Biography
Since I arrived at 51小黄车 in the Fall of 2006, I have taught classes in general chemistry (CHEM 181 and CHEM 231), modern (CHEM 335) and classical (CHEM 336) physical chemistry and an elective course in Biophysical Chemistry (CHEM 361). I have also taught a first seminar on the science of color as part of a Montserrat course 鈥淓xploring Newton鈥檚 Rainbow,鈥 and a summer writing course as part of our Passport program.
Students in my courses are encouraged to be active participants, asking questions when they need further clarification, answering the questions I pose and engaging in the problem solving we do. Some, or all, of problem sets, exams, papers, lab reports and presentations are used to evaluate student performance. There is a lab requirement for CHEM 181, 231, and 335 in which students gain hands-on experience with chemical techniques and modern chemical instrumentation and become proficient in data analysis and interpretation. Writing skills will also be honed in the lab portion of the upper level course.
Courses
- Atoms & Molecules
- Equilibrium & Reactivity
- Quantum Mechanics & Spectroscopy
- Chemical Thermodynamics
- Biophysical Chemistry
Research/Projects
My research lies in the field of biophysical chemistry. I utilize infrared spectroscopy to study structural changes in proteins and peptides, in particular the misfolding of these biological molecules into non-native structures. Most recently, our focus has been on understanding interactions that can reverse the misfolding of short peptides.
The structure of a protein is intrinsically linked to its function and so the misfolding of a protein is associated with many different diseases including Alzheimer's Disease, Cataracts, Huntington's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.
Infrared spectra of proteins reveals information about the alignment and strength of carbonyl bonds in the backbone of the amino acid chain and can be used to determine both secondary and tertiary structure.
Projects
Current projects ongoing in my lab are focused on:
- Reversing the misfolding of peptides associated with Parkinson鈥檚 and Alzheimer鈥檚 Diseases
- The stabilizing interactions in short alanine-based peptides
Papers
Undergraduate co-authors are bolded
A. T. Mullin, S A. Michelhaugh, B. R. Fitzgerald, J. E. Barnes, M. J. Calcaterra, and S. A. Petty; Vibrational Spectroscopy; 2020, 111, 103168-103173
E. A.Gooding, S. Sharma, S. A. Petty, E. A. Fouts, C. J. Palmer, B. E. Nolan and M. Volk; Chemical Physics; 2013, 422, 115-123
M. T. Bauer, K. A. Gilmore and S. A. Petty; Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications; 2011, 406, 3, 348-352
G. Liu, A. Prabhakar, D. Aucoin, M. Simon, S. Sparks, K. J. Robbins, A. Sheen, S. A. Petty and N. D. Lazo; Journal of the American Chemical Society; 2010, 132, 18223-18232
Y. Wang, S. A. Petty, A. T. Trojanowski, K. M. Knee, D. R. Goulet, I. Mukerji, and J. A. King; Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science; 2010, 51, 672-678.