Cooper Battle

Cooper Battle is a bio-organic chemist blending backgrounds in organic synthesis and supramolecular chemistry to better understand how biomolecules assemble and develop biomimetic fluorescent sensors. Work in the "Battle Lab" focus on two main directions: those based off of folded nucleic acids, and those formed from supramolecular host-guest systems that work in a similar fashion to fluorescent proteins. He is particularly interested in designing sensors able to probe micro-RNA levels and localization in real time to better understand their role in the early progression of tumors, with an eye towards the long-term development of inexpensive, durable and straightforward systems for the early detection of cancer. Battle also focuses on Chemical Education Research, examining both how to integrate genuine research experiences into teaching laboratories (such as Advanced Experimental Biochemistry) and how to integrate Community Service-Learning into lower-division classes as a way to involve undergraduate students in K-12 science outreach as a formative part of their education. Battle has funding from the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, and the MJ Murdock Charitable Trusts. You are likely to meet his dogs in his office on campus (Roulez, Bramble & Siren), and he maintains a lending library of science-fiction and fantasy novels in his office for students to check out.