Contact phone (503) 725 - 8445 Laboratory 225  Science Building 1 E-mail <smejtekp@pdx.edu>

Research interests and current projects in Dr. Smejtek's laboratory are focused on three areas of Physics Department and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences programs: environmental membrane biophysics, surface and interface science and molecular biosciences.

The outlines of research projects below are intended primarily for undergraduate and graduate students interested in research.
Environmental membrane biophysics
Surface and interface science
Molecular biosciences

Dr. Smejtek works in collaboration with colleagues from PSU's departments of Chemistry and Biology, and from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic.

Abstracts of papers from membrane and molecular biophysics research.

Word, R. C., and P. Smejtek. 2005. Partition of tetrachlorophenol into lipid bilayers and sarcoplasmic reticulum: Effect of length of acyl chains, carbonyl group of lipids and biomembrane structure. J. Membrane Biol. 203: 127-142. (download paper)

P. Smejtek and Robert C. Word. 2004. Environmental swap energy and role of configurational entropy in transfer of small molecules from water into alkanes. J. Chem. Phys. 120:1383-1394. (download paper)

Smejtek, P. M. Mense, R. Word, and S. Wang. 1999. Electrokinetic properties of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane obtained from reconstitution studies. J. Membrane Biol.167:151-163.

Smejtek, P., A. Blochel, and S. Wang. 1996. Hydrophobicity and sorption of chlorophenolates to lipid membranes. Chemosphere 33: 177-201.

Smejtek, P. 1995. Permeability of lipophilic ions across lipid bilayers. Pages 197-240 in E. A. Disalvo, and S. A. Simon, eds., Permeability and Stability of Lipid Bilayers. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Voelker, D., and P. Smejtek. 1995. Adsorption of ruthenium red to phospholipid membranes. Biophys. J. 70: 818-830.

Barstad, A. W., D. H. Peyton, and P. Smejtek. 1993. AHA- heterodimer of a class-2 uncoupler: pentachlorophenol. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1140: 262-270.

Smejtek, P., and S. Wang. 1993. Distribution of hydrophobic ionizable xenobiotics between water and lipid membranes: pentachlorophenol and pentachlorophenate. A comparison with octanol-water partition. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 25: 394-404.

Smejtek, P., and S. Wang. 1991. Domains and anomalous adsorption isotherms of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membranes and lipophilic ions: pentachlorophenolate, tetraphenylborate, and dipicrylamine. Biophys. J. 59: 1064-1073.

Smejtek, P., W. K. Riker, A. Oxyzoglou, C. Wright, and M. Bennett. 1990. Adsorption of aminopyridines to phosphatidylserine membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1029: 259-266.

Smejtek, P., and S. Wang. 1990. Adsorption to dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membranes in gel and fluid state: pentachlorophenolate, dipicrylamine and tetraphenylborate. Biophys. J. 58: 1285-1294.