Research

My research focuses on fundamental processes affecting the movement, reactivity and bioavailability of organic toxicants and engineered and biological nanoparticles in aquatic, soil and sediment systems. Major research interests include the environmental transmission of prion diseases (e.g., “mad cow” disease, chronic wasting disease of deer and elk and sheep scrapie); the behavior of and potential toxicity of pharmaceutically active compounds in the environment; elucidation of molecular mechanisms responsible for sequestration and time-dependent decline in bioavailability of sediment-and soil-associated contaminants.

Publications

• Troiano, J.M.; Olenick, L.L.; Kuech, T.R.; Melby, E.S.; Hu, D.; Lohse, S.E.; Mensch, A.C.; Doğangün, M.; Vartanian, A.M.; Torelli, M.; Ehimiaghe, E.; Walter, S.R.; Fu, L.; Wang, F.; Orr, G.; Murphy, C.J.; Hamers, R.J.; Pedersen, J.A.; Geiger; F.M. Direct probes of 4-nm diameter gold nanoparticles interacting with supported lipid bilayers. J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119, 534–546.
• Kim, M.-S.; Louis, K.M.; Pedersen, J.A.; Hamers, R.J.; Peterson, R.E.; Heideman, W. Using citrate-functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles to study the effect of particle size on zebrafish embryo toxicity. Analyst 2014, 139, 964-972.
• Jacobson, K.H.; Kuech, T.R.; Pedersen, J.A. Attachment of pathogenic prion protein to model mineral surfaces. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 6925-6934.
• Wiecinski, P.N.; Metz, K.M.; Peterson, R.E.; Heideman, W.; Hamers, R.J.; Pedersen, J.A. Toxicity of oxidatively degraded quantum dots to developing zebrafish (Danio rerio). Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 9132-9139.
• Yang, S.; Louis, K.; Heideman, W.; Hamers, R.J.; Peterson, R.E.; Pedersen, J.A. Influence of humic acid on titanium dioxide nanoparticle toxicity to developing zebrafish. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 4718-4725.
• Bar-Ilan, O.; Chuang, C.C.; Schwahn, D.J.; Yang, S.; Joshi, S.; Pedersen, J.A.; Hamers, R.J.; Peterson, R.E.; Heideman, W. TiO2 nanoparticle exposure spanning zebrafish development: photo-dependent toxicity at parts per billion concentrations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 4726-4733.
• Booth, C.J.; Johnson, C.J.; Pedersen, J.A. Microbial and enzymatic inactivation of prions in soil environments. Soil Biol. Biochem. 2013, 59, 1-15.
• Tomaszewski, J.E.; Madliger, M.; Pedersen, J.A.; Schwarzenbach, R.P.; Sander, M. Adsorption of insecticidal Cry1Ab protein to humic substances. 2. Influence of humic and fulvic acid charge and polarity characteristics. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 9932-9940.
• Bar-Ilan, O.; Louis, K.; Yang, S.; Pedersen, J.A.; Hamers, R.J.; Peterson, R.E.; Heideman, W. ­­­ Titanium dioxide nanoparticles produce phototoxicity in the developing zebrafish. Nanotoxicol. 2012, 6, 670-679.
• Sturm, R.M.; Kreitinger, G.; Booth, C.J.; Smith, L.M.; Pedersen, J.A.; Li, L. Absolute quantification of prion protein (90-231) using stable isotope-labeled chymotryptic peptide standards in a LC-MRM AQUA workflow. J. Am. Soc. Mass. Spectr. 2012, 23, 1522-1533.
• Walters, R.H.; Jacobson, K.H.; Pedersen, J.A.; Murphy, R.M. Analysis of the elongation kinetics of polyglutamine peptide fibrils: A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation study. J. Molec. Biol. 2012, 421, 329-347.
• Johnson, C.J.; Aiken, J.M.; McKenzie, D.; Samuel, M.D.; Pedersen, J.A. Highly efficient amplification of chronic wasting disease agent by protein misfolding cyclic amplification with beads (PMCAb). PLoS ONE 2012, 7, e35383.
• Bishop, L.M.; Yeager, J.C.; Chen, X.; Wheeler, J.N.; Torelli, M.D.; Benson, M.C.; Burke, S.D.; Pedersen, J.A.; Hamers, R.J. A citric acid-derived ligand for modular functionalization of metal oxide surfaces via “click” chemistry. Langmuir 2012, 28, 1322-1329.
• Gao, J.; Hedman, C.; Liu, C.; Guo, T.; Pedersen, J.A. Transformation of sulfamethazine by manganese oxide in aqueous solution. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 2642-2651.

Mentor to METC Graduate Students:

• Kate Burgener (Current)
• Kyoungtea Kim (Current)
• <Dominic Sanchez (Current)
• Heidi Bialk (2006)
• Alexandra Chesney (2016)
• Kristen Fitzpatrick (2005)
• Kartik Kumar (2012)
• Liz Miller (2019)
• Kennedy Rubert IV (2008)
• Clarissa Shaffer (2014)
• Paige Wiecinski (2012)
• Sarah Yang (2013)