For the past seven years, I have collaborated with Dr. Kelly Drew and Dr. Tom Green in the study of metabolic suppression observed in arctic ground squirrels. Arctic ground squirrels (AGS) exhibit extreme metabolic suppression when they hibernate. Because of their ability to drastically suppress their metabolism during hibernation, AGS are used as an animal model for neuro and cardio protection in the study of traumatic tissue damage such as strokes and heart attacks. My research in this area involves chemical analysis of tissues to determine neurotransmitter levels during the course of various experiments to see if neurotransmitter concentrations can be correlated with the physiological triggering of hibernation events.

In addition to my collaborative work with Dr. Drew and Dr. Green, I am also interested in a variety of synthetic chemistry projects. My principle interest is organometallic synthesis which involves a combination of inorganic and organic synthetic techniques. I am currently pursuing a variety of organometallic projects that include molecular modeling, synthesis and structure determination of various iron and ruthenium based compounds.

1. Kelly L. Drew*, C. Loren Buck, Brian M. Barnes, Sherri L. Christian, Brian T. Rasley, Michael B. Harris, Central Nervous System Regulation of Mammalian Hibernation.  Journal of Neurochemistry, 2007, 102(6),  1713-1726.

2. Ramesh R. Pant, Brian T. Rasley, Joseph P. Buckley, Christopher T. Lloyd, Robert F. Cozzens, Patrick G. Santangelo, James H. Wynne  Synthesis, Mobility Study and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Novel Self-Spreading Ionic Silicone Oligomers.  Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2007, 104(5), 2954-2964.

3. McGill, Colin M., Swearingen, Kristian E., Drew, Kelly L., Rasley, Brian T., Green, Thomas K. Reaction of Naphthalene-2,3-dialdehyde with Cyanide; A Unique Oxidative Condensation Product J. Heterocyclic Chem., 42, 2005, 42(4), 475-481.