This award of the Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program funded by the Division of Chemistry supports the research and educational activities of Dr. Chihae Yang of Otterbein College. The project aims to strengthen and expand Dr. Yang's research with colloid and surface chemistry of amphiphilic macromolecules to include biocolloid chemistry and ultimately to implement a biochemistry-related research program at Otterbein. The proposed research will develop an understanding of the influence of surfactants and certain divalent cations on the mesophase structures of model lipid bilayers and to apply this knowledge to more complex systems in order to explain the effect of these additives on cell membranes. Structural characterization will be accomplished using a variety of techniques, including XRD, NMR, IP-SANS, light scattering, and IR and fluorescence spectroscopy.
The opportunity afforded through the POWRE program will enhance Dr. Yang's research potential as well as her ultimate goal of the educational mentoring of undergraduate students in both classroom and research laboratory. The proposed research will provide undergraduate students from a small liberal arts college exposure to a major research university, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and leading researchers in the field. This project not only motivates the collaboration of the PI with researchers at the Ohio State University, but also encourages collaboration between faculty members at Otterbein to pool their resources and talents for the common goal of implementing biochemical research at Otterbein.
