Biography
Education
Ph.D., Chemistry (Analytical), University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2013
B.S., Chemistry and Mathematics (Summa Cum Laude; high honors) and Biology minor, Wayne State College, 2005
Areas of Interest
DNA molecule presentation via nanofluidic or microfluidic devices for genomic analysis; concentration of DNA molecules using microfluidic devices
Teach Complex Concepts with Unexpected Props and Mental Imagery
Awards
2022 Outstanding College of Arts and Sciences Teachers Award
2022 College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Faculty mentor
2019 Pratt-Heins Foundation Faculty Award – Teaching
Appointments
Fellow, Nebraska Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), 2021-present
Patent Applications
Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Masters, C., Dolphin, J., Vonderfecht, A., System and methods for eluting and concentrating large DNA molecules for analysis, U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. (2020), US 20200110009 A1 20200409.
Polen, C., Mendez Ortiz, E., Harbison, C., Garringer, N., Lopez, M., Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Developing an insert to protect large DNA molecules during cell lysis, (Provisional Patent application, 2024)
Publications
Note: those authors presented in bold are UNK undergraduates
Polen, C., Mendez Ortiz, E., Harbison, C., Garringer, N., Lopez, M., Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Developing an insert to protect large DNA molecules during cell lysis, (accepted) BioTechniques
Ellis, J. and Kounovsky-Shafer, K., Hydrogen or Helium Conservation in Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry: How we chose what was right for our laboratory, 2023, ACS Chemical Health and Safety 30 (4): 151-155
Rau, S., Huynh, T., Larsen, A., Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Concentration of lambda concatemers using a 3D printed device, 2023, Electrophoresis, 44: 744-751.
Menke, B., Rau, S., Ripp, A., Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Determining the effective electrophoretic mobility of fluorescently labeled microspheres in microchannels in a dynamic range of ionic strength conditions, 2021, Journal of Analytical and Bioanalytical Techniques, 12 (2): 427
Houtwed, H.A., Xie, M. Ahmad, A., Masters, C.D., Davison, M.M., Kounovsky-Shafer, K., Cao, H., Analysis of bisulfite via a nitro derivative of cyanine-3 (NCy3) in the microfluidic channel, 2019, Journal of Fluorescence (29): 523-529.
Masters, C., Dolphin, J., Maschmann, A., McGill, K., Moore, M., Thompson, D., Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., Development of 3D printed mesofluidic devices to elute and concentrate DNA, 2019 Electrophoresis (40): 810-816.
Maschmann, A., Masters, C., Davison, M., Lallman, J., Thompson, D., and Kounovsky-Shafer, K.L., “Determining if DNA stained with a dye from the TOTO-1 family can be digested with restriction enzymes,” 2018 JOVE (132)
Lallman, J., Flaugh, R., and Kounovsky-Shafer, K. L., “Determination of electroosmostic and electrophoretic mobility in low ionic strength solutions,” 2018 Electrophoresis 39 (5-6): 862-868
Kounovsky-Shafer, K. L., Hernandez-Ortiz, J. P., Potamousis, K., Tsvid, G., Place, M., Ravindran, P., Jo, K., Zhou, S., Odijk, T., de Pablo, J. J., and Schwartz, D. C. “Electrostatic confinement and manipulation of DNA molecules for genome analysis,” 2017 Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 114 (51): 13400 - 13405
Schwartz, D. C., Kounovsky-Shafer, K., Hernandez-Ortiz, J. P., Potamousis, K., Jo, K., de Pablo, J., Odijk, T., “Presenting large DNA molecules for analysis”, Provisional Patent Application P140056US01, May 2017
Maschmann, A., Kounovsky-Shafer, K. L. “Determination of restriction enzyme activity when cutting DNA labeled with cyanine dimer dyes”, 2017 Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids, 36(6): 406-417
Gupta, A., Kounovsky-Shafer, K. L., Ravindran, P., Schwartz, D. C. “Optical Mapping and Nanocoding approaches to whole genome analysis. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics”, 2016 Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 20: 44
Schwartz, D. C., Kounovsky-Shafer, K., and Jo, K., “System and Method for presenting large DNA molecules for analysis”, Patent Application PCT international application number 14/485,119, September, 2014
Kounovsky–Shafer, K. L., Hernandez-Ortiz, J. P., Jo, K., de Pablo, J. J., Odijk, T., Schwartz, D. C. “Presentation of large DNA molecules for analysis as nanoconfined dumbbells”, 2013 Macromolecules, 46: 8356–8368 (Featured in Nature Biotechnology)
Kim, Y. Kim, K. S., Kounovsky, K. L., Chang, R., Jung, G. Y., de Pablo, J. J., Jo, K. Schwarz, D. C. “Nanochannel confinement: DNA stretch approaching full contour length”, 2011 Lab on a Chip, 11(10): 1721-9
Yu, H., Jo, K., Kounovsky, K.L., de Pablo, J.J., and Schwartz, D.C. Molecular propulsion: “Chemical sensing and chemotaxis of DNA driven by RNA polymerase”, 2009. J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 131: 5722-5723, (Featured in KurzweilAI.net, PhysOrg,InSciences).
New breakthroughs
New breakthroughs
