Young dynamic scientific woman, I have professional experiences, that either in industry (AREVA NC La Hague, treatment and recycling of used nuclear fuel site) or in laboratory (UNLV radiochemistry section, working on Technetium and Los Alamos National Laboratory, working on actinium chemistry).
My current interests are focused on developing fundamental concepts that advance use of radio-pharmaceutical anti-cancer agents. As such, my research lies at the intersection of synchrotron spectroscopy, radiochemistry, and inorganic chemistry. In general, I draw from my experiences in studying nuclear fuel cycles, technetium chemistry, and actinium and the other actinide elements to develop creative solutions to technical problems in radio-pharmaceutical chelation.
My position at the School of Medicine at UW in the Radiation and Oncology department is involved with several funded research projects. I was involved in the production and/or labeling studies in Dr. Wilbur's laboratory with several different radionuclides, such as At-211, Th-227/226, and U-230. My position enabled me to work on targetry and isotope production, as well as develop separation chemistry, study the radiolabelling ability of few ligands (made in house and commercially available) and help with proposal writing to help the expansion of the program.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Inorganic Isotope and Actinide Chemistry group
February 2015
to March 2018
Full-time
Los Alamos
United States - New Mexico
Evaluate electronic structure and bonding in trivalent actinides (Ac, Am, Cm) vs. lanthanides for development of actinide technologies (e.g., separations relevant to nuclear forensics, development of advanced fuel cycles and use of actinide in alpha-therapeutic treatment of cancer)
Determined reproducible and high recovery radiochemical and chemical purification process for Ac-227 and Am-243
Synthesize actinium, americium and curium compounds for analysis
Use X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) spectroscopy at synchrotron facility for analysis
Designed triply containments for highly radioactive liquid sample analysis
Coordinated shipping of highly radioactive material to and from facilities
Wrote proposals for beam time access at Stanford, successfully
Benchmarked synthesis yield and purification process yield for Ac-227 chemistry using Ac-225 and gamma spectroscopy measurements
Compare Ac-227 XAS data with Am-243 and Cm-248 XAS data on known compounds to validate XAS methodology
Collaborated with theoretical group at LANL to create adequate models in order to analyze data from XAS experiments
Ph.D. Thesis "Chemistry of technetium sulfide: Application for waste form storage" • Bibliographic research on transition metal sulfides chemistry • Syntheses of rhenium sulfide performed as in literature and transposed to technetium-its analog • Solution work in organic or acidic media with use of Schlenk line techniques • Solid work in sealed tube at high temperature • Characterization used: o Spectroscopy analysis:
* UV-Visible (UV-Vis) used for kinetic and speciation studies * Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS) for elemental analysis * X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) to determine amorphous compound local geometry and environment * Infra-Red (IR) to have molecular structure o Other methods: * Mass spectrometry to determine the mass of unknown compounds * Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm crystalline structure * Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) for elemental analysis for technetium
Independent studies: • Developed protocol to prepare simulated melt glass in high temperature furnace • Assisted senior laboratory researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during dissolution of irradiated foils • Facilitated production of melt glass with activated products and shipment to Los Alamos, Pacific Northwest and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories • Trained first year Ph.D. student to produce melt glass • Mentored undergraduate students during Fuel Cycle Summer School to produce and characterize different type of urban material surrogate
Complexes for stable chelation of actinium and actinium-daughter radioisotopes • Implemented known separation schemes to isolate Ac-225 from a Th-229 generator • Defined adequate conditions to quantify complexation o Established developing media for thin layer chromatography analysis o Used phosphor imaging and gamma spectroscopy to evaluate labeling efficiencies o Conceptualized an EXCEL document to automatically determine the percentage of complexation from gamma spectroscopy data • Determined selectivity for home-made and commercial ligands between Ac and Bi • Followed kinetics of complex formation between Bi and ligands • Assessed stability of complexes by introducing challenging ligand or metals • Synthesized new bismuth complexes • Characterized compounds by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and XRD
Chemical and electrochemical studies technetium metal in acidic media • Potentials of dissolution determined by linear voltammetry and Tafel Plot • Dissolution rates of technetium at constant potential applied were obtained by measuring the concentration of technetium in solution by UV-Vis and LSC • Products of corrosion were analyzed in solution by UV-Vis and on the surface of the electrode by EDS and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
AREVA, NC La Hague Unit of extraction/concentration
June 2006
to September 2006
Internship
La Hague
France
Study of the PUREX process in industrial scale: learn schemes for unit of extraction/concentration and solvent regeneration with all different components (pumps, columns, evaporators, ...) and all specifications (chemicals, flow rates, concentrations, temperatures, ...)
Optimization and standardization of analytical programs of units with creation of a table summarizing and comparing all analysis workshops and suggesting areas for improvement achievable
Development of autonomy, creativity, initiative, relational and practical approach to office work
“Holidays for all” - we allowed underprivileged children to discover the sea • Partnership with an non-profit association "Secours Catholique" • Realization of the whole project (organisation, budget, harvesting money, time management …)
Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Rouen (France)
September 2003
to December 2008
It is a 5 years program: • the two first years are an intensive study in mathematics and physics • the next two years a specialization in chemistry was performed • the last year a more specific topic for specialization was studied in another school
Year of specialization in radiochemistry and nuclear fuel cycle • Classes given by professionals working in the nuclear field in France (CEA, AREVA, EDF, ANDRA) • The year was divided into two parts: 6 months of classes followed by 6 months of research in a laboratory in USA
M. G. Ferrier, E. R. Batista, J. M. Berg, E. R. Birnbaum, J. N. Cross, J. W. Engle, H. S. La Pierre, S. A. Kozimor, J. S. Lezama Pacheco, B. W. Stein, S. C. E. Stieber, J. J. Wilson, Spectroscopic and Computational Investigation of Actinium Coordination Chemistry, Nature Communications, Accepted
M. E. Fieser, M. G. Ferrier, J. Su, E. R. Batista, J. W. Engle, W. J. Evans, J. S. Lezama Pacheco, S. A. Kozimor, A. C. Olson, G. L. Wagner, T. Vitova, P. Yang, Evaluating the Electronic Structure of Formal LnII Ions in LnII(C5H4SiMe3)31- Complexes Using XANES Spectroscopy and DFT Calculations, Chem. Sci., Submitted
J. N. Cross, J. A. Macor, J. A. Bertke, M. G. Ferrier, G. S. Girolami, S. A. Kozimor, J. R. Maassen, B. L. Scott, D. K. Shuh, B. W. Stein, S. C. E. Stieber, Comparisons of Americium, Neodymium, and Europium Complexed by 2,2’-Biphenylenedithiophosphinate, Angewandte Chemie, Accepted
J. J. Kiernicki, M. G. Ferrier, J. S. Lezama Pacheco, H. S. La Pierre, B. W. Stein, M. Zeller, S. A. Kozimor, S. C. Bart, Examining the Effects of Ligand Variation on the Electronic Structure of Uranium Bis(imido) Species, Journal of American Chemical Society, Submitted
N. H. Anderson, J. Xie, M. G. Ferrier, J. S. Lezama Pacheco, H. S. La Pierre, B. W. Stein, M. Zeller, S. A. Kozimor, L. Gagliardi, S. C. Bart, Elucidating Bonding Preferences in Uranium Tetrakis(imido) Dianions, in Preparation
S. Kundu, S. C. E. Stieber, M. G. Ferrier, S. A. Kozimor, J. A. Bertke, T. H. Warren, Redox Non-Innonence of Nitrosobenzene at Nickel, Angewandte Chemie, 55, 1-6, 2016
S. Cary, M. Ferrier, R. Baumbach, M. Silver, J. Lezama Pacheco, S. Kozimor, H. La Pierre, B. Stein, A. Arico, D. Gray, T. Albrecht-Schmitt, Monomers, Dimers, and Helices: Complexities of Cerium and Plutonium Phenanthrolinecarboxylates, Inorganic Chemistry, 55(9), 4373-4380, 2016
J. J. Wilson, M. Ferrier, V. Radchenko, J. R. Maassen, J. W. Engle, E. R. Batista, R. L. Martin, F. M. Nortier, M. E. Fassbender, K. D. John, E. R. Birnbaum, Evaluation of nitrogen-rich macrocyclic ligands for the chelation of therapeutic bismuth radioisotopes, Nuclear Medicine and Biology, 42(5), 428-438, 2015
M. Ferrier, J. Roques, F. Poineau, A. P. Sattelberger, J. Unger and K. R. Czerwinski, Speciation of Technetium in Sulfuric Acid/Hydrogen Sulfide Solutions, Eur. J. Inorganic Chemistry, 2046-2052, 2014
M. Ferrier, W. M. Kerlin, F. Poineau, A. P. Sattelberger and K. R. Czerwinski, Recent developments in the synthetic chemistry of technetium disulfide, Dalton Transactions, 42(44), 15540-15543, 2013
M. Ferrier, F. Poineau, G. D. Jarvinen and K. R. Czerwinski, Chemical and Electrochemical behavior of metallic technetium in acidic media, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 298(3), 1809-1817, 2013
M. Ferrier, P. F. Weck, F. Poineau, E. Kim, A. Stebbins, L. Ma, A. P. Sattelberger and K. R. Czerwinski, First evidence for the formation of technetium oxosulfide complexes: synthesis, structure and characterization, Dalton Transactions, 41(20), 6291-6298, 2012