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Chemistry major Caitlin Sullivan ’05 (Bethlehem, Pa.) has published her research in a scientific journal and been invited to present it at the premier national conference in her field. She also has been accepted into a special summer research program and had another paper accepted for publication in the journal.
Her EXCEL Scholars research with Joseph Sherma, Larkin Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, resulted in a paper titled “Development and Validation of an HPTLC-Densitometry Method for Assay of Caffeine and Acetaminophen in Multicomponent Extra Strength Analgesic Tablets,” which has been published in Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies.
In Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped to make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate in EXCEL each year share their work through articles in academic journals and/or conference presentations.
Sullivan also will report results from her research at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, which will be held Aug. 22-26 in Philadelphia. Her presentation will be part of a Student Award Symposium sponsored by the Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley. Last year, biochemistry major Jessica L. Schneck ’04 (Walnutport, Pa.) presented her research with Sherma and Bernard Fried, Kreider Professor Emeritus of Biology, through the same symposium at the American Chemical Society’s Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting at Princeton University.
“This award represents a significant honor for Caitlin because it is open to graduate and undergraduate students from Delaware Valley and Lehigh Valley colleges and universities with major courses of study in separation science, medicine, biochemistry, engineering, and chemistry,” says Sherma.
Fourteen Lafayette students have presented their research, or had it presented by others, at the past two national meetings of the American Chemical Society. Sullivan is excited about her publications and the upcoming conference.
“I think it’s amazing because in my field, you usually won’t get published until grad school,” she says. “I’m grateful that I can work closely with Dr. Sherma and get publications out. This will give me an edge in grad school. Just being selected for the (symposium) award is definitely a distinction – just about everyone in the East Coast doing major research in chemistry will be presenting at the conference.”
HPTLC stands for high-performance thin-layer chromatography, a procedure for separating closely related compounds for analysis. Sullivan developed a new HPTLC method for determining levels of caffeine and acetaminophen in over-the-counter cold medications. The groundbreaking method is faster and more efficient than current techniques.
“Lafayette’s facilities are amazing and the small-school environment is very advantageous to doing research,” says Sullivan, who hopes to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.
This summer, she will conduct research with the Center for Emeritus Scientists in Academic Research, a program affiliated with the Merck & Co. pharmaceutical company.
During the January interim session, she completed an EXCEL project with Sherma involving comparative evaluation of different brands and types of silica gel plates for the analysis of drugs by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies has accepted a paper describing her results for publication.
This semester, Sullivan is undertaking independent research under Sherma’s guidance that has included completion and validation of the first HPTLC assay for glucosamine nutritional supplements. She has prepared a manuscript reporting her results that will be submitted to a scientific journal.
A member of Sigma Xi, the international honor society for engineering and science research, Sullivan serves as a teaching assistant for general chemistry laboratory sessions and as a tutor with Lafayette’s Academic Resource Center. She’s also president of Tennis Club and a former lifeguard at Kirby Sports Center.
Through EXCEL, she conducted industrial analytical chemistry research last summer at chemical manufacturing company Mallinckrodt Baker Inc. in Lopatcong Township, N.J.
“I got the best of both worlds,” says Sullivan, explaining that her research on campus for the project was guided by Sherma, and her on-site work was led by Paul Bouis, research director of laboratory products at Mallinckrodt Baker.
Sullivan’s research, which she continued part-time during the fall semester, centered on finding ways to show scientists the benefits of Mallinckrodt Baker’s TLC and flash chromatography products. TLC is conducted on disposable plates, while flash chromatography is conducted in cylindrical columns, ranging from several inches to several feet high. Chemists who are synthesizing new compounds use TLC plates to screen the correct solvent mixture to use in flash chromatography.
“Caitlin was actually working on a prototype of an instrument to modernize flash chromatography,” Bouis says, explaining that the instrument has a built-in detector that indicates when a compound is emerging, and a low-pressure pump that pushes solvents through the column.
Sullivan conducted experiments proving that spherical silica is the most efficient sorbent material for scientists to use when combining thin-layer and flash chromatography techniques.
“Experimentally, I found the appropriate composition so that Baker can now produce its own TLC plates instead of repackaging other companies’ plates,” she says. “I felt a real purpose in the research that I did, and it was a very rewarding experience.”
Bouis says that while many Lafayette interns have gained experience at Mallinckrodt Baker, Sullivan was the first EXCEL Scholar to conduct research there.
“We’re hoping to do more and to work with other professors,” he says, pointing out that Sullivan excelled, especially considering she had completed only two years of college.
“She had a very good work ethic here and she went beyond what the project called for,” Bouis says. “She was very good at anticipating what needed to be done to solve a problem — and she’s very mechanically inclined.”
Sherma and Bouis met Sullivan during her senior year at Bethlehem Catholic High School, when she received a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. At the time, Bouis served as the section’s chair and Sherma was chair-elect.
“Working not only at Lafayette, but also in industry, is making me a more favorable candidate for graduate schools,” says Sullivan.
She notes that Sherma has been particularly helpful in her education.
“Dr. Sherma has been an amazing research adviser,” she says. “He is continually there to guide me through my research projects, and gives me enough independence to really learn the most from my research experience. He makes me strive for my goals, so that one day, I may possibly know as much about chemistry as he does.”
Author of more than 575 research papers, books, and reviews, Sherma has spent much of his career advancing the fields of pesticide analysis and chromatography, a procedure for separating closely related compounds for analysis. A recipient of the Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution by the American Chemical Society, Sherma has involved 145 different students as coauthors for 204 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Forty-two students were accepted to present their work at the conference last month.