Bergen, N.Y. Resident and UNH Grad to Publish in New Journal of Chemistry
Theory of Thermal Cycling May Lead to Better Way to Build a Molecule
West Haven, Conn., June 12, 2009-Bergen, N.Y. resident and University of New Haven (UNH) graduate Dan Osipovitch '09, has published an advance article on his research, "Systems Chemistry and Parrondo's Paradox: Computational Models of Thermal Cycling" in an on-line edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry's New Journal of Chemistry with co-authors Dr. Carl Barratt, professor of mechanical engineering and Dr. Pauline M. Schwartz, professor of chemistry at the University of New Haven. The study will be published in the New Journal of Chemistry this summer.
Osipovitch's work examines a mathematical concept known as Parrondo's paradox, which motivated the development of several novel computational models of chemical systems in which thermal cycling is explored. Fundamentally, his research contributes to a growing understanding that even simple chemical systems may behave paradoxically, and that forced oscillating temperature conditions may induce such an outcome. Though the work is theoretical, the theory of thermal cycling may have real-world applications for making molecules less expensively, more quickly and with more specificity. Osipovitch notes that the theory could potentially be applicable in fields such as enzyme biochemistry, chemical engineering, prebiotic chemistry and organic chemistry.
Following several years of research with Schwartz and Barratt, Osipovitch presented his work to the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR) in Washington, D.C. and the Experimental Biology national meeting in Orleans this spring. He is now pursuing a graduate degree in pharmacology research and development in the Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine at Dartmouth College.
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