Eric Silver Email & Phone Number

Linden, New Jersey, United States

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Working in the group of Prof. Marc Hillmyer in the Department of Chemistry. I design and synthesize block polymers and block polyelectrolytes through controlled radical methods. I make thin films of self-assembled block polymers, including processing and characterization through a suite of techniques to evaluate nanoscale morphologies, including AFM, SAXS, GISAXS, TEM, ATR-IR, and ellipsometry. Focus on applications in separation technologies, specifically water purification and battery separators.

Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, Japan

I performed research in the laboratory of Prof. Takuzo Aida of the School of Engineering. During my time in Tokyo I focused on investigating the behavior of novel stimuli-responsive self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in aqueous solutions and their use for modeling the behavior of water molecules at hydrophobic surfaces, as well as using SAMs to produce catalytic systems.

Austin, Texas Area

Studied the synthesis and properties of copolymers incorporating neutral, macrocyclic receptors for anions. These polymers were demonstrated to undergo supramolecular cross linking in the presence of bisanions, and could also be used in solid-liquid extractions of salts from aqueous solutions. This work led to a number of publications, including in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In parallel, I synthesized and evaluated a library of derivatives of 6-shogaol (a naturally occurring compound in ginger) for the prevention of prostate cancer through in vitro cell assays. This work was performed in collaboration with the Dell Pediatrics Research Institute. Skills acquired included small molecule and macromolecular synthesis, small molecule analysis by NMR and LC-MS, polymer characterization by SEC, TGA, DSC, and DMA, supramolecular characterization techniques, i.e. determination of affinity constants by UV-vis and fluorescence titrations, Ubbelohde viscometry techniques, and cell culturing and MTT assays to evaluate the effectiveness of chemopreventives.

Austin, Texas Area

Organic laboratory teaching assistant for both pre-medical students, as well as for chemistry majors and engineers.

Austin, Texas Area

I worked on the development of a chemical library based on 6-shogaol, a naturally occurring compound in ginger, to produce a chemopreventive of prostate cancer under Profs. Jonathan L. Sessler and John DiGiovanni. This work led to a large number of new molecules being synthesized, and these compounds were evaluated through in vitro studies in three prostate cancer cell lines, as well as in vivo studies in mouse models. This work was performed in collaboration with the Dell Pediatrics Research Institute.

Greater Boston Area

I worked in the laboratory of Prof. Mark Grinstaff of the Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering Departments on the synthesis of novel dendrimers for drug delivery.

Greater Boston Area

I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Laurie Goodyear studying the Calmodulin Kinase protein signalling pathways.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Organic Chemistry

Bachelor'S Degree, Chemistry