David Spivak

Biography

David Spivak received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1989, and his Ph.D. degree in Polymer/Organic Chemistry from UC Irvine in 1995, under the direction of Professor Ken Shea. He then was awarded an NIH Post-Doctoral Fellowship for his proposal to study catalytic antibodies for polymerization and other reactions at The Scripps Research Institute from 1995 to 1998. Afterward he began his professional career at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, where he presently resides as an Associate Professor of Chemistry. Research in the Spivak Group is multidisciplinary, focused on Molecularly Imprinted materials, thin films and nanoparticles for biological and environmental analysis. In addition to research funding from NIH and NSF, including an NSF-CAREER award, Professor Spivak has received teaching awards from Research Corporation (Cottrell Scholar), and LSU (The LSU Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award for 2001). He is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Molecular Recognition, and was chair of MIP2010, the 6th international biennial symposium on molecular imprinting.

Research Interest

Broadly defined, research in our group involves the development of synthetic methodology, with particular applications to template-organized polymer materials. Potential applications are in the areas of chromatography, catalysis, bio­medical materials, molecular recognition and sensor technology. Two major areas of interest in our group are illustrated below. Molecular Imprinting in 3-D Network Polymers: Network polymers can also be engineered for molecular recognition and catalytic properties using the method of molecular imprinting, shown below. To imprint a molecule, functionalized monomers are bound to a template molecule and the resulting complex is copolymerized with cross-linking monomers. Removal of the template leaves cavities in the polymer that are complementary in size, shape and chemical functionality to the template molecule. This rapidly developing technique provides polymeric artificial receptors, catalysts, organic zeolites, chromatographic supports and biosensors.