USF’s chemistry students gain national recognition
An exciting study underway in the chemistry lab of University of
St. Francis professor Salim M. Diab over the past three years has resulted in national recognition for professor and students. They will present their work in forensic chemistry in March at the 233rd American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting & Exposition in Chicago.
ACS is the world’s largest authority on chemistry. Its membership includes more than 165,000 academics, students and researchers in the field of chemistry and chemical engineering.
Participants include alumna Bettylou Wahl of Joliet, student Demond Gildon of Plainfield, and Diab. Wahl graduated in January with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and a minor in chemistry. She is working as a scientific assistant at Argonne National Laboratory. Gildon is a junior biology major and chemistry minor at USF. Diab has been a member of the American Chemistry Society for 30 years, and most recently presented his research on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at the ACS national meeting last year in Atlanta, Ga.
The project began as Diab was working in forensics chemistry studying the cyanide levels in human saliva. Contrary to other previous studies, initial results from Diab’s team show that there is no significant correlation between cigarette smoking and cyanide levels found in saliva. Research findings were first presented at the annual Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area (ACCA) student symposium at USF last April.
The ACS poster session that will showcase the team and their research will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, March 26 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers in Chicago. For more information on the National Meeting contact Dr. Salim Diab at 815.740.3855 or visit http://www.acs.org.