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photo of Dr. Harry Dorn

Harry Dorn 

Professor, Department of Chemistry 

Program Focus

H.C. Dorn joined the faculty at Virginia Tech (VT) in 1974 and initiated a research program that involved analytical applications and development of NMR techniques including direct coupling of high performance liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance, HPLC-NMR. [Anal. Chem., 1980, cit. 46]* Today, the HPLC-NMR technique has evolved as an important multi-million dollar tool in the pharmaceutical and bio-medical fields. [Anal. Chem., 1984, cit. 56] In the mid-1980's the Dorn laboratory initiated a second research area involving electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). These later studies provided new insight toward understanding fundamental nuclear/electron interactions. In these spectroscopic studies, weak intermolecular bonding interactions (e.g. hydrogen bonding) are studied for intermolecular liquid/liquid, solid/liquid, and solid/solid interfaces. Recently, the DNP work has led to new approaches for next generation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments currently under development at various sites (Oxford Instruments, GE, Siemens, and other academic institutions.

In the early 1990s, the Dorn laboratory also began a new area of research involving the synthesis, separation, and functionalization of the newly discovered carboneous nanomaterials, nanotubes, fullerenes and metal encapsulated fullerenes (endohedral metallofullerenes).

Selected Publications 

  1. Shultz, Michael D.; Duchamp, James C.; Wilson, John D.; Shu, Chunying; Ge, Jiechao; Gibson, Harry W.; Fillmore, Helen L.; Hirsch, Jerry I.; Dorn, Harry C.; Fatouros, Panos P. Encapsulation of a Radiolabeled Cluster Inside a Fullerene Cage, 177LuxLu(3-x)N@C80: An Interleukin-13 Conjugated Radiolabeled Metallofullerene Platform. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132(14), 4980-4981. (2010). Times Cited: 42 (57) (Feb. 2015).
  2. Fillmore, H.L.; Shultz, M.D.; Henderson, S.C.; Cooper, P.; Broaddus, W.C.; Chen, Z.-J.; Shu, C.Y.; Zhang, J.; Ge, J.; Dorn, H.C.; Corwin, F.D.; Hirsch, J.I.; Wilson, J.D.; Fatouros, P.P. Conjugation of Functionalized Gadolinium Metallofullerenes with IL-13 Peptides for Targeting and Imaging Glial Tumors. Nanomedicine, 6(3), 449-458. (2011) Times Cited: 30 (36) (Feb. 2015).
  3. Shultz, M.D.; Wilson, J.D.; Fuller, C.E.; Zhang, J.; Dorn, H.C.; Fatouros, P.P. Metallofullerene Based Nanoplatform for Brain Tumor Brachytherapy and Longitudinal Imaging in a Murine Orthotopic Xenograft Model. Radiology, 261, 136-143. (2011) Times Cited: 21 (26) (Feb. 2015).
  4. Zhang, J.; Fuhrer, T.; Fu, W.; Ge, J.; Bearden, D.W.; Dallas, J.; Duchamp, J.; Walker, K.; Champion, H.; Azurmendi, H.; Harich, K.; Dorn, H.C. Nanoscale Fullerene Compression of a Yttrium Carbide Cluster. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134(20), 8487-8493. (2012) Times Cited: 23 (28) (Feb. 2015).
  5. Zhang, J.; Bowles, F.L; Bearden, D.W.; Ray, K.; Fuhrer, T.; Ye, Y.; Dixon, C.; Harich, K.; Helm, R.F.; Olmstead, M.M.; Balch, A.L.; Dorn, H.C. A Missing Link in the Transformation from Asymmetric to Symmetric Fullerene Cages Implies a Top-down Fullerene Formation Mechanism. Nature Chemistry, 5, 880-85. (2013). Times Cited: 19 (7) (Feb. 2015).
  6. Zhang, J.; Stevenson, S.; Dorn, H.C. Trimetallic Nitride Endohedral Metallofullerenes: Discovery, Structural Characterization, Reactivity, and Applications. Accounts of Chemical Research, 46(7), 1548-1557. (2013). Times Cited: 36 (41) (Feb. 2015) [ISI Web of Science, As of September/October 2014, this highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Chemistry based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year.