Descriptions Archive

The Environmental Biogeochemistry and Biotechnology (EBB) Lab explores how microbes and the chemical reactions they drive influence the fate of critical materials and environmental contaminants. Our research integrates microbial cultivation, advanced analytical chemistry, and high-resolution imaging to better understand biochemical transformations for metals and organic pollutants. Many research projects also leverage in-demand computational skills to analyze large-scale environmental chemistry, DNA, and RNA data to characterize biogeochemical cycles in diverse habitats.

We foster a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment spanning chemistry, biochemistry, earth science, and engineering. We work closely with partners in government including Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada to translate our research into effective environmental policies that protect Canadians. We also work closely with partners in the solid waste and biotechnology sectors to develop environmental remediation strategies tailored to their needs. We are committed to inclusive mentorship and work with students to design projects that help them build skills in line with their career goals. Our team’s overarching vision is to develop sustainable, microbe-driven strategies for waste management tailored to real-world applications.

If you want to learn more about projects where you would be a good fit in the EBB lab, check out our website to learn more: https://carleton.ca/envbiotech/

Dr. Kate Marczenko is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Carleton University. Her research focuses on photoresponsive crystalline materials and the fundamental structure–property relationships that govern their light-induced behavior. Her group combines synthesis, crystallography, spectroscopy, and advanced materials characterization to understand and design dynamic solid-state systems. Dr. Marczenko has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-D) and the John Charles Polanyi Prize in Chemistry. She is committed to advancing curiosity-driven research while mentoring the next generation of scientists in materials chemistry.

Dr. Sabatino’s lab focuses on research that spans the areas of nucleic acid, peptide and protein chemical biology. Our research aims to develop synthetically modified biomolecules for applications related to human health, nanotechnology and the material sciences. Specific research applications include:

• RNA Biotechnology. The Sabatino lab has pioneered the design and development of a new class of synthetic branch and hyperbranch (dendrimer-type) RNA. These novel RNA structures template the assembly of discrete, higher-order RNA nanostructures for screening and silencing oncogene expression in cancer cell lines resulting in potent anti-cancer effects. The Sabatino lab continues to innovate novel nucleic acid (supra)molecular structures for enhancing their therapeutic applications.
• Peptide and Protein Chemical Biology. The application of cell-targeting and penetrating peptides in nucleic acid (and drug) delivery is an active area of research in the Sabatino group. These high-precision delivery systems aim to advance new drug delivery formulations into clinical practice. Moreover, the Sabatino lab also applies machine learning tools to design and develop novel peptide binding ligands of important immunological receptors for applications in cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development.

For more info visit, the Sabatino Lab

Safeguarding food integrity is about ensuring the safety, quality, and authenticity of food products. We, the FACT Lab, focus on the advancement and application of analytical chemistry and technologies to solve the persisting and emerging food integrity issues faced by the food industry. We take an interdisciplinary approach by organically integrating Analytical Chemistry, Nanomaterials, Microfluidic “Lab-on-a-Chip” Platform, Metabolomics, Bioinformatics, and Data Science to develop simple, rapid, cu_event_cost-effective, reliable and smart point-of-need sensors and instrumental methods to monitor and trace food products.

Using these novel technologies, we aim to provide the last barrier of protection to food integrity from farm to fork and thus to protect consumers, genuine food industries and government, as well as to reduce food waste and loss during the supply chain.

For more information, visit The FACT Lab

Research in the Rand Lab is rooted in environmental and analytical chemistry, and crosses with biochemistry and toxicology. These streams of research enable our group to develop analytical and biochemical tools to assess the impact of pollution in North America, and to provide knowledge that leads to safer consumer products. Our research also addresses emerging issues in environmental health, including the interaction between different kinds of environmental stressors (e.g. nutrition and environmental chemicals) that may alter relationships between exposure and effect. We focus on three streams of research:

• Routes of human exposure to organic contaminants
• Contaminant metabolism and biotransformation
• Contaminant effects on lipid signaling and modulators of contaminant action

For more information, visit The Rand Lab.

The Tsopmo Lab is interested in the structures of food molecules and their functionalities. Our research focuses on the hydrodynamic properties of proteins and peptides obtained from by-products of food processing and study how they can be used to improve the texture of foods by performing structural characterization using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.

We investigate the role of antioxidant molecules on health, lipid, and glucose absorption and metabolism. Oxidative damage to biological molecules increases the risks of developing many chronic diseases, and antioxidants molecules are useful in mitigating the risks. Using cellular models and molecular dynamics, the Lab is involved in the discovery of new antioxidant compounds from foods and human milk that reduce inflammation, inhibit lipid and glucose absorption, or decrease the differentiation of fat cells.

Vitamins and minerals are important for various physiological functions, and the Tsopmo Lab examines how the bioavailability of these nutrients is affected in foods grown in soil-less environments (i.e. vertical farming).

Metals such as hexavalent chromium and arsenic are toxic because of their oxidative stress induced damage to nucleotides and biomolecules. We are interested in finding peptides in foods that can reduce their toxicity by converting them to stable, non-toxic species.

For more information, visit The Tsopmo Lab.

The Rowley Group uses computer simulations to study biological and materials chemistry. We use a combination of molecular simulation, quantum chemistry, and machine learning to understand complex chemical systems and then to use these ideas to predict and design new chemical systems. Our core areas of interest are protein–drug binding, covalent modifier drugs, membrane permeation, and cryo-EM structure refinement. To make our models more accurate and to explore new types of chemistry, we develop new methods for computational chemistry, such as our hybrid neural network potential / molecular mechanical model.

For more information, visit the Rowley Group.

While not currently research active, my research generally focusses around pedagogy. I am interested in examining the effectiveness of different learning styles, methods, and technologies in technical sciences like chemistry, which have been previously proven useful in less technical fields. Effectiveness can be defined in terms of both short-term learning gains as well as long term retention and application. Some of the methods that I examine most closely are the use of blended learning and the flipped classroom models of instruction.

The primary research interest of the McMullin Group is studying chemical interactions between microorganisms and their environment through the biosynthesis of natural products. Natural products are ecologically significant as they enable specific species/strains to compete for resources or occupy an ecological niche. While natural products are important socioeconomically, for example as drugs, often unwanted chronic exposures have adverse health effects. These effects are often poorly characterized. To facilitate toxicological experiments and exposure assessments for better hazard characterization, chemical standards are required. This involves evaluating the toxigenic potential of ecologically relevant species/strains, purifying the principle toxins and elucidating their chemical structures. This type of research can have important implications for evidence-based decision making, toxicology and chemical ecology.

Students in the group develop transferable technical skills by (1) growing microorganisms to produce metabolites, (2) purifying and structurally characterizing chemicals, (3) developing analytical or metabolomics methods, and (4) assessing the biological activity of purified compounds. We currently focus on natural products produced by cyanobacteria and fungi.

For more information, visit The McMullin Group.

Using analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, the Lai Group focuses on the instrumental analysis of biochemical and environmental samples for public health using capillary electrophoresis, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and 3D microfluidics. New photochemical, electrochemical and optical phenomena are developed into analytical methods for enhanced sensitivity and selectivity: (a) molecularly imprinted polymers for the selective determination of therapeutic drugs in serum, ochratoxin A in red wine, and estrogenic compounds in wastewater treatment by solid-phase extraction with differential pulsed elution; (b) self-assembled monolayers and electropolymerized thin films for adsorption of toxic metals (Hg²⁺) and mycotoxins; (c) functionalization of colloidal nanoparticles for removal of endocrine disrupting compounds in environmental water and radioactive nuclides (Pu-238, Sr-90, Y-90,) in urine; (d) detection of nanoparticles in environmental water and air samples; (e) DNA binding with inorganic oxide nanomaterial surfaces; (f) interaction of nanoparticles with graphene quantum dots and simulated lung fluid; (g) surface chemistry/biochemistry of nanoparticles as related to electrochemical analysis by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

The Hosseinian Group conducts research in the area of phytochemistry/food biochemistry, focusing on:

• The extraction and characterization of novel biomolecules (mainly phenolic lipids and their interaction with dietary fibre) from agri-food by-products/waste;
• Investigating their structure-function relationship (biotransformation) in microemulsions/encapsulations in food and biological membranes (liposomes/artificial cell membranes);
• Enhancing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory activity for human health and well-being;
• Applying techniques (e.g. fermentation and germination) to reduce anti-nutritional factors in foods;
• And developing biomaterails from agri-food by-products/waste.

These novel biomolecules can have considerable potential for food science, agriculture, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, animal science and health science applications. Our lab is now more than 90% solvent free with innovative green techniques (SC-CO2 and Ultrasound) used to extract biomolecules.