Norman J. Dovichi

Endowed Professor of Analytical Chemistry
(Analytical Chemistry, Ph.D., University of Utah, 1980)

(206) 543-7835
dovichi@chem.washington.edu
Research Group Website

Research Interests

The Human Genome Project was the most ambitious research project in the history of analytical chemistry. The goal of that project was the determination of the primary structure of the human genome, which is a group of molecules with a combined molecular weight of 3 billion kilograms. Capillary array electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence detection in a sheath flow cuvette was the primary analytical instrument used in sequencing the genome; that instrumentation was developed, in part, by Dovichi's research group.

Now that the genome is sequenced, interest is focused on the study of the proteome, which is the protein content of an organism, tissue, or cell. Dovichi's group is developing tools to study the proteome with two-dimensional capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence. This group's long-term goal is to study protein expression in single cells and to determine how protein expression changes across a cellular population during cancer progression and during the development of an embryo.

Dovichi’s group is collaborating with Brian Reid at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to employ this technology to characterize compositional changes that accompany Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition. Gastroesophageal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death world-wide and the most rapidly increasing form of cancer in the USA. If current rates of increase hold, deaths inthe United States from esophageal adenocarcinoma will exceed those of both prostate and breast cancers in a decade and colorectal cancer in two decades. There is a vital need to develop tools to help guide therapy for those individuals with Barrett’s esophagus, the only known precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma.