenttämaa’s lab. “Purdue is such a beautiful campus and working in the chemistry department has been wonderful because everyone is so friendly and helpful,” added Petrina, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.