This NSF award by the Chemical and Biological Separations program supports work by Professor Douglas Frey at the University of Maryland Baltimore County to develop new chromatographic methods for purifying biological macromolecules that incorporate focusing effects. In addition, new college-level bioseparations educational material and new high-school-level educational and outreach material will be developed in the biotechnology area.

The major goal of the scientific portion of this work is to develop several new chromatofocusing methods for purifying proteins that use interacting operating modes, such as methods that exploit the simultaneous use of electrostatic repulsive forces and hydrophobic attractive forces, or methods that simultaneously use retained and unretained chemical composition gradients that travel through a chromatographic column. Due to the complexity of these hybrid techniques, computer-aided-design methods will also be developed so that their performance can be fully optimized. By using this approach, the synergism that exists between these different operating modes can be exploited to develop new techniques for separating proteins that are superior to existing ones in terms of their ability to simultaneously purify and concentrate individual species present in a complex starting mixture. The results of this work will have a broad impact in several areas of national importance, such as in the development of efficient large-scale methods for purifying proteins that reduce pharmaceutical manufacturing costs, and in the development of more effective analytical methods for quality control during pharmaceutical drug manufacturing.

To further enhance the broader impact of this project, innovative undergraduate-level educational material in the bioseparations area will be developed that can be readily incorporated into the traditional chemical engineering curriculum. In addition, novel outreach material based on the concept of Archimedes principle will be developed that educates high-school students about the field of biotechnology.

Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2009-09-01
Budget End
2014-01-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$257,645
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21250