Dean E Wilcox

Biography

Dean Wilcox pursued his graduate research with Edward Solomon at MIT (1979-81) and Stanford (1982-84), where he studied the binuclear copper site in the oxygen transport protein hemocyanin, the ortho-hydroxylating enzyme tyrosinase and relevant small molecule model compounds. Upon joining the Dartmouth faculty in 1984, his initial research involved studies of a) the Ni-containing enzyme urease and binuclear metallohydrolases, with funding from the USDA, b) EPR-characterization of paramagnetic organometallic compounds, and c) coordination chemistry of the Cys-rich protein metallothionein and zinc-fingers, with funding from the NCI. The latter research was also part of the Dartmouth Superfund Research Program, with funding from the NIEHS. His research has also involved collaborations with Dartmouth colleagues Roger Smith (Pharmacology & Toxicology) on the biomedical chemistry of NO and Harold Swartz (Radiology) on materials for in vivo oximetry and, most recently, methods for ex vivo dosimetry with fingernails.

Research Interest

Inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry: reactions and spectroscopy of transition metal ions, coordination chemistry of proteins and peptides rich in cysteine and histidine, including zinc fingers, metallothionein and proteins involved in metal transport, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) of metal ions binding to protiens, biological chemistry and nitric oxide, urease and other hydrolytic metalloenzymes, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of transition metal ions