• Professor, Chemistry

Karen Wooley

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• Ph.D. in Polymer and Organic Chemistry at Cornel University

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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An alternative to chemotherapy Nanoparticles tackle pediatric brain tumors July 14, 2008 -- Wooley Download An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, is a step closer to delivering cancer-killing drugs to pediatric brain tumors, similar to the tumor that Senator Ted Kennedy is suffering from. Such tumors are often difficult to completely remove surgically; frequently, cancerous cells remain following surgery and the tumor returns. Chemotherapy, while effective at treating tumors, often harms healthy cells as well, leading to severe side effects especially in young children that are still developing their brain functions. In an effort to solve this problem, the Wooley lab has developed polymeric nanoparticles that can entrap doxorubicin, a drug commonly used in chemotherapy, and slowly release the drug over an extended time period.

Whitesides ponders the origin of life Harvard professor George Whitesides ponders new ideas in chemistry and the origin of life Jan. 24, 2008 -- Innovative researcher George Whitesides will speak on revolutionary ideas in chemistry that may lead to a new understanding of the origin of life for the Ferguson Science Lecture at 11 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 6 in Graham Chapel as part of the Assembly Series.

Tiny helpers Nanostructures show potential to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric brain cancer April 9, 2007 -- The magnified nanoparticles shown here are actually about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Chemistry meets biology in this innovative research program. Using synthetic particles invisible to the naked eye, researchers hope to better diagnose and treat childhood brain cancer, the third most common cancer of children. The particles are called nanostructures or nanoparticles because they are measured in nanometers, an almost unimaginably small unit, a billion times shorter than a yardstick.

Like a sponge Triple threat polymer captures and releases June 8, 2006 -- David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Karen L. Wooley and lab members examine polymer samples. Download A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a remarkable nanostructured material that can repel pests, sweeten the air, and some day might even be used as a timed drug delivery system — as a nasal spray, for instance. Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, has taken the same materials that she developed more than four years ago as marine "antifouling" coatings that inhibit marine organisms such as barnacles from attaching to the hull of ships to now capture fragrance molecules and release them at room temperature. More...

The road not taken Electrons choose another path in photosynthesis protein May 4, 2006 -- David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Christine Kirmaier (left) and Dewey Holten making adjustments in their sophisticated laser laboratory. Their findings advance the understanding of photosynthesis. Download In the famous Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken," the persona, forced to travel one of two roads, takes the one less traveled by, and "that has made all the difference." Chemists at Washington University in St. Louis and Stanford University, in kinship with Frost, have modified a key protein in a bacterium to move electrons along a pathway not normally traveled by. They got this to happen 70 percent of the time. That yield "makes all the difference." More...

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Finding Industry Funding Science Magazine March 14, 2008 -- WUSTL's Karen Wooley, professor of chemistry, comments on the difficulties and approaches academic researchers use to garner industry funding.

Universities selected for nanotech research San Francisco Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 10 others Oct. 4, 2005 -- WUSTL is one of seven university consortia selected by the National Cancer Institute to spearhead research hubs called Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, which will bring together academic laboratories and private firms to develop anti-cancer products. The research involves the use of molecular-scale nanotechnology devices to detect and destroy tumor cells. From the Post-Dispatch article -- the WUSTL center will be headed by Samuel Wickline. In April, WUSTL got another grant, worth $12.5 million, for a separate nanotechnology center headed by chemist Karen Wooley.

Macromolecular Architectures
In the area of macromolecular architectures, highly branched polymers have shown unusual physical properties in comparison to traditional linear polymer chains. The group studies the synthesis of perfluorinated hyperbranched materials, and their ability to serve as minimally-adhesive and chemically-resistant materials. Hyperbranched polycarbonates are being studied as soluble and reactive analogs to the polycarbonates that are typically used as excellent engineering materials. Micromechanical properties of these materials are investigated with atomic force microscopy.

Nanoscale
Shell-crosslinked Knedels, amphiphilic nanometer-sized spheres, assembled through micellar-organization followed by linking together of the peripheral shell, contain a mobile hydrophobic core surrounded by a water-soluble layer. Such structures are being targeted for applications as broad as drug delivery, encapsulation technologies, coatings, pollutant removal systems, catalysis, composites, among others. Hollowing of the nanoparticles, via excavation of the hydrophobic core material, produces nanoscale cage-like structures, which are being developed for performance as mimics of viral capsids. Dendrimeric cylinders, liquid crystalline sub-units and graft copolymer micellar structures also are being developed for the construction of the desired architectures; and, degradable polymers. Poly(silyl ester)s, containing labile silyl ester bonds along the backbone of the polymer, are studied as a new family of degradable polymers in which stability toward nucleophilic attack is dependent upon the substituents attached to the silicon atoms.