Congratulations to recent graduate Florika Macazo (Ph.D. 2016, Chemistry) being featured in UMBC news, detailing her dissertation work and the ingenuity behind it that led to NSF funding.  Macazo’s project expands the capability of an established technique, scanning conductance ion microscopy (SCIM), which uses electric current to create a topographical map of a nanoscale surface. This procedure was adapted using naturally-occurring protein channels, a kind of molecular gate, to measure concentrations of ions passing in and out of cells. In her novel technique, Macazo recreated a simple cell membrane at the pipet tip and embedded the protein channel in it. She has successfully tested a channel called hemolysin, which allows anything smaller than 1.4 nanometers across to pass through. The translational part of this research would allow measuring the concentrations of charged molecules (ions) passing through cell membranes in the brain to increase understanding of cell-to-cell communication in healthy brains and those with neurodevelopmental disorders. Well done, Flaire!!

On May 13th, close to 100 colleagues and students, current and past gathered in the tutorial center of the Meyerhoff Chemistry Building to honor Mike Summers election to the National Academy of Sciences. Summers, the Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and University Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, had been elected to membership in the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Summers is one of only 84 new members and 21 foreign associates from 14 countries elected this year. Membership is one of the highest honors that a researcher can receive.

Summers’ election is a major milestone for UMBC as the university approaches its 50th anniversary, one that acknowledges Summers’ exceptional contributions to the scientific community and UMBC’s stature as a nationally and internationally recognized research university. This honor also recognizes Summers’ leadership in demonstrating what an inclusive university community committed to both teaching and research can achieve.

Applications for both tutors and Learning Assistants for CHEM 101, 102, 351 and 352 are due to the department by close of business April 18th.  E-mailed applications will not be accepted. Please fill out the appropriate application for the position you are interested in.

Hard copies of the application should be turned in to Dr. Carpenter for CHEM 101 and 102 positions and to Dr. Gierasch for CHEM 351 or tutoring.  Mailboxes are located in Fine Arts 010. 

UMBC’s Professor Geddes has developed a very rapid, low cost test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), namely Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, which is currently undergoing an NIH funded 1800 patient clinical trial.

Microwave-enhanced tests may hold the key to faster diagnosis of some sexually-transmitted infections, according to a researcher at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.Faster results can lead to both lower health care costs and a healthier overall population, said Chris D. Geddes, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the university’s Institute of Fluorescence.

The test Geddes is developing uses microwaves and special metal surfaces to accelerate biological reactions. While traditional STI tests require bacteria samples to grow in a lab before they can be identified — a process than can take a few days — Geddes says his team’s test can detect gonorrhea and chlamydia in about eight minutes.“The significance of this, I don’t think can be overstated,” Geddes said. “There are no tests that are low-cost and very rapid.”

Perfecting an STI test that can deliver results at the point of care has three main benefits, Geddes said. It can prevent patients from spreading the infection while waiting for test results; it can reduce the burden on the health care and insurance systems by avoiding the need for costly lab work; and it can make sure that the right medications are prescribed to treat the right infection, he said. The microwave-accelerated test not only can detect the presence of chlamydia or gonorrhea but can determine the specific strain. This allows doctors to treat each case correctly and not risk building the resistance of the strains by exposing them to ineffective medications, Geddes said. There are already strains of gonorrhea for which there is no treatment.

Each test costs about $1, but the price could be even lower once the test is commercialized, Geddes said. The test is still a few years away from the market, and Geddes said he doesn’t yet know whether he’ll create a new company or license the test to an existing company. A study using 257 samples found that the results of the microwave-accelerated test  matched the results found with traditional chlamydia tests more than 90 percent of the time. That figure is very encouraging, but further study with a larger sample size is needed. 

This summer, the National Institutes of Health approved an 1,800-sample clinical trial of samples from patients tested in Baltimore and Cincinnati. Geddes said he expects results of the study in about two years.