Personal Information
Dr. Donald Keith Roper is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT). His research group examines microfluidic application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to detect, identify, quantitate and characterize nucleic acid and viral antigens and viral vectors. (Roper, D.K. and Nakra, S. Anal. Biochem. 348 (2006) 75-83; Roper, D.K. Chem Eng Sci 61 (2006) 2557-2564.) His SPR methods can be applied to analyze picomolar levels of whole virus, to develop high-capacity surfaces for sorptive nucleic acid analysis or virus-receptor interaction.
He is fabricating microfluidic optical waveguides for SPR sensors and reactors that permit highly multiplexed amplification to speed sequencing and allow lab-on-chip and in vivo implementation of PCR. Other recent work has been to develop photovoltaic hydrogen generation for fuel cells (Roper, D.K. and Trujillo, E. J Eng Sust Dev. 1 (2006) in press) and development of adsorptive membrane and HPLC separations. Prior to joining the University of Utah, he was a Research Fellow in BioProcess Research and Development at Merck Research Laboratories (West Point, PA). At Merck, he led teams that analyzed and recovered polysaccharide, protein and DNA vaccine antigens including adenovirus- and DNA plasmid-vectored HIV vaccines, and antigens from S. pneumonia, H. influenza, and N. meningitidis. He fermented S. aureus, S. pneumonia, and cultured PER.C6 cells for adenovirus infection. His degrees are in chemical engineering from Brigham Young University (B.S., 1989) and University of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1994) where he worked with Ed Lightfoot. His research has resulted in 18 peer reviewed publications and proceedings, four patent applications, three bacterial vaccine products, a viral vaccine product, five major process documents, and more than 45 presentations and process skid designs. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi and advises the University of Utah Student Chapter. He has been a Fellow of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (1989-90) and a Trainee of the National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program (1990-94). He has consulted for major firms including Millipore Corp., Pall Corp., Sartorius Corp., Promega Corp. and Morinda Corp. to develop and design biotechnology products and processes. He was Co-Chair for Focus on Viral Vaccines & Gene Therapy at the AIChE Annual Meeting,in 1998 and has reviewed publications for American Chemical Society Symposium Series, Journal of Chromatography, Separation Science & Technology, Sensors & Actuators, Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry: Instrumentation and Applications, Chemical Engineering Science, and the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Development.
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