Maria DeRosa , PhD/03 / BScHons/99

An assistant professor of bioinorganic chemistry at Carleton University, DeRosa is turning aptamers — snippets of DNA less than 10 nanometres long — into signalling devices that could be used in detecting environmental toxins, drugs or disease. By identifying the floppy strand of aptamer that binds with a desired target — anthrax for instance — and observing how binding changes the aptamer’s shape, DeRosa will develop new electrochemical and optical biosensors that produce a signal, such as a colour change.

DeRosa’s work in the field of bionanotechnology earned her a place in the Canadian delegation of scientists who toured Nordic research councils and leading nanotechnology institutes in 2005, arranged by International Trade Canada.

In 2006, her lab received a Leaders Opportunity Grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and a three-year Discovery grant from NSERC.