Department of Chemistry and BiochemistryMSC 3C, P.O. Box 30001

New Mexico State UniversityLas Cruces, NM 88003-8001

575.646.2505

Additional information is available on the web: chemistry.nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University

Chemistry and Biochemistry

HOW TO APPLY - Go to the website and start an accounthttps://gradschool.nmsu.edu/how-to-apply/

Requirements Documents:Graduate school application fee*Official transcripts from each previous institution Statement of purposeOfficial GRE Scores Official TOEFL or IELT score, sent directly from ETS**Three Letters of Recommendation

*Fee waivers are available for domestic applicants. Contact etyukl@nmsu.edu**Only international applicants from undergraduate institutions not taught in English.

Financial Aid

All first year graduate students in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistryreceive financial aid in the form of a Teaching Assistantship. In addition, qualifiedapplicants are automatically entered for an Enhancement Award to completely offset thecost of tuition. Continued support through assistantships and/or awards is availablefor 3 years (M.S.) or 5 years (PhD) contingent on student performance and availabilityof funds.

Scholarships

Other awards, assistantships and fellowships are available to new and currentgraduate students. Please visit gradschool.nmsu.edu/awards__fellowships for moreinformation. Outstanding new applicants will be nominated by faculty forfellowships by March 1st so apply early!

Deadlines

Review of applications will begin on January 1st and continue until open positions arefilled. Domestic applications received after July 1st or international applicationsreceived after March 1st will not be consider for Fall enrolment

For questions regarding our program, please contact Dr. Erik Yukl etyukl@nmsu.edu

For questions regarding tuition and fees, visit http://uar.nmsu.edu/tuition-rates

Founded in 1888, New Mexico State University is the state's land-grant univer-sity, and takes seriously its mission, “serving the educational needs of NewMexico's diverse population through comprehensive programs of education,research, extension education, and public service.”

Classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research University with highresearch activity, NMSU also ranks 4th in R&D expenditures among High HispanicEnrollment Institutions based on the National Science Foundation HigherEducation Research and Development survey and ranks 6th in expenditures in lifesciences.

Recently, Diverse Issues in Higher Education ranked NMSU 11th in the nation forthe number of undergraduate degrees in biological and biomedical sciencesawarded to Native American students and 29th in the number awarded toHispanic students.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY EL PASO, TEXAS

LAS CRUCES & MESILLA

White Sands National Monument • Carlsbad Caverns • Gila National Forest Albuquerque • Santa Fe • Taos • Cloudcroft • Ruidoso • Tucson / Phoenix, Az

POPULAR DESTINATIONS

Situated in the Chihuahuan desert, Las Cruces is home to many museums andattractions, and is famous for the majestic Organ Mountains, now a nationalmonument. In the fertile Mesilla valley, the Rio Grande meanders past shadypecan orchards and colorful chile fields, highlighting the significance of agri-culture to the vibrant local economy. Las Cruces is the second largest city inNew Mexico, after Albuquerque, with a population of 100,000, with over200,000 when combined with Dona Ana County.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS AND EVENTS

Museum of Art • Museum of Nature and Science • Farm and Ranch Museum Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo • Farmer’s Market • Old Mesilla

Salsafest • Wine / Beer Festivals • Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIESHiking at Dripping Springs • Soledad Canyon • Aguirre Springs • Picacho Peak

Baylor Pass • Prehistoric Trackways National Monument • Kilbourne Hole

Just south of Las Cruces is the city of El Paso, Texas – a large metropolitan areawhich, when combined with its sister city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, boasts apopulation of over 2.7 million. Consistently ranked as the safest large city in theUnited States, El Paso is home to several federal and military agencies,including Fort Bliss, and is home to the El Paso Chihuahuas AAA minor leaguebaseball team. With access to an international airport, great shopping, arts andculture, and a vibrant night life, El Paso will be the place to visit on theweekends.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS AND EVENTS

Downtown El Paso • Music Festivals • The Sun Bowl • Symphony OrchestraMuseum of History • Holocaust Museum • International Museum of Art

Museum of Archaeology • War Eagles Museum • Plaza Theatre • El Paso ZooSunland Racetrack and Casino • Western Playland • Mt. Cristo Rey

Guadalupe Mountains National Park • Franklin Mountains • Heuco Tanks

WELCOME TO CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry offers M.S. and Ph. D. degreesin Chemistry with emphases in Analytical, Biochemistry, Inorganic, Organic andPhysical chemistry. With 16 research active faculty, you are sure to find researchthat excites you! Graduates from our program have gone on to productivecareers in academia, industry and government. So can you!

Paola Mera • Biochemistry

Gary Rayson • Analytical Chemistrygdrayson@nmsu.edu

Sergei Smirnov • Physical Chemistrysnsm@nmsu.edu web.nmsu.edu/~snsm/group

Marat Talipov • Computational Chemistrytalipovm@nmsu.edu

Our research focuses on harnessing the power ofsupercomputers for discovery of novel small molecules andmachine-learning design of photovoltaic materials and drugs.

Erik Yukl • Biochemistryetyukl@nmsu.edu wordpress.nmsu.edu/etyukl

Our lab studies bacterial proteins that mediate zinc import andnitric oxide / oxidative stress sensing. These processes areessential for virulence among pathogenic bacteria. We usevarious biopysical and spectroscopic techniques includingstructure determination by X-ray crystallography.

mera@nmsu.edu meralab.nmsu.eduOur goal is to identify novel antibiotic targets by definingregulatory genetic networks that control proliferation inbacteria. Our approach combines biochemistry, microbialgenetics, and high resolution imaging to produce a system’slevel understanding of the bacterial cell cycle.

My group studies physicochemical aspects of nanomaterialsand their applications including hybrid nanoporous materials indrug delivery and sensors, fundamental aspects of CVD growthof 2D materials and their applications in sensors, desalination,photovoltaic devices, and composite materials.

Our research involves analysis of complex environmental andagricultural samples using multivariate analysis of multi-dimensional spectroscopic response surfaces. One exampleuses 3-dimensional fluorescence spectra of fecal samples todetermine free-ranging animal ingestion of locoweed.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry offers MS & PhD degrees in Chemistry with emphases in:

Analytical • Biochemistry • InorganicOrganic • Physical

DEPARTMENT INFO

Be proud to represent ourdepartment by attending andpresenting your work atregional, national andinternational conferences

Travel grants are available

• Take advanced courses withsmall class sizes• Join a highly diverse andinternational community• Conduct dynamic, inter-disciplinary and collabor-ativeresearch

jarterbu@nmsu.eduOur research harnesses the power of synthetic chemistry forcancer drug discovery and the design of novel biologicalprobes. Current projects focus on new therapies for breastcancer and lipid labeling with fluorescent dyes for live cell andsuper-resolution microscopy.

ashleyak@nmsu.edu ashleylab.nmsu.edu

geiceman@nmsu.edu eicemanresearchgroup.nmsu.edu

agopalan@nmsu.edu

jherndon@nmsu.edu

Michael Johnson • Inorganic Chemistryjohnson@nmsu.edu

Antonio Lara • Analytical Chemistryalara@nmsu.edu

Barbara Lyons • Biochemistry / Physical Chemistryblyons@nmsu.edu

My research seeks to identify the active functional form of thesignaling molecules Grb7 and DNAJB1-PKAc, and to define themechanistic details of how these molecules work in theestablishment of primary tumors and metastases in breast andliver cancer.

Shelley Lusetti • Biochemistryslusetti@nmsu.edu wordpress.nmsu.edu/slusetti

William Maio • Synthetic Organic Chemistrywmaio@nmsu.edu williammaio.com

Marine organisms continue to be a source of novel naturalproducts with interesting structural features and uniquebiological activity. Our laboratory is currently focused on thedevelopment of new synthetic methods useful in total synthesis.

Jeffrey Arterburn • Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry

Amanda Ashley • Biochemistry / Toxicology

Gary Eiceman • Analytical Chemistry

Amudhu Gopalan • Organic Chemistry

James Herndon • Organic Chemistry

DNA repair systems protect cells from damage and regulatecellular response to replication stress. Our research focuses onperturbations in DNA replication and repair in cancer biology toprovide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Kevin Houston • Biochemistrykhouston@nmsu.edu khouston.nmsu.edu

Tamoxifen treatment is a common therapy for women withestrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Our laboratorydiscovered a new mechanism of tamoxifen action and wecurrently investigate the role of this mechanism in thedevelopment of chemoresistance.

We design multicomponent reactions that rapidly and reliablytransform simple starting materials into complex polycyclic ringsystems, using the unique reactivity of carbon transition metalsystems as the primary tool. These products frequently permitfacile access to medicinally-important compounds.

My research examines the kinetics and reaction mechanisms ofinorganic and bioinorganic reactions. Specifically, I focus onhigh oxidation state iron reactions as well as reactions atmembrane interfaces simulated by reverse micelles.

Our research focus is in the design, synthesis and evaluation ofchelators for multivalent cations for therapeutic and diagnosticapplications. We are interested in the iron transportproperties of analogs of petrobactin to understand how itmanages to evade recognition by our immune system.

Our research focus is to abate heavy metals & pathogens fromscarce and contaminated water sources, surface or ground, toproduce potable water. This is most important for the NavajoNation and Third World countries. The sorption materials areclay pellets that can be produced anywhere in the world.

The Lusetti lab is interested in the biochemical roles of novelenzymes involved in DNA damage response pathways throughthe reconstitution of recombinational DNA repair pathways. Weemploy comparative biochemistry to explain the differentialDNA damage tolerance of multiple bacterial organisms.

Reactions of molecules with ions in the gas phase are the basisfor measurements with advanced instruments. We explore suchreactions to enable technology development for air qualitymonitoring on spacecraft, detection of explosives in airportsecurity, and human metabolomics for diagnosis of diseases.