To access the Zoom link, please contact Leslie Sombers at lasomber@ncsu.edu.

Electrochemical Biosensors and Nanocatalysts

I am an Engineer in Materials Science turned Analytical Chemist during my Ph.D. So, I got lost according to the engineers and saw the light according to the Chemists. I worked in different electrochemical sensors from wireless corrosion sensors to biosensors. When I finished my Ph. D., I was given the opportunity to have my own research laboratory at Universidad Ana G. Mendez, Gurabo Campus, a primarily undergraduate university. Now, five years have passed, and I think I learned some things… I hope my short experience helps you understand better what happens after you graduate from your Ph.D. if you are eager to do your own research.

My research laboratory is mainly focused on electrochemical biosensors and nanomaterials. We are going to start from a telomerase-based biosensor that detects cancer cells in half an hour that allowed us to start a company to carry this project into a real product. Then, we will talk about an interdisciplinary project between Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, and Industrial Design to design and synthesize fluorescent quantum dots for a point-of-care cancer detection system. These two projects marked the beginning of my research lab into the two areas: Biosensors applied to neurochemistry and nanomaterials for energy devices. In neurochemical biosensors, we will discuss our work developing novel techniques with surface-modified microelectrodes to measure different biomolecules that are related to neurodegenerative diseases. In the nanomaterials area, we will discuss our work developing electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction for alkaline fuel cells.

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