Murielle Watzky

Murielle Watzky is the Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Northern Colorado, College of Natural and Health Sciences. Her research focuses on nanoparticle synthesis, biosensor development, and kinetic modeling of nanomaterials and protein aggregates.

• Education: Diplome d'Ingenieur (Ecole Superieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon), Ph.D. (Wayne State University), Postdoctoral Research (Colorado State University)

Research Interests include biosynthetic pathways for silver nanoparticles, experimental probes of noble metal nanoparticle formation, and plasmonic biosensors. She pioneered the Finke-Watzky two-step nucleation and autocatalytic growth model applied to nanomaterials and protein aggregation systems.

Scientific Contributions span 15+ years, with seminal work on nanoparticle kinetics (1997), protein aggregation modeling (2008), and biosensor development (2017-2021). Her 2008 review on protein aggregation is a top-10 downloaded article in BBA Proteins and Proteomics, with >300 citations.

• Awards:
  • Highly Cited Paper (Web of Science)
  • Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles in BBA Proteins and Proteomics

Contact: murielle.watzky@unco.edu | Phone: 970-351-3551