Faculty & Staff

Dr. Bolitho teaches in the organic chemistry and biochemistry curricula at USF. Her research interests center around the phenomenon of bacterial quorum sensing, a process by which bacteria are able to communicate with each other using small molecules. The Bolitho lab uses the techniques of organic synthesis, biochemistry, and molecular biology to develop inhibitors of quorum sensing in bacterial pathogens and means of evaluating them as potential agents against disease.

Dr. Curtis' areas of interest and research in inorganic chemistry include: optical and thermal electron-transfer processes, redox kinetics and electrolyte effects thereon, solvent-solute interactions and second coordination sphere interactions.

In 1995, Dr. Margerum joined USF as assistant professor of analytical and inorganic chemistry. He currently has undergraduate and masters students exploring the following research areas:
-The Effect of Dendrimer Size and pH on the Binding of Metal Complexes using electrochemistry.
-Immobilized Dendrimers as Platforms for Multivalent Binding of Metal Ions using spectroscopy techniques and solid-phase synthesis.
-Implementing technology-based learning tools for chemical education (OWL, CPR, clickers in the classroom, POGIL)

Prior to joining the University of San Francisco, Dr. Meloni carried out post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley and at Sandia National Laboratories. In his research, he employed state-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques, to study semiconductor clusters, van der Waals species, and hydrocarbon radicals. Dr. Meloni's interests range from high-temperature physical chemistry to spectroscopic characterization of reaction intermediates. More recently, his research group performs experiments at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using a multiplex photoionization mass spectrometer to investigate biofuel molecules combustion and atmospheric reactions.