MARCH 18 – 22, 2018 | New Orleans, LA
ACS National Meeting & Expo |Nexus of Food, Energy & Water
ACS ANYL Featured Symposium
Analytical Chemistry in the Developing World
Organizers:
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Catharine Brady, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT |
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Adam Cooper, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Stetson University, Deland, FL |
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Marya Lieberman, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN |
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Tracy Cleary, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN |
Analytical chemistry is a powerful tool to identify, characterize, and solve interdisciplinary problems in the global development sector. Leaders in academia, industry, governmental agencies, and the nonprofit sector contribute significantly to overcome challenges in the developing world. Collaboration among these academics and professionals is essential. This symposium, organized by REU students in analytical chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, focuses on our research projects focus on topics such as energy, food, water, and public health. Leaders and researchers will join us to further the discussion about obstacles faced in resource-limited areas. This set of symposia entails a poster session and multi-day Oral presentations that span topics of energy, food, water, and public health, including areas described further below:
1. Alternative Energy Solutions for the Developing World:
Providing affordable and sustainable energy production methods is instrumental in reducing pollution emissions that are currently synonymous with rapid industrial development, as well as allowing for energy reliability and accessibility throughout the world.The proposed speakers focus on various aspects of alternative energy such as solar energy, biofuel development, and energy capture and storage.
2. Analytical Methods for Food and Nutrition Security:
Food scarcity and nutrition quality have been the focus of humanitarian efforts around the world. Accessible analytical methodology is paramount to the ability of low resource communities to assess and address risk factors that may be in their food supply. Talks in this session will focus on the determination of contaminants in food through novel analytical assays and scientific solutions to pressing problems in the field.
3. Analytical Chemistry’s Role in Environmental Health:
Creating access to and having the ability to test for safe water is currently an important subdiscipline of analytical chemistry due to its limited availability in many developing countries. This session will focus on the development of affordable and deployable sensors for common nutrients and contaminants and the global development infrastructure and international policy required for the success of these interventions.
4. Pharmaceutical Access and Quality:
There have been considerable efforts in the past few decades to provide essential medicines to individuals in low resource settings. However, with the success of distribution came the problems of poor handling, manufacturing, and counterfeiting in settings without thorough pharmaceutical review boards. This session will focus on efforts to deploy high-quality pharmaceuticals to those in need and novel methodology for quality assurance and screening of pharmaceuticals for the end user.
5. Affordable and Sustainable Analytical Diagnostic Techniques
Portable, cheap and easy to use diagnostic techniques have brought the capabilities of well-funded hospitals to low resource settings. Recent advancements in paper and microfluidic-based devices may lead to a rapid surge in early, widespread diagnosis of disease and subsequent lives saved. This session will focus on the analytical chemists making these devices as well as their targeted end users, experienced medical professionals accustomed to the challenges of working in resource-poor locations.