Office: 843-792-1529
Lab: 843-792-1529
Fax: 843-792-4850
Email: bielawsj@musc.edu
BSB-752

Research Interests

During the academic tenure, my research has focused on synthetic and analytical chemistry of pesticides. New synthetic methods for the preparation of heterocyclic compounds with oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen and boron have been developed. A large number of new pesticides, as well as their radiolabeled analogues, have been synthesized to investigate structure/activity relationship, metabolism and mode of action. My research has also included extensive work in analytical chemistry of pesticides, data interpretation and structure determination using GC, GC/MS, HRGC/HRMS, HPLC, LC/MS, TLC, FAA, GFAA, ICP, multinuclear NMR, IR, and UV/VIS techniques.  Most recently, I have performed analysis of new drugs and their metabolites in biological tissues by HPLC, LC/MS and RIA, and have provided analytical support of new drugs for Brain Blood Barrier, Gastrointestinal Absorption and Pharmacokinetic studies. Studies have involved development and validation of the protocols for analysis of a large number of experimental drugs from "in vitro" and "in vivo" experiments by HPLC, LC/MS, LC/MS-MS and RIA methods. I have also developed and validated generic screens for plasma protein binding and in "in vitro" metabolic stability. My work has also involved development of new, or improvement of existing, analytical methods for determination of trace residues of pesticides and drugs, their intermediates and metabolites as well as priority polluntants in a variety of matrices.  In my future research, I will concentrate on the role of sphingolipids in signal transduction and cell regulation in cancer biology. Sphingolipid metabolism assumes a key role in the complex mechanisms regulating cellular stress responses to environmental inducers. Several sphingolipid metabolites have recently been shown to have bioactivity, and their individual contributions to the regulatory pathways that govern cell growth are currently being established. The Sphingomyelin (SM) cycle, a ubiquitous signaling system linking a specific set of cell-surface receptors to the nucleus and cellular events, represents a novel antiproliferative signal transduction pathway that regulates cell cycle arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis. Ceramide, the putative second messenger of the SM cycle, has been proposed as a molecular sensor of injury and assumes a fundamental role in the cellular stress response. This discovery has created the need to examine changes in sphingolipid metabolism and composition (especially ceramide), and offers promises for new molecular insights into tumor growth and metastasis. Using my strong background in synthetic and analytical chemistry, I will focus on establishing a state-of-the-art analytical facility to support this research. My goal is to develop insight into the mechanism of action of sphingolipids through the data generated by well established analytical foundation. Development of new, mostly LC/MS analytical protocols, will provide medical investigators with the powerful tools to monitor changes in sphingolipid/lipid composition in normal and cancer environments and will provide one of the missing linkages in the search for effective therapy.

Selected Publications

• Bielawski, J., Morgan, D.G., Smith, G.A., and Lloyd, F.W. (2001) Simultaneous Determination of Uracil and Dihydrouracil in Human Serum by Liquid/Liquid Extraction and Supercritical Fluid Chromatography with Mass Spectral Detection. J. Chrom. (In press)
• Bielawski, J. and Casida, J.E. (1987) Phosphorylating Intermediates in the Peracid Oxidation of Phosphorothionates, Phosphorothiolates and Phosphorodithioates. J. Agric. Food Chem., 36: 610-619.
• Bielawski, J. and Niedenzu, K. (1986) Reaction of Boroxines and Diborozanes with Pyrazole. Inorganic Chem., 25: 1771-1778.
• Bielawski, J., Hodgkins, T.G., Leyton, W.J., Niedenzu, K., Niedenzu, P.M., and Trofimenko, S. (1986) Polynuclear Pyrazoyl-Bridged Spiro Species Containing Boron and Metal Centers. Inorganic Chem., 25: 87-93.
• Bielawski, J. and Niedenzu, K. (1986) Triply Bridged Diboron Species of the Pyrazabole Type. Inorganic Chem., 25: 85-89.
• Bielawski, J., Niedenzu, K. and Steward, J.S. (1985) Preparation and Characterization of Some Isoelectronic Boron-Nitrogen Analogs of Substituted Uracil. Z. Naturforsch., 40B: 389-394.
• Witek, S., Bielawska, A., Bielawski, J. (1973)