As part of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Seminar Series, Oberlin's own Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Rachel A. Saylor will present on the topic "Separations, Spectroscopy, and Worms, Oh My!"

Sponorsed by the Luke E. Steiner Lecture Fund.

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Abstract:

Anxiety disorders are challenging to diagnose and treat effectively, in part because their specific biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. This knowledge gap is compounded by the difficulty of analytically interrogating delicate and complex brain tissue for neurochemical concentrations. With the goal of overcoming these challenges, the Saylor lab has focused on developing and improving spectroscopic and capillary electrophoresis-based methods for the analysis of neurochemically-relevant primary amines in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Long-term, we aim to employ the techniques and strategies we develop to interrogate both behavior and neurochemical concentration in Caenorhabditis elegans.