Associate Professor –
Analytical/Forensic Chemistry
International Forensic Research
Institute
Department of Chemistry
Florida International University
305-348-7543, fax 305-348-3772
mccordb@fiu.edu
* Send me
a
note. *
Links
Classes
Items in the News:
DNA Typing project:
http://www.iscpubs.com/articles/al/a0403mar.pdf
http://www.ohiou.edu/perspectives/0302/story4.html
Drug detection:
http://www.ohiou.edu/news/00-01/409.html
Nanotechnology:
http://www.ohiou.edu/researchnews/news/nanotech.htm
Techniques
Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
Current Projects
DNA Analysis
Explosives residue analysis
GHB and Benzodiazepines
Other Projects
Some current members of the research group
Left to Right: Megan Bottegal, Carla Turner, Ada Nunez, Bruce McCord, Rayna Hebard, Sacha Dehere, Desiree Diaz, Stella Rohas
Current Research Group Members
Kerry Opel - DNA extraction from difficult samples
Megan Bottegal - Explosives residue and IED detection
Carla Turner– Microfluidics detection of drugs of abuse
Rayna Hebard – mtDNA analysis of damaged hair
Matt Buettner - Recovery of degraded DNA
Stephano Boulas - DNA sieving matrices
Maximilien Blas - microfluidic separation and
electrospray CEC/MS
Ada Nunez - MiniSTR validation
Stella Rohas - gunshot residue detection by CE/MS
Jennifer Greaux - CEC and CEC/MS for DFSA
Jorge Quintana - affinity CE for drug detection
Former Research Group Members:
John Butler - Ph.D University of Virginia 1996
Alice Isenberg - Ph.D. University of Virginia 1998
Rob Heramb - MS Ohio Univeristy 2001
John Mathis - Ph.D Ohio University 2004
Ahmed Al Najjar - Ph.D Ohio University 2004
Denise Chung - Ph.D. Ohio University 2004
Kristy Hopper - Ph.D. Ohio University 2004
Sandra Bishop- Ph.D.
Former Postdoctoral
Dr.
Dr. Yin Shen - Miniplex DNA Primer Development.
Dr. Jiri Drabek - Miniplex DNA Primer Validation.
Younas Khokar - Flourescent detection of abused drugs
Current Funding
Novel STR Multiplexes with Reduced Size to Analyze DNA, National Institute of Justice, 2002-IJ-CX-K007, $453,110 6/02-6/04, Bruce McCord (PI)
The Development of Microfluidic Devices for the Rapid Isolation and Detection of Drugs of Abuse, National Institute of Justice, 9/04 - 9/06 $499,865 Bruce McCord (PI)
"Forensic Analysis of Explosive Residue Background" Technical Services Working Group DAAD05-02-C-0035, $166,845, 5/09/02 - 11/29/04 Bruce McCord (PI)
Past Funding
"Enhancement
of the Research Infrastructure: Forensic Anthropology and Biology
&
DNA Research Facility" 1804 Fund, $29,098.00 (9/1/ 04-9/1/ 05)
Scott
Moody, Biological Sciences, Nancy Tatarek, Sociology &
Anthropology, and
Bruce McCord, Chemistry & Biochemistry.
CHM 4130, 5150
CHS3501
Note: Material date 2006 is from last year
and is not yet updated for the current semester
CHS 4503L, 5531L
DNA Files en Espanol
CE trobleshooting
MiniSTRs
PCR Inhibition
Y and Mitochondrial DNA
American Chemical Society, March 14, 2005
SPIE March 30, 2005,
HPLC 2005 June 26-30,
Pittcon March 2006, Orlando, FL
Biographical Information
Awards and recognition
Labs Award -1995
Federal Bureau of Investigation - for contributions to quality in the
laboratory.
Featured Scientist -
August 1997 - Journal of Capillary
Electrophoresis - for contributions to the advancement of forensic
analytical
chemistry.
Editorial Advisory Board, 1994- "Journal of Capillary
Electrophoresis" ISC Technical Publications Inc.
Editorial Board 1995-1999,
"Electrophoresis" VCH
Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.
Certificate of Appreciation, April
2002 Alpha Chi Sigma – for distinguished service in the establishment
of the
Gamma Nu chapter of the Professional Chemistry Fraternity
Sigma Xi -
Chair, Forensics -
Annual Meeting, FACSS October 2003
Tenure –
Commissioner – Forensic Science Education Programs
Accreditation
Commission,
Nominee - Paul Kirk
Award (to be
awarded Feb, 2008) for distinguished service and contributions to the
field of Criminalistics.
Membership in professional organizations
American
Chemical Society
Dixieland Jazz
Sailing
Windsurfing
Snorkling
Kayaking
Forensic Chemistry is the application of chemistry to the investigation of crime. This field involves the application and integration of a variety of analytical techniques such as chromatography, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and others towards the investigation of criminal acts. Forensic chemists use these techniques to analyze physical evidence from cases of arson, homicide, rape, food adulteration, environmental pollution and bombings.
For information on the forensic chemistry program at Florida Internaitonal Univeristy go to:
For information on forensic science in general go to:
My current interests lie in the area of forensic and toxicological
applications of capillary electrophoresis. In this technique,
analytical
separations are carried out at high voltages in fused silica
capillaries using
a conductive buffer. The electric field induces flow in the capillary,
eliminating the problems of high back-pressure and dispersion which are
characteristic of HPLC. As separation in capillary electrophoresis is
based on
differences in the charge to mass ratio of solvated ions, the technique
is an
ideal complement to adsorption based chromatographic techniques. In the
biochemical area, capillary electrophoresis has significant advantages
over
traditional slab gel based techniques
A
good web page on capillary electrophoresis
DNA Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis:
In the area of DNA analysis, I am interested in the development of
techniques for the rapid and high resolution separation of PCR products
by
capillary gel electrophoresis. This work has important implications in
the
future use of capillary electrophoresis in solving problems in such
diverse
areas as human identification, DNA sequencing, disease detection, and
bacterial
identification. I am particularly interested in the development of what
are
known as physical gels – non-crosslinked solutions of polymers
dissolved
in a suitable buffer which are then used as a CE separation matrix.
Through
better understanding of the interactions between individual DNA
molecules and
these dissolved polymers, it should be possible to produce separations
which
are optimized for a given DNA fragment size and sequence.
Figure 1
Other items of importance in developing high resolution DNA
separations are
understanding the effect of sample injection and sample adsorption on
the
capillary walls. Multichannel laser induced fluorescence and multiplex
PCR
amplification can be used to increase the information content and
sensitivity
of the assay. This is illustrated in Figure 1 which shows the
separation
of 10 PCR amplified genetic loci (Profiler+ multiplex, ABI
) using
CE with laser induced fluorescence detection and a hydroxyethyl
cellulose based
polymer matrix. The separation was achieved by optimizing
conditions such as molecular weight, concentration, and temperature of
the
polymer buffer. The knowledge gained in these studies can be directly
applied
towards the improvement of the resolution and stability of these
separation
techniques. Additional projects involve the development of
methods for
the selective extraction of genomic DNA from blood stains and bone
using
alternative techniques such as solid phase extraction and
magnetic bead
technology. More recently we have been working on a project with
researchers at
NIST to redesign conventional PCR multiplex kits to permit
amplification of
degraded DNA.
A
good web page on issues in DNA typing
The anions and cations produced as a byproduct of the deflagration of an explosive device, while smaller in size than DNA fragments, may also be separated and detected via capillary electrophoresis. In this work I am interested in a fundamental question; can the nature of an improvised explosive device be determined through analysis of the products left behind following the blast? Methods have been developed for the extraction and analysis of organic and inorganic explosives residue. For example figure 8.14 illustrates the separation of the extracted residue from an improvised explosive device containing black powder using capillary ion analysis. Such results can be used to develop techniques to detect variations in the chemical profile due to the conditions of the blast and the makeup of the explosive materials. Other related applications of this work include the detection of organic gunshot residue and the detection of lot to lot variations in smokeless powder formulations using techniques such as HPLC, electrospray mass spectrometry and capillary electrochromatography.
GHB and
Benzodiazepines Project
Low dose benzodiazepenes and GHB have been
reportedly used
as a date-rape drugs. We are investigating the use of in-line
extraction
coupled to capillary electrophoresis as a method for detection of trace
quantities of these drugs in urine. The procedure involves
absorbing
the drug and its metabolites on a solid sorbant just prior to
electrophoretic
analysis. Additionally we are investigating the use of monolithic
capillary electrochromatography and the use of CE with fluorescent
detection in
forensic toxicology. Our eventual goal will be to produce
microfluidic
devices using stationary phases polymerized in-situ.
Information
on toxicological investigation of drug facilitated sexual assault
Fluorescent detection of Opiates.
We are developing methods for the detection of
Opiates using
capillary electrophoresis with cyclodextrins and other modifiers.
We are
also investigating native fluorescent detection and various options for
derivatization of these compounds.
Other areas of research interest involve the use
of
capillary electrophoresis in the detection of DNA protein interactions
and the
development of nanoscale devices for application to problems in
analytical
separations, nanoscale computing, and DNA hybridization.
DNA typing
1) The STR database (an exceptional
resource on
STRs)
http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/strbase/
2) DNA in the courtroom (A guide for the legal profession)
http://www.genelex.com/paternitytesting/paternitybook1.html
3) the DNA files (including text from the NRC reports)
http://www.dnafiles.org/resources/res05.html#cat2
4) The National Commission on DNA Evidence (an excellent overview)
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/183697.pdf
AFDA Austin TX August 1-3
FBI Trace Symposium Clearwater Florida, August13-16
DNA training, Phoenix, AZ Sept 24-26
MAFS Traverse City, MI, Sept 24-26
LACE Santiago, Chile Dec 1-4
<>
Bruce Royston McCord received a BS with
honors in
1981 from the
Bruce McCord's other interests include jazz, ( He plays dixieland clarinet, soprano and alto saxaphone, and mandolin ) windsurfing, sailing, kayaking and computer applications of music.
Links
General:
Altavista
OhioU
Analytical Chemistry
Chemical
Structures
Encylopedia
of analytical instrumentation
Forensic Sites:
American Academy of Forensic
Science
Zeno's Forensic
Site
Society of Forensic Toxicologists-
SOFT
Forensic
Science
Interfire arson database
Forensic
Science Communications FBI Laboratory web journal
Microgram
DEA Laboratory web journal
DNA and Electrophoresis Sites
The President's DNA Initiative
Mitochondrial database
Capillary
Electrophoresis Information
STR Database
Y Haplotype database
DNA
training Materials
Jiri Drabek -
photographs
and protocols
Music Sites:
Hot Jazz and
Alligator
Gumbo Society
Clarinet
MIDI
Saxaphone Information
International Wind
Synthesis
Organization
Sailing Sites and Diving Sites
South Florida Boardsailing Association
Snorkling Sites and Reefs near Miami
Travel
Resume