Joel M. Harris - Department of Chemistry

ANALYTICAL, MATERIALS & PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

Distinguished Professor

B.S., 1972, Duke University
Ph.D., 1976, Purdue University

Phone: (801) 581-3585
Office: 1304A HEB
Email: harrisj@chem.utah.edu

Research Group
Interfacial and Bioanalytical Chemistry (IBAC)

Joel is not recruiting new Ph.D. graduate students into his lab. His research program is flourishing and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy. Undergraduates, BS/MS students, and postdoctoral associates are welcome to apply for positions in the lab.

Activities & Awards

Distinguished Teaching Award in Chemistry, University of Utah, 1978
David P. Gardner Faculty Fellow, 1981
Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1985-1989
Coblentz Memorial Prize in Molecular Spectroscopy, 1986
University of Utah Distinguished Research Award, 1988
ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation, 1991
Pittsburgh Analytical Award, 1999
Editor-In-Chief, Applied Spectroscopy, 1998-2009
SAS New York Section Gold Medal Award, 2002
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, 2004
ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry, 2005
Distinguished Alumnus Award, Purdue University, 2005
Society for Applied Spectroscopy Fellow, 2006
ACS Utah Award in Chemistry, 2006
Robert W. Parry Teaching Award, University of Utah, 2008
Society for Applied Spectroscopy, Distinguished Service Award, 2009
American Microchemical Society A.A. Benedetti-Pichler Award, 2010
FACSS Conference Innovation Award, 2011
Coblentz Society Bomem-Michelson Award, 2012
Honorary Membership Award, Society of Applied Spectroscopy, 2012
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award, 2014
Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology, 2016
American Chemical Society – Division of Analytical Chemistry, Chair, 2016 - 2017
University of Utah, Calvin S. & JeNeal N. Hatch Prize in Teaching, 2019
ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Spectrochemical Analysis, 2019
American Chemical Society Fellow, 2019
Eastern Analytical Symposium Fields Award in Analytical Chemistry, 2019
ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Roland Hirsch Award for Distinguished Service, 2024

Research Interests

The research of the Harris Group involves the application of spectroscopic microscopy methods to investigate the chemistry of liquid/solid interfaces. Many steps in chemical analysis (separation, preconcentration, selective detection) involve adsorption or binding of target species to chemically-modified surfaces in contact with liquids. The transport of molecules to the surface and then laterally along the interfacial plane, influences the rates of surface reactions, catalysis, and the efficiency of chemical separation processes.

There is a significant need to understand chemical structure and reaction kinetics at interfaces between liquids and solids, and the Harris lab is addressing this challenge by developing new spectroscopic imaging methods for the analysis of chemical structure and kinetics at liquid/solid interfaces. In the area of bioanalytical chemistry, membrane interfaces play a key role in the regulation of cell functioning, communication, and homeostasis, and most biosensors rely on selective binding interactions at chemically-modified surfaces. Imaging and counting of individual fluorescent molecules can report absolute molecular surface densities of both probe sites and bound analytes at a biosensor surface. This information is needed to understand the thermodynamics of surface-binding reactions. Imaging the kinetics of binding and unbinding of individual molecules at equilibrium enables measurement of interfacial reaction rates that are not limited by the rate of molecular transport to biosensor surfaces. When combined with binding isotherms, a complete picture of the kinetics of biomolecule interactions and their energetics can be developed. These concepts are being applied to studies of peptide binding to supported lipid bilayers, which are relevant to signaling peptide access to membrane-bound receptors, to intercalation of pore-forming peptides in membranes, and to the behavior of proteins at biosensor surfaces that employ planar lipid bilayers as biocompatible supports. Quantitative single-molecule imaging is also being adapted to measuring equilibria and kinetics of DNA hybridization. In addition to fundamental studies, single-molecule imaging can also serve as an analytical method that enables detection of very low concentrations of target DNA in samples. The small fraction (< 10^-6) of DNA probe binding sites occupied with bound analyte at the limit of detection yields a powerful method for determining extremely low (sub-zeptomol) levels of target DNA in a sample.

Despite the ability of fluorescence imaging to report biorecognition association kinetics at the single-molecule level, labeling of biomolecules for fluorescence detection adds time and cost in sample preparation; furthermore, labels can contribute to the measured interactions. Spectroscopic detection of biorecognition could benefit from an alternative approach that is both label-free and structurally informative. During the past 5 years, the Harris lab has employed confocal Raman microscopy to report vibrational spectra of solutes within individual chromatographic silica particles to investigate interfacial chemistry relevant to reversed-phase separations. The high surface area of chromatographic silica (>100m2/g) provides “surface-area enhancement” that allow fractions of monolayers to be detected by otherwise unenhanced Raman scattering. To adapt this strategy to bioassay applications, the Harris lab recently demonstrated that supported-lipid bilayers can be deposited onto the interior surfaces of wide-pore chromatographic silica and used as protein-repellent supports for biosensing applications. In a recent landmark paper, the Harris group reported the application these pore-supported bilayers for confocal Raman microscopy detection of the selective binding of a lectin signaling protein to a glycolipid immobilized in a pore-supported lipid bilayer. Using Raman scattering from the supported-lipid bilayer as an internal-standard, the scattering from accumulated protein could be interpreted quantitatively to determine its absolute surface coverage on the lipid bilayer, where the stoichiometry of protein-ligand binding was found to be 1:1, in contrast to speculation in the literature. Raman microscopy of supported phospholipid bilayers in high surface-area support particles was shown to be a promising approach for in situ, label-free, quantitative, and structurally-informative investigations of lipid bilayer-localized protein-ligand interactions.

Recent Publications

“Surface-Area Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of DNA in Porous Silica: A Quantitative and Reproducible Alternative to Plasmonic-Based SERS,” Grant J. Myres, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 96, 7679 (2024).
“Simultaneous Multipass Resistive-Pulse Sensing and Fluorescence Imaging of Liposomes,” Alexandra J. Schmeltzer, Eric M. Peterson, Joel M. Harris, Daniel K. Lathrop, Sean R. German, and Henry S. White, ACS Nano, 18, 7241 (2024).
"Raman Scattering Reveals Ion-Dependent G-Quadraplex Formation in the 15-mer Thrombin-Binding Aptamer upon Association with α-Thrombin," Grant J. Myres, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 95, 16160-16168 (2023).
“Label-Free, Structurally Informative and Quantitative Determination of Small-Molecule Association with Surface-Immobilized DNA by Confocal Raman Microscopy,” Grant J. Myres and Joel M. Harris, Langmuir, 39, 4150–4160 (2023).
“Stable Immobilization of DNA to Silica Surfaces by Sequential Michael Addition Reactions Developed with Insights from Confocal Raman Microscopy,” Grant J. Myres and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 95, 3499–3506 (2023).
"Inter-Leaflet Phospholipid Exchange Impacts the Ligand Density Available for Protein Binding at Supported Lipid Bilayers", Grant J. Myers, Jay P. Kitt, Joel M. Harris, Langmuir, 38, 22, 6967–6976 (2022).
"Raman Microscopy Investigation of GLP-1 Peptide Association with Supported Phospholipid Bilayers," David A. Bryce, Jay P. Kitt, Joel M. Harris, Langmuir, 37, 49, 14265–14274 (2021).
“Adapting Confocal Raman Microscopy for In Situ Studies of Redox Transformations at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces,” Carol Korzeniewski, Eric M. Peterson, Jay P. Kitt, Shelley D. Minteer, and Joel M. Harris, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 896, 115207 (2021).
“Evaluating the Effect of Ionic Strength on PNA:DNA Duplex Formation Kinetics,” Colin S. Swenson, Hershel H. Lackey, Eric J. Reece, Joel M. Harris, Jennifer M. Heemstra, and Eric M. Peterson, RSC Chemical Biology, 2, 1249 (2021).
“Confocal-Raman Microscopy Enables Label-Free, Quantitative, and Structurally-Informative Detection of DNA Hybridization at Porous Silica Surfaces,” Grant J. Myres, Eric M. Peterson, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 93, 7978 (2021).
“Hybrid-Lipid Bilayers Induce n-Alkyl-Chain Order in Reversed-Phase Chromatographic Surfaces, Impacting their Shape Selectivity for Aromatic Hydrocarbon Partitioning,” Maryam Zare, Jay P. Kitt, Xin Wen, Emily Heider, Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 93, 4118(2021).
“Vibrational Spectroscopic Monitoring of the Gelation Transition in Nafion Ionomer Dispersions,” Ying Liang, Jay Kitt, Shelley D. Minteer, Joel M. Harris, and Carol Korzeniewski, Applied Spectroscopy, 75, 376 (2021).
“Lacritin Proteoforms Prevent Tear Film Collapse and Maintain Epithelial Homeostasis,” Georgi A. Georgiev, Mohammad Sharifian, Jeff Romano, Karina L. Dias Teixeira, Craig Struble, Denise S. Ryan, Rose K. Sia, Jay P. Kitt, Joel M. Harris, Ku-Lung Hsu, Adam Libby, Marc G. Odrich, Tatiana Suárez, Robert L. McKown, and Gordon W. Laurie, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 296, 100070 (2021).
“Hybrid-Supported Bilayers Formed with Mixed-Charge Surfactants on C18-Functionalized Silica Surfaces,” Maryam Zare, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Langmuir, 36, 7609 (2020).
“Shot Noise Sets the Limit of Quantification in Electrochemical Measurements,” Rui Gao, Martin A. Edwards, Joel M. Harris, and Henry S. White, Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 22, 170 (2020).
“Probing the Mechanism of Structure-Switching Aptamer Assembly by Super-Resolution Localization of Individual DNA Molecules,” Hershel H. Lackey, Eric M. Peterson, Joel M. Harris, and Jennifer M. Heemstra, Analytical Chemistry, 92, 6909 (2020).
"Confocal Raman Microscopy Investigation of Phospholipid Monolayers Deposited on Nitrile-Modified Surfaces in Porous Silica Particles," David A. Bryce, Jay P. Kitt, Grant J. Myres, and Joel M. Harris, Langmuir, 36, 4071 (2020).
“Single-Molecule Kinetics Show DNA Pyrimidine Content Strongly Affects RNA:DNA and TNA:DNA Heteroduplex Dissociation Rates,” Hershel Lackey, Zhe Chen, Joel M. Harris, Eric M. Peterson, and Jennifer M. Heemstra, ACS Synthetic Biology, 9, 249 (2020).
“Super-Resolution Imaging of Competitive Unlabeled DNA Hybridization Reveals the Influence of Fluorescent Labels on Duplex Formation and Dissociation Kinetics,” Eric M. Peterson, Eric J. Reece, Wenyuan Li, and Joel M. Harris, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 123, 10746 (2019); selected for the ACS Virtual Issue on Super-Resolution Far-Field Optical Microscopy.
“Structural Elucidation of Bisulfite Adducts to Pseudouridine that Result in Deletion Signatures during Reverse Transcription of RNA,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, Aaron M. Fleming, Anton Alenko, Jay P. Kitt, Anita M. Orendt, Peter F. Flynn, Joel M. Harris, and Cynthia J. Burrows, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141, 16450 (2019).
“Confocal Raman Microscopy Investigation of Self-Assembly of Hybrid Phospholipid Bilayers within Individual Porous Silica Chromatographic Particles,” Jay P. Kitt, David A. Bryce, Shelley D. Minteer, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 91, 7790 (2019).
“Thermostability Trends of TNA:DNA Duplexes Reveal Strong Purine Dependence,” Hershel Lackey, Eric M. Peterson, Zhe Chen, Joel M. Harris, and Jennifer M. Heemstra, ACS Synthetic Biology, 8, 1144 (2019).
“Single-Layer Graphene Sandwiched between Proton-Exchange Membranes for Selective Proton Transmission,” Saheed Bukola, Kyle Beard, Carol Korzeniewski, Joel M. Harris and Stephen E. Creager, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2, 964 (2019).
“Single Layer Graphene for Estimation of Axial Spatial Resolution in Confocal Raman Microscopy Depth Profiling,” Carol Korzeniewski, Jay P. Kitt, Saheed Bukola, Stephen E. Creager, Shelley D. Minteer, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 91, 1049 (2019).
“Infrared Microscopy as a Probe of Composition Within a Model Biofuel Cell Electrode Prepared from Trametes Versicolor Laccase,” Ying Liang, Rong Cai, David P. Hickey, Jay P. Kitt, Joel M. Harris, Shelley D. Minteer and Carol Korzeniewski, ChemElectroChem, 6, 818 (2019).
“Enhancement of Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glycerol by Plasmonics,” Michelle Rasmussen, Alexey Serov, Kateryna Artyushkova, Dayi Chen, Timothy C. Rose, Plamen Atanassov, Joel M. Harris, and Shelley D. Minteer, ChemElectroChem, 6, 251 (2019).
“Single-Molecule Kinetic Investigation of Cocaine-Dependent Split-Aptamer Assembly,” Frances D. Morris, Eric M. Peterson, Jennifer M. Heemstra, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 90, 12964 (2018).
“Confocal Raman Microscopy for Label-Free Detection of Protein-Ligand Binding at Nanopore-Supported Phospholipid Bilayers,” David A. Bryce, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 90, 11509 (2018).
“Confocal Raman Microscopy for In-situ Measurement of Phospholipid-Water Partitioning into Model Phospholipid Bilayers within Individual Chromatographic Particles,” Jay P. Kitt, David A. Bryce, Shelley D. Minteer, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 90, 7048 (2018).
“Identification of Individual Immobilized DNA Molecules by their Hybridization Kinetics Using Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging,” Eric M. Peterson and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 90, 5007 (2018).
“Confocal-Raman Microscopy Characterization of Supported Phospholipid Bilayers Deposited on the Interior Surfaces of Chromatographic Silica,” David A. Bryce, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140, 4071 (2018).
“Selective proton / deuteron transport through Nafion | graphene | Nafion sandwich structures at very high current density,” Saheed Bukola, Ying Liang, Carol Korzeniewski, Joel M. Harris, and Stephen Creager, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140, 1743 (2018).
“Vibrational Spectroscopy for the Determination of Ionizable Group Content in Ionomer Materials,” Carol Korzeniewski, Ying Liang, Pei Zhang, Iqbal Sharif, Jay P. Kitt, Joel M. Harris, Steven J. Hamrock, Stephen E. Creager, Darryl D. DesMarteau, Applied Spectroscopy, 72, 141 (2018).
“Confocal Raman Microscopy for the Determination of Protein and Quaternary Ammonium Ion Loadings in Biocatalytic Membranes for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage,” Rong Cai, Sofiene Abdellaoui, Jay P. Kitt, Cullen Irvine, Joel M. Harris, Shelley D. Minteer, and Carol Korzeniewski, Analytical Chemistry, 89, 13290 (2017).
“Magnesium as a Novel UV Plasmonic Material for Fluorescence Decay Rate Engineering in Free Solution,” Yunshan Wang, Eric M. Peterson, Joel M. Harris, Kanagasundar Appusamy, Sivaraman Guruswamy, and Steve Blair, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 121, 11650 (2017).
“Raman Spectroscopy Reveals Selective Interactions of Cytochrome c with Cardiolipin That Correlate with Membrane Permeability,” Jay P. Kitt, David A. Bryce, Shelley D. Minteer, and Joel M. Harris, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139, 3851 (2017).
“Confocal Raman Microscopy Investigation of Molecular Transport into Individual Chromatographic Silica Particles,” David A. Bryce, Jay P. Kitt, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 89, 2755 (2017).