Faculty Profile
Conductor of Knowledge
Brigitte Wex at the borderlands of biology and chemistry
Indeed the keynote of Wex’s conversation — one realizes after talking with her even for an hour — is transformation. It suffuses her mode of thought, recurring in personal, professional, and intellectual registers. The metamorphic motif is appropriate enough, given the nexus of her research interests and educational background. Drawing on higher degrees in molecular biology and photochemistry, and postdoctoral work in optoelectronics (a broad field including everything from semiconductors to solar cells), Wex’s current research is at the threshold between nature and technology, where organic materials become semiconductors for opto-electronic devices (such as are found
in displays for computers, mobile phones and the like). This research is carried out in collaboration with researchers from AUB and Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Wex’s research also touches on matters of epidemiological importance. She makes use of a technique in mass spectrometry known as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry to study microorganisms in very high resolution based on protein extracts in collaboration with colleagues at LAU. “We use this to characterize the profiles of microorganisms — their so-called ‘fingerprints.’ We’re currently working on Staphylococcus aureus, which is responsible for serious infectious diseases globally.” A third axis of her current research is the quantitation of picocyanobacteria, ubiquitous in marine and freshwater environments. “The methodology of enumeration we’re developing in our lab can be used for environmental monitoring — as well as to monitor nutrient availability — in fresh and salt water bodies,” she explains, noting its relevance for ecological studies. This research is done in collaboration with researchers from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, U.S.A. Wex aptly describes herself as a multidisciplinary researcher. Having completed her Vordiplom in biology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in her native Freiburg, Germany, she went on to complete a master’s specializing in molecular biology,
her Ph.D. in photochemistry at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, U.S.A. and a post-doctoral fellowship at Arizona State University on the design and preparation of optoelectronic devices. She discusses her research with evident passion, and she expresses a wish to pass on the “virus” — the characteristic blend of wonder, curiosity and enthusiasm that scientists share with artists — to her students. “A good day for me is when a student comes back to me saying ‘here is what you’ve taught me, here is what I have done, this is the result and this is how I think it should be interpreted,’” Wex explains. “This is the transformation I look for as a teacher — students shifting from merely attending class to actively, even zealously, taking part in research.” Family is indeed her other great passion. Asked how she balances the demands of motherhood with those of research, Wex notes that her adoptive Lebanon “is a country where education is really valued,” and goes on to say she hopes her three-year-old daughter will remain here. “Lebanon has huge potential for development,” she says. Wex has published 15 papers in peerreviewed international journals, and participated in numerous international conferences. She is an active member of the Society for Optical Engineering, the American Chemical Society and the German Chemical Society.
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Dr. Brigitte Wex joined LAU Byblos as assistant professor of chemistry in the Natural Sciences Department in 2006, in the midst of a decade of tremendous growth for the university as a whole. Wex describes it as a period of transformation, recalling the excitement as contagious. “I wanted to contribute any way I could, I wanted to be part of it,” she says.
VOLUME 14 | issue nº 2 | Summer 2012
By Linda Dahdah Douaihy