SUNASEE RESEARCH LABORATORY

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Rajesh Sunasee-Principal Investigator

 

                                       Rajesh  received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry with Business Management with first                                           class honors in 2003 from the University of Mauritius, located on the "tropical island"                                         of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. He then moved to the "snowy" Canada in 2004 to                                           pursue his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Derrick L. J.                                              Clive at the University of Alberta. In 2010, he was awarded an NSERC industrial post-                                         doctoral fellowship (IRDF) to join the medicinal laboratory of Prof. Pierre 

                                       Deslongchamps at OmegaChem Inc. in Quebec, where he was involved in the design                                         & synthesis of a library of steroids for nuclear receptors (medicinal chemistry). He 

                                       subsequently undertook a second post-doctoral stint in the biomaterials engineering                                          group of Prof.Narain, under co-supervision of Prof. Thundat, where he was introduced                                         to the wonderful field of nanotechnology (design and synthesis of nanogels for gene                                        delivery applications). Prior to joining the Chemistry Depart. at SUNY Plattsburgh in                                            2013, he served as Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Brandon University (2011-                                               2012) and Cape Breton University (2012-2013) on limited term appointments, and as                                         a Visiting Scientist (summer 2013) at the National Institute for Nanotechnology

(Alberta) of the National Research Council of Canada. His current research interests combine aspects of organic chemistry and nanotechnology (nanochemistry), where the focus is on the design, synthesis and characterization of surface modified cellulose nanocrystals for potential biomedical applications. Other projects involve the development of new reaction methodologies for use in organic synthesis.

 

 

Education

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Alberta, Canada (2009); Area: Organic Synthesis, Development of new reaction methodology (Advisor: Prof. Derrick J. L. Clive)

• B.Sc (Hons) in Chemistry with Business Management, University of Mauritius (2003, First Class honors)

 

 

Post-Doctoral Appointments

• NSERC IRDF Post-doctoral Fellow, OmegaChem Inc., Quebec, Canada (2009-2010; Area: Organic/Medicinal Chemistry). (Advisor: Prof. Pierre Deslongchamps)

• Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada (2011; Area: Materials Chemistry/Nanotechnology). (Advisors: Prof. Ravin Narain and Prof. Thomas Thundat)

 

Professional Appointments

• Associate Professor of Chemistry, State University of New York at Plattsburgh (2017-current)

• Assistant Professor of Chemistry, State University of New York at Plattsburgh (2013-2017)

• Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Cape Breton University, Canada (2012-2013, limited-term appointment).

• Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Brandon University, Canada (2011-2012, limited-term appointment).

• Visiting Scientist, National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT), National Research Council, Alberta, Canada (summer 2012).

• Chemistry Term Instructor, Alberta College, MacEwan University, Canada (2008-2009).

• Educational Officer in Chemistry, Mauritius (2003-2004).

 

Awards & Honors​

• Plattsburgh Alumni Association’s Faculty Impact Award 2020

• SUNY Chancellor Award for Excellence in Teaching 2018.

• SUNY Presidential Research Awards (SUNY Plattsburgh, 2014-2015; 2016-2017).

• NYS/UUP Professional Development Awards (SUNY Plattsburgh, 2014, 2015).

• Inducted in the Sigma Xi Research Society (SUNY Plattsburgh, 2015)

• NSERC Industrial Research & Development Fellowship (IRDF) (Post-doctoral Fellowship, OmegaChem. Inc).

• Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award (University of Alberta).

• Graduate Student Teaching Award (University of Alberta).

• GSA Professional and Development Award (University of Alberta).

• J. Gordin Kaplan Travel Award (University of Alberta).

• Graduate Research & Teaching Assistantship Award (University of Alberta).

• B.Sc (Hons) First Class Honors (University of Mauritius).

• EPZ Undergraduate Scholarship Award (University of Mauritius).

 

Selected Invited Lectures/Conference Presentations

 

• Sunasee, R*. “Surface modification of cellulose nanocrystals for the design of wood-based functional nanomaterials”,  42ndNortheast Regional Meeting (NERM) of the ACS, June 23rd 2019, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA. (Invited speaker)

• Sunasee, R*. “Design of cellulose nanocrystals-based functional biomaterials for innovative applications”, 2nd International Conference on Nanostructured Materials & Nanochemistry, November 2018, San Francisco, USA. (Keynote Speaker invitation)

• Sunasee, R*. “Welcome to the world of nanotechnology: Its benefits and impacts on our society”, Science @30 city, Public talk, November 2017, Plattsburgh, NY.

• Sunasee, R*. “The rise of nanotechnology research and education”, March 2017. Peru Central School District, Peru, NY. (Guest Speaker).

• Sunasee, R*. “An Experimental and Computational study of Bismuth trichloride mediated cleavage of phenolic methoxymethyl ethers”, January 2017, University of Mauritius, Mauritius.

• Sunasee, R*, U. D. Hemraz, J. M. Burdick, Y. Boluk, K. Ckless. "Design of cationic cellulose nanocrystals for potential biomedical applications", 2016 TechConnect World Innovation, National Innovation Summit and National SBIR/STTR Conference, May 23-25, 2016, Maryland, USA. 

• Sunasee, R*, U. D. Hemraz, K. Ckless, Y. Boluk. “Cationic poly(2-aminoethylmethacrylate) and poly(N-(2-aminoethylmethacrylamide)) modified cellulose nanocrystals: Synthesis, characterization, cytotoxic and inflammatory activities”, 2015 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials, June 2015, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

• Sunasee, R. "Surface modification of cellulose nanocrystals for biomedical applications", University of Mauritius, Mauritius (Lecture, 2014).

• Sunasee, R. “Nanocrystalline cellulose: A small material with a big future”, Cape Breton University Research Week, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (Lecture, 2013).

• Campbell, K.; Hemraz, U. D.; Sunasee, R*. “Synthesis & Characterization of Cationic Nanocrystalline Cellulose for Gene Delivery Applications”, Cape Breton University Research Week, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (Poster, 2013).

• Sunasee, R. “Engineered Nanoparticles for protein, drug and gene delivery”, Brandon University Science Seminar Series, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada (Lecture, 2012).

• Sunasee, R. “Careers in Chemistry: Academia and Industry”, Careers in Chemistry Night, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada (Undergraduate Invited Lecture, 2012).

• Sunasee, R.“Drugs: From Organic Synthesis to targeted delivery”, Rowan University, New Jersey, USA (Lecture, 2012).