Chemistry & Biochemistry

Harrison Group Page

Curriculum Vitae

• B.Sc., Concordia University, Montreal Quebec
• Ph.D., University of Alberta, Edmonton (Lucy Group)
• Postdoc, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Bowser Group)
• joined San Diego State University in 2007.

Research Interests

The Harrison Lab is interested in exploring and expanding the capabilities of capillary electrophoresis for conducting chemical and biochemical analyses. Capillary electrophoretic (CE) separations at their simplest are separation of ionic analytes, based on their charge to size ratio, in a thin glass capillary, with a voltage difference from one end to the other. This generalization however belies the complexity of how the solution and analytes move through this capillary, as well as the various interactions that occur at the interface of the capillary and the buffer solution.

Exploring CE separations is a large part of the research that is being undertaken in the Harrison Lab. By learning how the modifications we make to our sample buffer, or how additives can alter the capillary surface, we can find new ways of conducting separations of complex mixtures. Much of our work has focused on exploring how biologically inspired phospholipid bilayers can be used, and tweaked, to alter the electroosmotic flow in a CE separation, and to prevent protein adsorption. More recently we have been exploring how deep eutectic solvents can be employed in the CE separation buffer to yield unique separations that are unattainable with conventional aqueous buffers.

Applications of CE separations are also a focus of the Harrison Lab, often informed by our exploration of how to manipulate separation conditions. We have explored how CE separations can be used to identify blood doping in athletes, both by looking at blood proteins, as well as whole blood cells. WE have also been exploring how CE separations can be applicable to the search for chemical evidence of past life on planets like Mars.

Head over to the Harrison Lab group page to learn more about our current endeavors.

Selected Publications

1. "Fluorescently Labeling Amino Acids in a Deep Eutectic Solvent,"
   Torres, Jessica; Campos, Karen S,; Harrison, Christopher R.,
   Analyt. Chem. 94, 16538-16542 (2022). (doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c03980.)
2. "Informatics analysis of capillary electropherograms of autologously doped and undoped blood,"
   Shiladitya Chatterjee, Sean C. Chapman, George H. Major, Denis L. Eggett, Barry M. Lunt, Christopher R. Harrison and Matthew R. Linford,
   Analyt. Methods 11, 1868-1878 (2019). (doi: 10.1039/C9AY00192A.)
3. "Successfully navigating the early years of a faculty position,"
   Michelle L. Kovarik & Christopher R. Harrison & Thomas J. Wenzel,
   Analyt. Bioanalyt. Chem. 410, 1855–1861 (2018). (doi: 10.1007/s00216-017-0817-5.)