PUBLICATIONS & PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY

I have more than thirty years experience in biomedical research and supervising student training in research.  One of my primary career goals is to more encourage students from underrepresented groups to advance to  careers in the physical and biomedical sciences. As a Chicago State University (CSU) faculty member I have personally mentored more than 30 students in my research lab. As PD of the NIH-funded MBRS, SCORE, and RISE programs, I have guided more than 300 students to achieve STEM baccalaureate degrees.  Many of these have gone on to achieve PhD degrees. I have directed student high-school outreach programs funded by the NIH (MHSSRAP) and the American Chemical Society (SEED). Additionally, I have served on a number of NIH and NSF scientific review panels for training grants.

My research has been supported by grants from the NSF, Fulbright, EMBO, American Chemical Society/PRF and NIH (including two RO1) and has resulted in fifty research papers published in peer-reviewed journals. I was PD of the CSU Institutional Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program from 1991-9 and subsequently the SCORE Program from 1999 – 2007. These grants supported multiple faculty biomedical research projects at CSU in addition to my own research. CSU undergraduate students have been co-authors on eight of my publications, and five of my research students have gone on to earn PhD degrees in chemistry and biology. I also offer workshops for faculty in grant writing and assist with the preparation of research grant applications.

Positions and Employment

1961 – 1963Fulbright Fellowship, Chemistry Dept., Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
1963 – 1964National Academy of Sciences Research Associate, U.S. Army Natick Laboratory, Natick, MA
1964 – 1966Visiting Scientist, Soreq Nuclear Research Center, Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Rehovot
1966 – 1968Research associate, University of Notre Dame Radiation Lab, South Bend, IN
1968 – 1973Associate Professor of Chemistry, Chicago State University, Chicago, IL
1973 – 2001Professor of Chemistry, Chicago State University
1974 – 1975European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Fellow & Visiting Professor, Physics Dept., University of Salford, UK
1979 – 1980Visiting Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL
1991 – 1999Program Director, NIH-NIGMS/MBRS Program, Chicago State University
1999 – 2008NIGMS/MBRS Program Director, Chicago State University
2008 – 2019NIGMS Programs coordinator, Chicago State University  

Honors

1978 – NSF Faculty Development Award

1996 – Faculty Excellence Award, Chicago State University

1999 – Faculty Excellence Award, Chicago State University

2001 – present, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Chicago State University

Contribution to Science

My research has received financial support from the federal government (National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation), the American Chemical Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization and the private sector (International Minerals and Chemicals, Inc., Blum-Kovler Foundation), and I was honored to be the recipient of the only NIH RO1 research grants to be awarded to a CSU faculty member. These activities resulted in 50 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and a larger number of presentations at professional conferences.  A significant proportion of these included CSU students as coauthors. My research interests include

  • mechanistic studies of organic free-radicals
  • photochemistry and high-energy radiation chemistry of organic compounds in solution,
  • reactions involving photochemistry and photobiology of biological and synthetic pigments,
  • protein structural analysis using spectrophotometric techniques,
  • bacterial phototaxis and chemotaxis, and
  • radiation safety and biohazards. 

My graduate training was centered on mechanistic studies of organic reactions involving free-radicals at Kings College, University of London. In these the reactions were initiated thermally, while in my postdoctoral studies at Brandeis University, US Army Natick Laboratory, and the University of Notre Dame where I worked on processes that were initiated photochemically and by ionizing radiation. The latter were continued when I came to Chicago State University and as a guest scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. The following is selection of publications in peer-reviewed journals from these periods:   

  • Sherman, W.V. and Williams, G.H. (1963) `Homolytic reactions of aromatic side chains’, Journal of the Chemical Society, 1442-1446.
  • Cohen, S.G. and Sherman, W.V. (1963) `Inhibition and quenching of the light-induced reduction of benzophenone to benzpinacol and benzhydrol’,  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 85, 1642 – 1647.
  • Berman, J., Sherman, W.V. and Cohen, S.G. (1963) `Sensitization  and catalysis of the light-induced decarbonylation of aldehydes’, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 85, 4010 – 4013.
  • Sherman, W.V. and Cohen, S.G. (1964) `Flash photolysis of benzophenone in 2-propanol: Effect of phenyl disulfide’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 70, 178 – 182.
  • Sherman, W.V. and Cohen, S.G. (1964) `Hydrogen transfer and energy transfer in the gamma-radiolysis of benzophenone in 2-propanol’,  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 86, 1390 – 1393.
  • Cohen, S.G. Laufer, D. and Sherman, W.V. (1964) `Inhibition of light-induced reactions of mercaptans and disulfides’, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 86, 3060 – 3065.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1966) `The reactivity of electrons produced in the gamma-radiolysis of aliphatic alcohols’,  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 88,1567 – 1569.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1966) `Radiation-induced chain reactions in alkaline solutions of nitrous oxide in aliphatic alcohols’, Chemical Communications, 250 – 252.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1964) `Correlation between electron affinity and protection in the radiolysis of aliphatic hydrocarbons’, Nature, 210, 5042 – 5043.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1965) `Solute effects in the radiolysis of cyclohexane solutions: Effect of substituted aromatic compounds’, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 86, 5402 – 54-6.
  • Hentz, R.R., Mellows, R. and Sherman, W.V. (1967) `The effect of water on hydrogen yields in the gamma-radiolysis of 1,4-dioxane’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 71, 3365 – 3370.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1967) `Light-induced and radiation-induced reactions in methanol’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 72, 3365 -3369.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1967) `Photosensitized chain reactions in alkaline solutions of nitrous oxide in 2-propanol’,  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 89, 1302 – 1306.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1967) `The gamma-radiolysis of 2-propanol. III.   Chain reactions in alkaline solutions containing nitrous oxide’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 71, 1695 – 1698.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1968) `Radiation-induced oxidation of 2-propanol by dialkyl peroxide’, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 90, 6773 – 6776.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1968) `Radical-initiated chain dehalogenation in alkaline alcohol solutions’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 72, 2287 – 2290.
  • Hentz, R.R. and Sherman, W.V. (1968) `Mechanism of hydrogen formation in the radiolysis of dioxane and its mixtures with water’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 72, 2635 – 2638.
  • Hentz, R.R. and Sherman, W.V. (1969) `Charge scavenging and energy transfer in the radiolysis of benzene solutions’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 73, 2676-2680.
  • Sherman, W.V. (1969) `Free radical intermediates in the radiation chemistry of organic compounds’, in  ADVANCES IN FREE RADICAL CHEMISTRY, Volume III, Williams, G.H., editor, Academic Press, New York, pages 1 – 88.26.
  • Radlowski, C. and Sherman, W.V. (1970) `The gamma radiolysis of 2-propanol.  V. Oxidation by carbon tetrachloride’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 74, 3403-3408.
  • Evans, R., Nesyto, E., Radlowski, C. and Sherman, W.V. (1971) `Mechanism of radiation-induced dechlorination of DDT’, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 75, 2762-2766.
  • Backlin, R. and Sherman, W.V. (1971) `Photochemical dehalogenation of halobenzenes in alkaline alcoholic solution’, Chemical Communications, 453-455.

The last 3 publications from this period were co-authored by CSU students identified in boldface.

After a sabbatical leave, 1974-6, which included an EMBO fellowships at the Weizmann Institute and the University of Salford, the focus of my research changed to the study of photoresponses of light-sensitive biological systems related to rhodopsin-based systems.  These were supported by two NIH/National Eye Institute RO1 awards in 1977 – 1984, followed by NIH/NIGMS-SCORE grants through 2000. 

  • Sherman, W.V. and Caplan, S.R. (1975) “Arrhenius parameters of phototransients in Halobacterium halobium under physiological conditions”, Nature, 258, 766-8.31. 
  • Sherman, W.V.,Slifkin, M.A. and Caplan, S.R. (1976) “Kinetic studies of phototransients in bacteriorhodopsin”, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 423, 238-248.
  • Sherman, W.V., Korenstein, R. and Caplan, S.R. (1976) “Energetics and chronology of phototransients in the light response of the purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium”, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 430, 454-458.
  • Korenstein, R., Sherman,  W.V. and Caplan, S.R. (1976) “Kinetic isotope effects in the photochemical cycle of bacteriorhodopsin”, Biophysics of Structure and Mechanism, 2, 267-276.
  • Sherman, W.V.  and Caplan, S.R. (1977)  “Chromophore mobility in bacteriorhodopsin”, Nature, 265, 273-276.
  • Sherman, W.V. and Caplan, S.R. (1978) “Influence of membrane lipids on the photochemistry of bacteriorhodopsin in the purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium”, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 502, 222-231.
  • Slifkin, M. A., Duggan, M. A. , Garty, H. and Sherman, W. V.  (1978) `Measurement of Debye rotational relaxation times of purple membrane fragments by absorbance using a modulation excitation spectro­pho­tometer’, Advances in Molecular Relaxation and Interac­tion Processes, 13, 351-353.
  • Sherman, W. V. , Eicke, R. R. , Stafford, S. R.  and Wasacz, F. M.  (1979)`Branching in the bacteriorhodopsin photochemical cycle’, Photochemistry & Photobiology, 30, 727-729.*
  • Slifkin, M. A. , Garty, H. , Sherman, W. V.  and Caplan, S. R.  (1979) `Modulation-exci­tation spectrophotometry of bacteriorhodops­in’, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 1,61-64.
  • Sherman, W. V. , Slifkin, M. A. , Kushlevsky, A. P.  and Parker, S. A. H.  (1979) `Bleaching of the bacteriorhodpsin chromoph­ore by ionizing radiation’, International Journal of Radiation Biology, 36, 11-17.
  • Slifkin, M. A. , Garty, H. , Sherman, W. V. , Vincent, M. F. P.  and Caplan, S. R. (1979) `Light-induced conductivity changes in purple membrane suspensions’  Biophysics of  Structure and  Mechanism, 5, 313-320.
  • Sherman, W. V.  (1981)`Ultraviolet fluorescence of bacterior­hod­opsin and location of tryptophanyl residues’, Photochemistry & Photobiology, 33, 367-371.
  • Sherman, W. V.  (1982) `Time-resolved fluorometry of bacteriorhodopsin’, Photochemistry and Photobiology’, 36, 463-469.
  • Plotkin, B. J.  and Sherman, W. V.  (1984) `Spectral heteroge­neity in protein fluorescence of bacteriorhodopsin’ Biochemistry, 23, 5353 – 5­360.
  • Plotkin , B. J. , Boyd, M. S. , Palmer, P. L.  and Sherman, W. V.  (1985) `Temperature dependence of the phototactic response of Halobact­erium halobium’, Current Microbiology, 12, 97-100.*
  • Palmer, P. L.  and Sherman W. V.  (1985) `Alkaline quenching of bacterio­rhodopsin tryptophanyl fluorescence: Evidence for aqueous accessibility or a hydrogen-bonded chain’, Photochemistry and Photo­biology, 42, 541-547. *
  • Plotkin, B. J.  and Sherman, W. V.  (1986) `Photomodulation of the Chemosensory response of Halobacterium halobium’, Current Microbiology, 13, 209-213.

I also studied the action of photosentizers in relation to cancer treatment based on photodynamic therapy in collaboration with Leonard Grossweiner at Illinois Institute of Technology in the early 1980s.

  • Grossweiner, L. I.  and Sherman, W. V.  (1980)`The effect of dark complexing on the photosensitized formation of 8-methoxyypsoralen crosslinks with DNA’, Photochemistry & Photobiology, 32, 697-699.
  • Sherman, W. V.  and Grossweiner, L. I.  (1981) `Photobinding of psoralen to calf-thymus DNA’, Photochemistry & Photobiology, 34, 579-603.
Research Grants
DATESAGENCYABBREVIATED TITLE
2013 – 19NIH-NIGMSNIGMS-RISE Student Development Program (Program Coordinator)
2009- 13NIH-NIGMSNIGM-RISE Student Development Program (Program Coordinator)
2007-11NIH-NIGMSMBRS-SCORE Institutional Biomedical Research Program (PD through 2008; coordinator 2008-2011).
2003-7NIH-NIGMSMBRS-SCORE Institutional Biomedical Research Program (PD).
2003-8NIH-NIGMSMBRS-RISE Student Development Program (PD).
1999-2003NIH-NIGMSMBRS-SCORE Institutional Biomedical Research Program (PD).
1999-2003NIH-NIGMSMBRS-RISE Student Development Program (PD).
1999-2001NIH-NIGMSMBRS-RISE Communications Technology Supplement (PD).
2001-4NSFVirtual Experiments for Biomedical Engineering Education – joint project with Illinois Institute of Techno­logy (Dr. Ali Cinar, PD).
1995-9NIH-NIGMSMBRS Institutional Research Grant (PD).
1995-9NIH-NIGMSMBRS research project PI: Design and function of sensitizers for photodynamic action.
1985-1998 ACSSEED grant for disadvantaged high-school student summer research experience.
1993-6NIH-NCRRMinority High School Student Research Apprentice Program.
1991-5NIH-NIGMSMBRS research project PI: Design and function of sensitizers for photodynamic action.
1987-91NIH-NIGMSMBRS research project PI: Photochemistry of bacteriorhodopsin
1983-7NIH-NIGMSMBRS research project PI: Photochemistry of bacteriorhodopsin
1977-82NIH-NIGMSMBRS research project PI: Photochemistry of bacteriorhodopsin
1981-4NIH – NEIRO1 research grant:  Photochemistry of visual pigments (renewal)
1977-81NIH – NEIRO1 research grant:  Photochemistry of visual pigments.
1984NIHCapital instrumentation (FTIR spectrophotometer)
1981NSFCapital instrumentation (UV-visible scanning spectrophotometer)
1980-1NSFFaculty Development Award (Visiting Professor, Physics Department, Illinois Institute of Technology).
1975-6EMBOVisiting Research Professor (University of Salford and Weizmann Institute)
1969-71ACSPetroleum Research Fund:  Radiolysis of organic compounds in solution.