NMSU/LANL Collaborative Efforts in Chem/Bio/Nuclear Threat Reduction
Dr. Rayson of New Mexico State University (NMSU) met with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists to work on joint proposals for the investigation of chemical processes leading to the development of new sensing technologies for the detection or sequestration of chemical and biological warfare agents and the detection of nuclear materials. These discussions were a direct extension of proposed projects for which seed monies have or will be requested from the New Mexico State Department of Economic Development and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) program. Dr. Doorn of LANL mentors Dr. Rayson’s efforts to expand research to include the detection of biomolecules (e.g., ssDNA and RNA) in conjunction with submission of a pilot project to the NIH SCORE program.
The objective is to establish an interdisciplinary team for the investigation of basic chemical principles fundamental to the development and characterization of field-deployable analysis systems for the detection of chemical and biological agents using remote surface enhanced Raman scattering or surface enhanced hyper-Raman scattering. The team will include researchers from LANL and NMSU. Currently identified individuals at LANL include Dr. Peter Stark (C-CDE) [analytical instrumentation development], Dr. Thomas Robison (C-CDE) [synthetic organic chemistry], Dr. Crystal Densmore (C-CDE) [polymer chemistry], Dr. Leif Brown (C-CDE) [surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy], Dr. Stephen Doorn [surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and nanoparticle fabrication], and Dr. Chris Leibman (C-CDE) [analytical method development and mass spectrometry]. NMSU's contribution to the proposed work includes Dr. Gary Rayson [analytical instrumentation design and data analysis]. Many of these researchers have previously collaborated on joint proposals.
Specific topics discussed included the use of surface enhanced Raman scattering for the detection of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) within maritime cargo containers, the application of an LED-based luminescence spectrometer developed at NMSU for the rapid acquisition and processing of excitation-emission spectra, the use of surface enhanced Raman scattering for the detection of single stranded DNA or RNA fragments separated within a liquid core capillary waveguide for sequencing determinations, and the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for remote detection of WMDs.
Contact: Peter Stark pstark@nmsu.edu
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