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Research Interests:

The focus of my research has been to develop and compare different biologically relevant approaches for detecting the production and reactions of hydroxyl radical formed in aqueous pyrite solutions. I have concentrated on developing a model probe of hydroxyl radical formation. With this came new understandings of reaction kinetics that provide better tools for studying how important pyrite-generated hydroxyl radical could be more complex in biological solutions (e.g., lung fluid that includes a variety of salts and organic media that can alter the reactions involved in the formation and impact of hydroxyl radical). The aromatic hydroxylation of phenylalanine leads to equimolar levels of o-, m-, and p-tyrosine and are known to be indicators of hydroxyl radical damage in proteins. While exploring other model systems, I have characterized in detail the reactions and reaction kinetics of phenylalanine in pyrite solutions with recent work that shows the reaction rate of phenylalanine hydroxylation is inhibited slightly but will still undergo transformation to tyrosine even in the presence of high concentrations of humic acid (200 - 400 mg/L) and also complex salt solutions (8 - 32 g/L artificial seawater).