For Immediate Release

Date:  Sept. 12, 2006

BLOOMSBURG— A local Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania student is presenting his research to more then 40,000 chemists and chemistry professionals at the American Chemical Society national meeting this week in San Francisco.

Among the student presenters is Evan Thursby, a junior secondary education/chemistry major and a graduate of Benton Area High School. Thursby was invited to participate in a research project being run by Mark Tapsak, assistant professor of chemistry at BU. Through research funded by a private company, Tapsak is helping to develop a surgically implantable device similar to a pacemaker to help regulate gastrointestinal tracts of persons suffering from a variety of illnesses. 

Of specific interest was the voltage that could be passed through the pacing leads. Different coatings on leads give different voltage windows, Thursby explained. To investigate “the water window on various implantable pacing leads using a home-built, computer-controlled potentiostat,” Tapsak and Thursby had to organize specific testing equipment and document findings. 

Thursby plans to teach at the high school level after graduating from BU, but pharmaceutical research is also attracting his attention. 

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 8,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Professional Studies, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.

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