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Dr. Kimberly Musa Specht
| Affiliation: | Faculty |
| Title: | Associate Professor and the James M. Carolyn O. Gillingham Endowed Professorship |
| Office: | 119 Ebaugh |
| Email: |
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| Phone: |
740-587-5695
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B.S. from University of Notre Dame, 1995
M.S. from Princeton University, 1997
Ph.D. from Princeton University, 2002
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View the Specht Group's Research Page
Field of Interest:
My research interests are interdisciplinary in nature, spanning the traditional boundaries of synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology. I am interested in the chemistry of biological surfaces, particularly those that contain sugars, and the role of the sugars at these surfaces.One project in my group looks to develop a model system for glycosylated surfaces. While cell surfaces are covered in carbohydrates, many of the details concerning interactions with carbohydrates are yet to be uncovered. In particular, we seek to develop a model system that contains sugars fixed in space and orientation to an extended sheet surface that will allow for the probing of sugar-sugar and sugar-conjugate interactions at defined spacings. My larger interest in surfaces containing sugars led me to an interest in bacterial cell walls. These cell walls contain a system of cross-linked sugars and peptides called peptidoglycan whose synthesis is the target of many commonly used antibiotics. A second on-going project studies the proteins that synthesize this peptidoglycan, called penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), from the bacterial species Burkholderia cenocepacia. This bacterium is an opportunistic pathogen that is of clinical relevance to Cystic Fibrosis patients. It is of particular interest because it is largely resistant to antibiotics, and utilizes many resistance mechanisms. In my lab, we have identified, cloned, expressed, and isolated several PBPs from this bacterium. We have begun studies to characterize these proteins.
I have a strong interest in working with undergraduate students and many students who have worked in my lab have presented their work at national conferences. I am also interested in the research regarding the best pedagogies for teaching chemistry. This has translated into lab development and classroom strategies that explore techniques current in the literature.
Teaching
Chem 121 - General Chemistry I plus Laboratory
Chem 223 - Organic Chemistry I plus Laboratory
Chem 224 - Organic Chemistry II plus Laboratory
Chem 228 - Organic Chemistry Majors Lab
Chem/Bio 302 - Biochemistry plus Laboratory
Chem 470 - Senior Seminar
Chem 402 - Advanced Organic Chemistry
FYS 102 - First Year Seminar "Science in the Media"
INTD 150 - Comsumption: Food Choice
Publications
Specht, K.M.; *Sheetz, K.; *Alexander, C.A.; *Lamech, L.T.; *O'Connor, L.H.; *Walker, D.M.; and *Stevenson, H.P. 2010. Expression and Characterization of Penicillin-Binding Proteins in Burkholderia cenocepacia. Current Microbiology. v. 60 no. 4 p. 274-279
Specht, K.M.; Jackson, M.; *Sunkel, B.; Boucher, M.A. 2010. Synthesis of a functionalized sheet silicate derived from apophylite and further modification by hydrosilylation. Applied Clay Science. v. 47 p. 212-216
Boucher, M.A.; Specht, K.M. 2009. A Forensic-Themed Case Study for the Organic Lab
. Journal of Chemical Education. v. 86 no. 7 p. 847-848
Fan, Q.-W.; Specht, K.M.; Zhang, C.; Goldenberg, D.D.; Shokat, K.M.; and Weiss, W.A. 2003. Combinatorial Efficacy Achieved Through Two-Point Blockade within a Signaling Pathway - A Chemical Genetic Approach. Cancer Research. v. 63 p. 8930-8938
Specht, K.M. and Shokat, K.M. 2002. The Emerging Power of Chemical Genetics. Current Opinion in Cell Biology. v. 14 p. 155-159
Specht, K.M.; Nam, J.; Ho, D.M.; Berova, N.; Kondru, R.K.; Beratan, D.N.; Wipf, P.; Pascal Jr., R.A. and Kahne, D.. 2001. Determining Absolute Configuration in Flexible Molecules: A Case Study. Journal of the American Chemical Society. v. 123 no. 37 p. 8961-8966
Specht, K.M.; Harris, C.R.; Molander, G.A.; and Kahne, D. 1999. SmI2 Cleavage of Chromomycin A3 Sugars. Tetrahedron Letters. v. 121 p. 1237-1238
Domagala, J.M.; Gogliotti, R.; Sanchez, J.P.; Stier, M.A,; Musa, K.; Song, Y.; Loo, J.; Reily, M.; Tummino, P.; Harvey, P.; Hupe, D.; Sharmeen, L.; Mack, D.; Scholten, J.; Saunders, J.; and McQuade, T. 1997. 2,2'-Dithiobisbenzamides and 2-Benzisothiazolones, Two New Classes of Antiretroviral Agents: SAR and Mechanistic Considerations. Drug Design and Discovery. v. 15 p. 49-61
Toledo, L.M.; Musa, K.; Lauher, J.W.; Fowler, F.W. 1. Development of Strategies for the Preparation of Designed Solids - An Investigation of the 2-Amino-4(1H)-pyrimidone Ring-System for the Molecular Self-Assembly of Hydrogen-Bonded Alpha-Networks. Chemistry of Materials. v. 7 p. 1639-1647
Presentations
Boucher, M.A.; Specht, K.M. July. Was it murder? Introducing FT-IR through a case study from organic chemistry. 20th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. Bloomington, IN
Specht, K.M. Apri. Exploring Antibiotic Resistance: Identification and Expression of Penicillin-Binding Proteins from Burkholderia cenocepacia. Invited seminar speaker at Colby College. Waterville, ME
Boucher, M.A.; Specht, K.M. 2007. Was it murder? A case study for an organic laboratory. Poster Presentation at the American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting. Boston, MA
Specht, K.M. A. Adventures in Chemical Biology: Cloning and Expression of Penicillin-Binding Proteins. Invited seminar speaker at Utica College. Utica, NY
Student Presentations
*Alexander, C.M.; *Lamech, L.T.; Specht, K. August 2007. Cloning and overexpression of an E. coli PBP1a homolog from Burkholderia cenocepacia into E. coli. Poster Presentation at the American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting. Boston, MA
*O'Connor, L.H.; *Lamech, L.T.; Specht, K. August 2007. Cloning and overexpression of a putative penicillin-binding protein from Burkholderia cenocepacia in E. coli. Poster Presentation at the American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting. Boston, MA
*Stevenson, H.; *Hickey, D.; Specht, K. September 2006. Bocillin™ PBP Labeling and Detection Studies. Poster Presentation at the American Chemical Society 232nd National Meeting. San Francisco, CA
*Cobb, K.B.; Specht, K.M. April 2006. In vivo Monitoring of PBP1b in E. coli. Poster Presentation at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Annual Meeting and Centennial Celebration. San Francisco, CA
*Stevenson, H.; Specht, K. November 2005. Plasmid design for the fusion of PBP1a with the fluorescent protein GFP. Poster Presentation at the Columbus Section American Chemical Society Meeting. Columbus , OH
*indicates Denison University undergraduate student co-authors
