Adrian Ponce

Adrian Ponce (born March 12, 1971 in Berlin, Germany) is the manager for the Higher Education outreach group and former Deputy Section Manager for the Planetary Science and Life Detection Section at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and is also a visiting faculty member at Caltech. he received a BS in Chemistry from Michigan State University, and then went on to obtain a PhD in Chemistry from Caltech in 2000.

Research

The Ponce Group is an interdisciplinary team composed of members from both the California Institute of Technology and the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that integrates microbiology, chemistry, biophotonics, and engineering principles to develop chemical and biological detection schemes and corresponding analytical instrumentation.

Publications

• Fast sterility assessment with germinable endospore biodosimetry. Yung, P.T., Ponce, A. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, accepted.
• Production and characterization of pure spore suspensions of Clostridium sporogenes and C. hungatei. Yang, W., Crow-Willard, E., Ponce, A. Applied Microbiology, in press.
• Spectroscopic analysis of ligand binding to lanthanide-macrocycle platforms. Kirby, J.P., Cable, M.L., Levine, D.J., Gray, H.B., Ponce, A. Analytical Chemistry, 2008, 80(15), 5750-5754.
• Bacterial diversity in hyperarid Atacama Desert soils. Connon, S.A., Lester, E.D., Shafaat, H.S., Obenhuber, D.C., Ponce, A., Journal of Geophysical Research, 2007, 112(G4): Article No. G04S17.
• An automated front-end monitor for anthrax surveillance systems based on the rapid detection of airborne endospores. Yung, P.T., Lester, E.D., Bearman, G., Ponce, A., Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2007, 98(4), 864-871.
• Bacterial spore detection by [Tb3+(macrocycle)(dipicolinate)] luminescence Cable, M.L., Kirby, J.P., Sorasaenee, K., Gray, H.B., Ponce, A., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2007, 129, 1474-1475.
• Quantification of viable endospores from a Greenland ice core Yung, P.T., Shafaat, H.S., Connon, S.A., Ponce, A., FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2007, 59, 300-306.
• Microflora of extreme arid Atacama Desert Soils Lester, E.D., Satomi, M., Ponce, A., Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2007, 39, 704-708.
• Applications of a rapid endospore viability assay for monitoring UV inactivation and characterizing Arctic ice cores Shafaat, H.S., Ponce, A., Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2006, 72(10), 6808-6814.
• A Rapid Single Spore Enumeration Assay Yung, P.T., Kempf, M.J., Ponce, A., IEEE Aerospace Conference 2006.
• Towards an In-Situ Endospore Detection Instrument Shafaat, H.S.; Cable, M.L.; Ikeda, M.K.; Kirby, J.P.; Pelletier, C.C.; Ponce, A., IEEE Aerospace Conference 2005. [
• A Second-Generation Anthrax "Smoke Detector": An Inexpensive Front-End Monitor that Detects Airborne Bacterial Spores Lester, E.D.; Bearman, G.; Ponce, A., IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, 2004, 23 (1), 130-135.
• An Anthrax Smoke Detector: Online Detection of Aerosolized Bacterial Spores Lester, E.D.; Ponce, A., IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology: Special Biodefense Issue, 2002, 21 (5), 38-42.
• Lateral-Flow Immunoassay With DPA-Triggered Tb Luminescence Ponce, A. NASA Tech Briefs, 2002 (accepted).
• Live/Dead Spore Assay Using DPA-Triggered Tb Luminescence Ponce, A. NASA Tech Briefs, 2002 (accepted).
• Online Detection of Trace H2S(g): UV Absorption Spectroscopy of Gas Phase Cu(COD)(HFAC) Sulfidation Product (HFAC(g)) Ponce, A.; Pikramenou, Z.; Winnpenny, R; Davidson, M. Anal. Chem., 2002 (in preparation).
• Bacterial Endospore Quantification using Lanthanide Dipicolinate Luminescence Ponce, A; Venkateswaran, KJ, NASA Tech Briefs, 2002, 26(7), 56.
• Tiger Fiber: Long Period Fiber Grating Sensor with Modulated Plastic Coating for Environmental Monitoring Kossakovski, D.; Ponce, A, NASA Tech Briefs, 2002 accepted.
• Fiber-Optic Transducers for Distributed Sensing of Volatiles: An Optical Nose Ponce, A.; Kossakovski, D, NASA Tech Briefs, 2001, 25(6), 33-34.
• Electron Tunneling in Water: Oxidative Quenching of Electronically Excited Ru(tpy)22+ (tpy = 2,2':6,2' '-terpyridine) by Ferric Ions in Aqueous Glasses at 77 K Ponce, A.; Winkler, J.R.; Gray, H.B., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, 8187-8191.
• Electron Transfer in Ruthenium Modified High Potential Iron-Sulfur Protein Ponce, A.; Di Bilio, A.J.; Winkler, J.R.; Gray, H.B.; Babini, E.; Bertini, I.; Borsari, M.; Capozzi, F.; Luchinat, C. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, 4532-4533.
• Electron Transfer in Proteins and Water Ponce, A; Thesis, 2000, California Institute of Technology.
• pH Dependent Excited-State Dynamics of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ Modified Amino Acids Geiser, B,; Ponce, A.; Alsfasser, R. Inorg. Chem., 1999, 38, 2030-2037.
• Electron Transfer in Strongly Coupled Ruthenium Dimers Ponce, A.; Bachrach, M.; Farmer, P.J.; Winkler, J.R. Inorg. Chim. Acta (Special Issue), 1996, 243, 135-140.
• Substrate Induced Phosphorescence from Cyclodextrin/Lumophore Host-Guest Complexes Hartman, W.; Gray, M.; Ponce, A.; Wong, P.A.; Nocera D.G. Inorg. Chim. Acta (Special Issue), 1996, 243, 239-248.
• Hydroxylamine, Hydrazine, and Diazene as Unidentate Ligands in Osmium and Ruthenium Complexes Cheng, T.Y.; Ponce, A.; Rheingold, A.L.; Hillhouse, G.L. Angew. Chem., 1994, 33, 657-659.
• Luminescence from Supramolecules Triggered by the Molecular Recognition of Substrates Pikramenou, Z.; Yu, J.A.; Lessard, R.B.; Ponce, A.; Wong, P. A.; Nocera, D.G. Coord. Chem. Rev., 1994, 132, 181-194.
• Intense Phosphorescence Triggered by Alcohols upon Formation of a Cyclodextrin Ternary Complex Ponce, A.; Wong, P.A.; Way, J.J.; Nocera, D.G. J. Phys. Chem. 1993, 97, 11137-1114.