Publications

Facilities

Contact Information

Professor Laura J. Juszczak

Dept. of Chemistry

3111 Ingersoll Hall

2900 Bedford Ave.

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn, NY 11210

718 951-5000 ext. 1426

LJUZAK@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Office hours: 3 – 5 pm Tu; 3 - 4 pm Th

Current Interests

Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development.  An ongoing project involves the development of a patent pending, amyloid beta plaque dissolution drug. Drug development for neurodegenerative Alzheimer’s disease requires the fulfillment of many requirements: passage through the blood brain barrier, absence of toxicity, dosage determination efficacy, and lack of side effects. Since it is not possible to perform initial drug tests on humans, suitable animal models have been developed. One of these is the soil nematode, Caenohabditis elegans. We are currently developing a spectroscopic drug screening method using C. elegans mutant strains available through the NIH-supported Caenohabditis Genetics Center.

Protein Interaction with Metal Surfaces.  Proteins will adsorb to metal surfaces, and the protein adsorbed conformation varies with solution conditions and time. However, certain proteins have been found to irreversibly bind to metal surfaces, creating problems in diverse areas of biotechnology. Our contribution to the understanding of this problem will constitute the identification of protein motifs responsible for the persistent surface adherence using the surface Plasmon effect, which has sub-micromolar sensitivity.