Blood Doping Identification
One of the central projects for the lab, which has garnered research support from the World Anti-Doping Agency and the US Anti-Doping Agency, has been the development of CE methods to identify autologous blood transfusions. The lab is developing means of identifying the physical and biochemical changes that occur in red blood cells while in storage. By accentuating these differences we are able to differentiate the stored and fresh cells once mixed via a prohibited, autologous blood transfusion. This will become a key component in the continuing fight against doping in sports.
Capillary Coatings
In our ongoing development of CE methods for the separation of biologically relevant compounds the group has been investigating how self-assembled surface coatings can be incorporated and modified in CE separations. The aim of the lab is to develop better options for bioseparations, and to devise new means of altering, and controlling electrophoretic separations.
Nanofluidic Segmentation
The ability to sequester microliter into nanoliter volumes of sample in aqueous droplets surrounded by perflorinated carbon liquids has proved to be highly useful for chemical and biochemical analyses. Our work is focused on both the controlled formation and manipulation of these aqueous droplets and the ability to seamlessly integrate this system into a separation system. We are focusing on the development of a system that will allow the delivery of aqueous droplets to a capillary electrophoresis system, allowing for the rapid and extensive analysis of the droplet contents.
Complexation Measurements
Several projects are currently underway in the lab making use of CE’s unique capability to separate molecular complexes, and in the process, probe aspects about the complex formations and equilibria. We are applying these capabilities in collaboration with groups in biochemistry, biology, and industry to better understand the complex systems they are studying.