Holy Cross Chemistry Professor Receives Award to Conduct Research on Microfluidics

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Camille and Henry Drefyus Foundation has awarded Kimberley Frederick, associate professor of chemistry at the College of the Holy Cross, a $60,000 Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award for her proposal titled “Studies of flow processes in microfluidic systems involving polyelectrolyte multilayers, thermoresponsive polymers and guanosine gels.”

Frederick will use the money to buy components to conduct research in microfluidics or “lab on a chip,” a relatively new technology that aims to do chemical reactions and analyses on single drops of solutions. By decreasing the size of the samples, it is possible to do multiple analyses more quickly and with less chemical waste. This has important applications in biomedical tests which can often take hours or days. Microfluidics is also being studied in environmental testing, pharmaceutical analysis and industrial quality control.

The goal of the project is to develop new technologies or methodologies which would be helpful to other researchers or companies as they work toward implementing “lab on a chip” chemical analysis methods. The money will also allow Frederick and her students to present their research at national scientific meetings.

The Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program is “intended to support and encourage young scholars who demonstrate excellence in both research and teaching” and emphasizes the nominee’s accomplishments in teaching and scholarly research with undergraduate students. The award was given to seven individuals this year.

Frederick, of Worcester, has been at Holy Cross since fall 2003. She has previously conducted research on electrosomotic flow and the development of new methods of detection using Raman spectroscopy in the field of forensics. She earned her bachelor’s in chemistry from Lawrence University and her Ph.D. from Purdue University.