Elmer Ledesma
email: ledesme@stthom.edu
Elmer B. Ledesma is an Assistant Professor (Chemistry) in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at the University of St. Thomas (UST). His current teaching duties include general chemistry lecture and lab, organic chemistry lab, and environmental chemistry lecture. His research interest is in the pyrolysis and combustion of solid and liquid fuels. He is co-faculty advisor for the UST American Chemical Society Student Affiliates Chapter and he also serves as a freshman advisor and mentor.
Elmer B. Ledesma obtained his BSc (Chemistry) and PhD (Physical Chemistry) from the University of Sydney. For his PhD research he investigated the pyrolysis and combustion of coal tar. After completing his PhD studies, Elmer B. Ledesma conducted postdoctoral research on solid and liquid fuel pyrolysis under atmospheric and supercritical conditions in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He was next employed as a Research Associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Louisiana State University, followed by employment as a Senior Scientist for Schering-Plough Research Institute in Summit, NJ.
Beginning in 2011, Elmer B. Ledesma will serve as Program Chair for the Applied Chemical Technology subdivision of the ACS national division, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. He is also a member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Combustion Institute.
Greg Godziela
Izabela Tworowska
email: izabela.tworowska@gmail.com
Izabela Tworowska received her M.Sc. in clinical pharmacy from the Medical University of Lodz, Poland and her Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry of modified nucleotides from the Polish Academy of Science. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Rice University in the Department of Biochemistry studying structures and dynamics of tRNA’s using NMR. Currently, Dr. Tworowska is a Director of Chemical Research and Drug Development at RadioMedix Inc. - Houston-based biotech company developing new radiolabeled agents for diagnostic and therapy of cancer. She has published over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals, serves on editorial board of Journal of Biophysical Chemistry and panel reviews, and has received numerous awards including International Award for Young Chemist, IUPAC (2002) and Sigma-Aldrich Award. Dr. Tworowska has an interest in medicinal chemistry and synthesis of multimodality imaging probes. Her current research focuses on synthesis of multi-functional chelating agents for radioisotope coordination and application of carbon nanotubes as vehicle for targeted cancer imaging. She is also involved in the synthesis and evaluation of agents targeting Hedgehog signaling pathway.