CAREER: A fundamental study of biological/inorganic interfaces: Understanding mechanisms for probing biomolecular interactions using nanostructures

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry will support the CAREER development plan of Regina Ragan of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of California, Irvine on the project titled "A fundamental study of biological/inorganic interfaces: understanding mechanisms for probing biomolecular interactions using nanostructures." This project aims to understand how material interfaces affect device behavior of electronic measurement platforms that measure interactions between biological molecules. Professor Ragan and her students will utilize scanning probe microscopy integrated with fluorescence microscopy to characterize systems with molecular scale resolution. It is expected that the fundamental knowledge gained from these studies will lead to devices with enhanced performance for drug discovery and environmental monitoring. Professor Ragan will also provide advanced analytical training for high school students at a local high school that serves a predominantly Hispanic student body in order to increase and retain the number of students from under represented groups attending UC Irvine in science, engineering and mathematics.