Research Faculty

Title Assistant Professor

Research Description
Prof. Kadnikova's research interests include bioorganic and materials chemistry, with particular emphasis on enantioselective catalysis, and design of functional polymers and hybrid organic-inorganic materials for biomedical applications. The motivation for enantioselective catalysis project in Prof. Kadnikova's research stems from the fact that many drugs and other biologically active molecules are chiral (have "handedness," like left vs right glove). The pharmacological properties and side effects of these compounds often depend on the absolute configuration of the chiral centers in these molecules. New ways of making chiral drug precursors using biocatalytic reactions have been already developed in Prof. Kadnikova's lab. This research would lead to development of better synthetic methods for preparation of chiral pharmaceuticals. Prof. Kadnikova's approach to new functional materials to control their composition at the nano-level. Her group is making nanoparticles with core-shell morphology, in which the polymer shell is grown from the inorganic core using enzymatic polymerization. The resulting composite materials have interesting mechanical and chemical properties with possible biomedical and "smart materials" applications.

Email kadnikovae@umkc.edu

Office 109B Spencer Chemistry Building

Office 816-235-5937

Personal Web Page http://k.web.umkc.edu/kadnikovae/research/research.htm

CV Kadnikova-CV.pdf

Degrees

UC - Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Postdoctoral training in organic and materials chemistry

Iowa State University, Ph. D., Organic Chemistry

Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, Diploma (with honors) in Chemistry

Schools Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, UMKC

Research Area Bioorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Catalysis