Georgetown University - Department of Chemistry Department of Chemistry

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Bahram Moasser
Assistant Professor

Department of Chemistry
Georgetown University
37th and O Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057-1227
 
Office: 636 Reiss Science
Phone: 202-687-5937
Fax: 202-687-6209

E-mail: 
Education /
Background
A.B. 1987, Cornell University
M.S. 1990, University of Wisconsin
Ph.D. 1995, University of Minnesota
Research Scientist, 1995-2006, General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY
 

 

Research Interests

Synthetic and mechanistic inorganic/organic chemistry and chemical biology. Design and discovery of novel diagnostic imaging probes, drug delivery systems and biological sensors. Chemical approaches to elucidating fundamental structure/function properties in chemical biology.

We are a growing research group at the chemistry and biology interface. Our research focus is the application of inorganic/organic chemistry to important problems of biological and medical interest. We use the methodology and knowledge of synthetic and mechanistic chemistry to observe, characterize and modify biological systems. Our ultimate goals are to enable and expand biotechnology and biomedicine by providing practical solutions to unmet needs in these areas.

There are three areas of current interest in the lab, each of which has potential for in vivo and in vitro applications that would benefit chemical, biochemical and clinical sciences.

  • New bioconjugate chemistries . We are interested in chemical strategies for conjugation of macromolecules to each other or to small molecules. One such project has a bioorganometallic component and is based on a novel reactivity that we are currently developing using aqueous transition metal chemistry.
  • Vectors for delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents . A second area of interest is targeted drug delivery using biocompatible and/or biodegradable macromolecules or functionalized nanoparticles. Our emphasis is on the functionalization chemistry and targeting mechanism.
  • Imaging agents for visualization of biological pathways. Finally, we are interested in employing targeted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents for the visualization of biochemical processes. Specifically, we are interested in visualizing enzymatic activity associated with signal transduction in cancer.
We take an adventurous approach to exploring new applications of chemistry to emerging biological and biomedical frontiers. Research in our group is highly multi-disciplinary, spanning inorganic, organometallic, organic and biological chemistry. We actively promote interactions between the disciplines and engage collaborators in our efforts to better understand the problems. We incorporate what we learn from one project to the next and form one scientific area to the other. By broadening our scientific approach we hope to gain the flexibility to make more informed decisions. But, when interesting fundamental scientific questions arise we will study them in depth to gain a detailed molecular understanding of the problem.

   page last updated: June 22, 2006
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