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Mary J. Wirth, Department of Chemistry, The University of Arizona
Photo of Mary J. Wirth

Mary J. Wirth


Professor of Chemistry
Professor, BIO5 Institute for Collaborative Research
mwirth@email.arizona.edu
Old Chemistry 211
Phone: (520) 626-0969
Fax: (520) 621-8407

Honors


  • ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Spectrochemical Analysis, 2006
  • Gold Medal Award, NY Section, Society for Applied Spectroscopy, 2005
  • Anachem Award, Detroit Section, American Chemical Society, 2005
  • Special Creativity Award, National Science Foundation, 1994

Education and Appointments


  • B.S. 1974, Northern Illinois University
  • Ph.D. 1978, Purdue University

Research Interests


  • Analytical
  • Biological
  • Bioanalytical
  • Biophysical
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Surface Science

Research Summary

Bioanalytical chemistry, Spectroscopy, Separations, Biophysics, Nanotechnology

Our research is to make faster measurements in chemical biology. We design new materials to enable faster biomarker discovery and analysis so that diseases such as cancer can be detected while they are more easily curable. We design materials to enable faster drug discovery that will cure these diseases more effectively. Students in our group become expert in such techniques as fluorescence microscopy, chemical separations, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and materials science. We collaborate extensively with other research groups, other departments and universities, and industry.

Selected Publications

  • High Speed Electroseparations inside of Silica Colloidal Crystals, Suping Zheng, Eric Ross, Michael A. Legg, Mary. J. Wirth, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 128, 9016-9017 (2006).

  • Probing tailing for commercial stationary phases by AFM, FTIR and HPLC, Michael Legg and Mary J. Wirth, Analytical Chemistry, 78, 6457-6464 (2006).

  • NMR and Computational Studies of Chiral Discrimination by Amylose(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate), Yun K. Ye, Shi Bai, Shyam Vyas, and Mary J. Wirth, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 11, 1189-1198 (2007).

  • Probing orientations of single fluorescent labels on a peptide reversibly binding to the delta-opioid receptor, Takahira Tokimoto, Tomika R.C. Bethea, Min Zhou, Indraneel Ghosh, and Mary J. Wirth, Applied Spectroscopy, 61, 130-137 (2007).

  • Peptide Labeled Quantum Dots for Imaging GPCRs in Whole Cells and as Single Molecules, Min Zhou, Eri Nakatani, Luisa S. Gronenberg, Takahira Tokimoto, Mary J. Wirth, Victor J. Hruby, Amber Roberts, Ronald M. Lynch, and Indraneel Ghosh, Bioconjugate Chemistry, 18, 323-332 (2007).