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Faculty

Department Head and Associate Department Head


	Shelley L. Lusetti Department Head	slusetti@nmsu.edu 575-646-5877 Office: 128	Dr. Lusetti is a biochemist interested in bacterial DNA repair mechanisms. She joined the faculty in 2006 and served as Associate Department Head from 2017 to 2019. Dr. Lusetti is the current director of NM-INBRE.
	Kevin D. Houston Associate Department Head	khouston@nmsu.edu 575-646-3918 Office: W371	Dr. Houston's research is aimed at defining the molecular mechanisms associated with anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer. He joined the faculty in 2011 and has been Associate Department Head since 2019. In this role, he is involved in outreach activities and undergraduate recruitment. Dr. Houston is also the departmental contact for alumni and donors.

Faculty


	Amanda K. Ashley Associate Professor Biochemistry/Toxicology	ashleyak@nmsu.edu 575-646-2084 Office: W372	DNA repair systems protect cells from damage and regulate cellular response to replication stress. Our research focuses on perturbations in DNA replication and repair in cancer biology to provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
	Christopher Baker Associate Professor Analytical Chemistry	cabaker@nmsu.edu 575-646-1015 Office: W373	The Baker Bioanalysis Lab leverages expertise in analytical chemistry, separation science, and microfluidics to develop new technologies that solve measurement challenges in chemical neuroscience and other areas of chemical biology. Current projects include developing novel brain-on-chip technologies with applications to Alzheimer's disease, and strategies for improving structural resolution in capillary electrophoresis separations.
	Scott Folkman Assistant Professor Electrochemistry / Inorganic Chemistry	sfolkman@nmsu.edu 575-646-7679 Office: W380	Research in the Folkman lab centers around fundamental and applied aspects of electrochemistry in electrochemical energy storage and green chemical transformations. We use synthesis to tune the properties of inorganic materials for electrocatalysis in green hydrogen production and organic molecules used as mediators in electro-organic synthesis. We use modern analytical methods to intimately understand reaction mechanisms, we fabricate devices to thoroughly characterize our catalysts in operando, and we are using machine learning algorithms to discover new catalytically active materials.
	Corey E. Frank Assistant Professor	cefrank@nmsu.edu 575-646-4029 Office: W377	The Frank Solid State Inorganic Lab focuses on the design and synthesis of new materials with interesting magneto-structural coupling behaviors and/or topologically non-trivial band features. We take inspiration from natural mineral structures, and we utilize a variety of techniques- from CVT and flux growth to high pressure/high temperature synthesis- to grow our crystals. Research in the Frank lab includes opportunities to travel to user facilities across the country for neutron or synchrotron diffraction experiments and to perform measurements at very high magnetic fields.
	Brian Gold Assistant Professor Organic Chemistry	bgold@nmsu.edu 575-646-2589 Office: W288B	In the Gold Laboratory, we seek to understand the fundamental principles underlying chemical structure and reactivity to develop innovative synthetic tools for chemical biology (and beyond). We utilize both computational and experimental techniques to develop highly specific transformations, novel reagents, and improved technologies. Current endeavors range from the development of novel methods for the processing of nuclear waste to the design and synthesis of both biologically active and biorthogonal reagents. Our research efforts depict that a training in the fundamentals of organic structure and reactivity enables unlimited exploration and discovery within the molecular sciences.
	Kevin D. Houston Professor Biochemistry	khouston@nmsu.edu 575-646-3918 Office: W371	Tamoxifen treatment is a common therapy for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Our laboratory discovered a new mechanism of tamoxifen action and we currently investigate the role of this mechanism in the development of chemoresistance.
	Shelley L. Lusetti Professor Biochemistry NIH NM-INBRE Director	slusetti@nmsu.edu 575-646-6016 Office: W370	The Lusetti lab is interested in the biochemical roles of novel enzymes involved in DNA damage response pathways through the reconstitution of recombinational DNA repair pathways. We employ comparative biochemistry to explain the differential DNA damage tolerance of multiple bacterial organisms.
	Barbara A. Lyons Professor Physical Chemistry NIH-BRIDGES Director	blyons@nmsu.edu 575-646-3473 Office: W296	My research seeks to identify the active functional form of the signaling molecules Grb7 and DNAJB1-PKAc, and to define the mechanistic details of how these molecules work in the establishment of primary tumors and metastases in breast and liver cancer.
	William A. Maio Professor Organic Chemistry	wmaio@nmsu.edu 575-646-4017 Office: W287	Marine organisms continue to be a source of novel natural products with interesting structural features and unique biological activity. Our laboratory is currently focused on the development of new synthetic methods useful in total synthesis.
	Marat R. Talipov Associate Professor Physical Chemistry	talipovm@nmsu.edu 575-646-5210 Office: W362A	Our research focuses on harnessing the power of supercomputers for discovery of novel small molecules and machine-learning design of photovoltaic materials and drugs.
	Rodolfo Tello-Aburto Associate Professor Organic Chemistry	rtelloab@nmsu.edu 575-646-3627 Office: W288A	Dr. Tello-Aburto’s research group is interested in the synthesis of bioactive natural products and their derivatives, as well as the study of their structure-activity relationships. Another interest is the development of novel synthetic methodologies to allow rapid access to these biologically relevant molecules and their analogues.
	Paulette Vincent-Ruz Assistant Professor Chemistry Education	pvr@nmsu.edu 575-646-2505 Office: 218	Dr. Vincent-Ruz's research seeks to build an understanding of the systemic disadvantages that hinder the success of marginalized students and their effect on student's chemistry attitudes, opportunities, and learning by using equity centered theories and methodologies. Her unique combination of Chemistry disciplinary knowledge and educational theory earned her the American Chemical Society's recognition as a Future Leader in Chemistry in 2019, the first time this was awarded to a chemistry education researcher.
	Cory Windorff Assistant Professor Inorganic Chemistry	windorff@nmsu.edu 575-646-3703 Office: W292	The Windorff group is a synthetic inorganic group that focuses on the redox chemistry of the lanthanides, actinides, and transition metals. We focus on the fundamental synthesis, spectroscopy, and reactivity of these elements as it relates to problems in energy generation, separations, and the environment. The Windorff group primarily uses air and water free techniques (Schlenk line/Glovebox) and spectroscopic methods including paramagnetic multi-nuclear NMR, UV-vis-NIR, IR, electrochemistry, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and more.
	Erik T. Yukl Professor Biochemistry	etyukl@nmsu.edu 575-646-3176 Office: W376	Our lab studies bacterial proteins that mediate zinc import and nitric oxide / oxidative stress sensing. These processes are essential for virulence among pathogenic bacteria. We use various biophysical and spectroscopic techniques including structure determination by X-ray crystallography.

Teaching & Research Faculty

	Nicholas Beltran College Assistant Professor	beltrann@nmsu.edu 575-646-2505 Office: 202
	Ramesh Chinnasamy College Associate Professor	ramesh@nmsu.edu 575-646-1812 Office: W293
	Deanna C. Dunlavy College Professor	ddunlavy@nmsu.edu 575-646-4823 Office: 216
	Ryan Marcheschi College Assistant Professor	rmarches@nmsu.edu 575-646-1584 Office: W379
	Gyoungil Lee Research Assistant Professor	glee@nmsu.edu

Emeritus Faculty


Name	Title	Email
M. Dale Alexander	Emeritus	dalexand@nmsu.edu
Lynford Ames	Emeritus
Jeffrey B. Arterburn	Emeritus, Regents Professor	jarterbu@nmsu.edu
Gary A. Eiceman	Emeritus	geiceman@nmsu.edu
Amudhu Gopalan	Emeritus	agopalan@nmsu.edu
James Herndon	Emeritus	jherndon@nmsu.edu
Robert Hoffman	Emeritus	rhoffman@nmsu.edu
Michael Johnson	Emeritus Regents Professor	johnson@nmsu.edu
Glenn D. Kuehn	Emeritus, Regents Professor	gkuehn@nmsu.edu
Antonio Lara	Emeritus	alara@nmsu.edu
William Quintana	Emeritus	wquintan@nmsu.edu
Gary D. Rayson	Emeritus	gdrayson@nmsu.edu
John Simons	Emeritus
Sergei Smirnov	Emeritus	snsm@nmsu.edu

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