Pushing the Boundaries of Multi-modal Biospectroscopic Microscopies. In order to understand the fundamentals of life processes, diseases, and their treatments, it is essential to probe fundamental changes in molecular processes in cells, tissues and whole organisms. Much of our understanding of these processes has involved the introduction of chemical probes for biospectroscopy, but these have inherent problems because the probe can often change the biochemistry that is being probed. This projec ....Pushing the Boundaries of Multi-modal Biospectroscopic Microscopies. In order to understand the fundamentals of life processes, diseases, and their treatments, it is essential to probe fundamental changes in molecular processes in cells, tissues and whole organisms. Much of our understanding of these processes has involved the introduction of chemical probes for biospectroscopy, but these have inherent problems because the probe can often change the biochemistry that is being probed. This project will push the boundaries of a variety of micro and nano "probe-free" microscopies to provide fundamental insights into these life processes, which could ultimately lead to improvements in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases.Read moreRead less
Roles of Metal Complexes in Carbohydrate Metabolism – Anti-Diabetic Drugs. This project aims to study the biological chemistry of chromium, vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten in glucose/fructose metabolism. Metal supplements are consumed widely for purported fat reduction and anti-diabetic activities but pose many questions about their efficacy, safety and essentiality. The project plans to explore evidence for an essential role for vanadium and molybdenum in carbohydrate metabolism and to invest ....Roles of Metal Complexes in Carbohydrate Metabolism – Anti-Diabetic Drugs. This project aims to study the biological chemistry of chromium, vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten in glucose/fructose metabolism. Metal supplements are consumed widely for purported fat reduction and anti-diabetic activities but pose many questions about their efficacy, safety and essentiality. The project plans to explore evidence for an essential role for vanadium and molybdenum in carbohydrate metabolism and to investigate the transport, uptake and biological activities of the above metals. These fundamental chemical and biochemical studies could provide the basis of future research into improved prevention and treatment methods to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.Read moreRead less
Electrophile induced domino reaction sequences with ion-pair chiral induction. In this project, new catalysts and procedures will be developed to improve our capacity to access and modify the structure and properties of complex molecules. These methods will be used to gain access to a number of bioactive natural products in order to better evaluate and develop their therapeutic potential.