Education
2001- 2007              Ph.D. (Bioenvironmental Science)                  Morgan State University

June. 2000              Master of Science (M.S., Chemistry)              Delaware State University

May.1996                Bachelor of Science (B.S., Biology)               Richard Stockton College (NJ)

 

Research Experience
2005

Participant

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Bioinformatics Group, Bioinformatics. Summer Workshop at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center,  “Modeling Proteins and Nucleic Acids with Amber, VMD and the MMTSB Toolkit” (June 2005).

2004

MARC Fellow

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Bioinformatics Group, Bioinformatics. Created theoretical model using bioinformatics for docking studies with synthetic molecules.

2001+

Graduate Research

Morgan State University, Improved Microwave Synthesis of Bioactive Molecules. Used microwave irradiation in the solid state to improve yields and times of current conventional reaction mechanisms.

2000

Research Assistant

Ashwin Inc, Developed electro-reactive polymers for the creation of energy reflectance properties on space bound vehicles.

1997 - 1999

Graduate Research

Delaware State University, Crystal Engineering: A Systematic Study of Phenoxypropionic Acid Derivates Towards Predictable Non-Centrosymmetric Molecular Architectures. Engineered and studied materials that when irradiated under electromagnetic radiation (light) can shorten its wavelength thereby increasing its power.
 

1994 -1996

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, The Isolation and Cloning of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase from Soybean. Isolated and cloned the Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase gene from soybean for later enzymatic research.

 

Honors and Awards
May 2006

Graduate Award

American Institute of Chemist

December 2004

1st Prize

9th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities. Baltimore, Maryland

Jan. 03 – Present

RCMI Fellow

Morgan State University

Sept. 01 - Jan. 03

Title III Fellow

Morgan State University

Laboratory Procedures
* RT/PCR

*Cloning Technique
* Poly T mRNA isolation

*Fluorescence
*90 -300 Mhz NMR

* Blotting techniques
*Organic Synthesis

*DNA Sequencing
* Radio-Immuno Assay

*Gas Chromatography
* X-Ray Crystallography

* UV-Vis Spectroscopy

* Microwave Techniques
* Structural Resolution (Unix Based Silicon Graphics Systems)
 

Computer Skills
* Microsoft Word

* Microsoft Excel
* Microsoft FrontPage

* Microsoft PowerPoint
* Microsoft Visual Studio

* Microsoft Visual Basic
* C++

* Microsoft J++
* Java

* Molecular Modeling
*Unix Based Silicon Graphics Systems

Professional Organizations
2003 – Present

Student Member

American Association for the Advancement of Science.
 

1998 - Present

Student Member

American Chemical Society.
 

1998

Participant

Participated in the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM Consortium) Faculty Bridge Seminar.

 

Published Papers

1. Ray J. Butcher, Yousef M. Hijji, Ellis Benjamin. 1-Methoxy-pyrrolidine-2,5-dione Acta Cryst. (2007) in press

2. Ray J. Butcher, Yousef M. Hijji, Ellis Benjamin. 3-Aminocyclopent-2-en-1-one Acta Cryst. 2007, E63, o610–o612.

3. Yousef M. Hijji, Ellis Benjamin. Efficient Microwave Assisted Syntheses of Unsubstituted Cyclic Imides Heterocycles 2006, 68(11), p2259-2267.

4. Raymond J. Butcher, Yousef M. Hijji, Ellis Benjamin, cis-3-Azabicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2,4-dione Acta Cryst. 2006, E62, o1266-o1268.

5.  Yousef Hijji, Ellis Benjamin, Melvin Bolden. Efficient Synthesis of Enaminones and Cyclic Imides Using Ammonium Acetate Under Microwave Conditions. Proceedings of the 39th Annual International Microwave Power Institute 2005, p125-128. Seattle, Washington. (July 2005)

6. Yousef M. Hijji, Ellis Benjamin. Microwave Assisted Efficient Conversion of Anhydrides to Cyclic Imides and N-Methoxy Imides. The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th International Electronic Conferences on Synthetic Organic Chemistry 2004, p1084-1091. Editor(s): Seijas, Julio A.
 

Presentations and Posters
1. Ellis Benjamin*, and Dr. Yousef Hijji. Eco-Friendly Synthesis Of Cyclic Imides And Related Biologically Active Molecules Using Microwave Technology. 13th Annual Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2006)

2. Earl Benjamin III*, Ellis Benjamin, Arthur Williams. A Novel Method For The Deactivation Of Enterococcus Faecalis, Staphylococcus Aureus, And Escherichia Coli. 13th Annual Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2006)

3. Earl Benjamin III *, Ellis Benjamin, and Arthur Williams , “A Novel Method For The Deactivation of Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli” Presented at the New England Science Symposium at Harvard Medical School (March 2006)

4. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. A Novel One-Pot Synthesis of Thalidomide and its Derivatives Under Microwave Irradiation. Selected Poster Presented at the 230th ACS National Meeting. Washington DC (Sci-Mix), (Aug-Sept 2005)

5. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. A Novel One-Pot Synthesis of Thalidomide and its Derivatives Under Microwave Irradiation. Poster Presented at the 230th ACS National Meeting. Washington DC (Medicinal Chemistry), (Aug-Sept 2005)

6. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Benjamin, Melvin Bolden. “Efficient Synthesis of Enaminones and Cyclic Imides Using Ammonium Acetate Under Microwave Conditions” Poster Presented at the 39th Annual International Microwave Power Institute Microwave Symposium. Seattle, Washington. (July 2005)

7. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. “The Microwave Synthesis of Thalidomide and its Derivatives” Poster Presented at the 12th Annual Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2005)

8. Tarrah N. Ezell*, Ellis Benjamin, Yousef Hijji, LaVentrice D. Taylor. “Do Cells Treated with Thalidomide Analog H1 and H2 Exhibit Decreased Cytotoxicity as Compared to Cells Treated with Thalidomide?” Poster Presented at the 12th Annual Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2005)

9. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. “A One-Pot Microwave Synthesis of Thalidomide and its Derivatives” Poster Presented at the Annual RCMI Spring Symposium 20th Anniversary Commemorative Symposium. Houston, Texas. (April 2005)

10. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. “Improved Synthesis of Imide Dervived Compounds by Microwave Irradiation” Poster Presented at the 9th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities. Baltimore, Maryland. (December 2004)

11. Ruel Michelin*, Lafayette Fredrick, Temilade Adelore, Laura Uradu, Ellis Benjamin, Fredrick Oladeinde. “Comparative Antimicrobial Activity of Bacterial Derivied Extract and Amphotericin B During Disk Diffusion and Agar Dilution Assays.” Presented at the 9th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities. Baltimore, Maryland. (December 2004)

12. R. Michelin*, L. Fredrick, F. Weichold, E. Benjamin, E. Batta, W. W. Leitner, M. Jenkins, E. Bergmann-Leitner, J. Howard, A. Williams. “In Vitro Cytotoxic and Anti-Poliferative Activity of Microbial Derived Extract on Human and Mouse Cancer Cell Lines.”Poster Presented at the 9th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities. Baltimore, Maryland. (December 2004)

13. Tarrah N. Ezell*, Ellis Benjamin, Gregory Shield, Yousef Hijji, LaVentrice D. Taylor. “Do Cells Treated with Thalidomide Analog H1 and H2 Exhibit Decreased Cytotoxicity as Compared to Cells Treated with Thalidomide?” Speech at the 9th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities. Baltimore, Maryland. (December 2004)

14. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. “A Novel Microwave Assisted Synthesis of N-Hydroxy and N-Methoxy Imides as Potential Anticancer and Antidepressant Agents.” Poster presentation at the 228th ACS National Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (August 2004)

15. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji “A Novel Microwave Synthesis of Unsubstituted, Hydroxy, and Methoxy Imides towards the Creation of Antidepressant Functionalities” Poster presentation at the Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2004)

16. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Benjamin. “Microwave Assisted Synthesis Of Cyclic Imides, N- Methoxyimides and Thalidomide Analogues” 2nd International Microwaves in Chemistry Conference. Orlando, Florida (March 4-7, 2003)

17. Ruel Michelin*, Ellis Benjamin .“Partial Characterization of an Antifungal Metabolite from an Unidentified Bacillus Species” Poster Presented at International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Atlanta, Georgia (March 2004)

18. Ruel Michelin*, Ellis Benjamin. “Isolation and Partial Characterization of an Antifungal Metabolite from an Unidentified Bacillus Species” Poster Presented at 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (December 2003)

19. Ellis Benjamin *, Yousef Hijji. “A Microwave Assisted Efficient Conversion of Anhydrides to Cyclic Imides and N- Methoxy Imides” The Seventh International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry (ECSOC-7), http://www.mdpi.org/ecsoc-7.htm (November 1-30, 2003)

20. Ellis Benjamin *, Yousef Hijji. “A Simple One-Pot Synthesis of Thalidomide.” Poster presented at Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) –American Chemical Society. Princeton, New Jersey (June 2003)

21. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji “Novel Pathways to Thalidomide Synthesis” Poster presentation at the Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2003)

22. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Benjamin, Joseph Wanene, Soe Mon. “Microwave Assisted Diels-Alder Reactions and the Synthesis of Cyclic Imides. Poster presented at the Advanced Library Design and Organic Synthesis. La Jolla, California (April 2003)

23. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Benjamin, Joseph Wanene, Soe Mon. “Microwave Assisted Diels-Alder Reactions and the Synthesis of Cyclic Imides. Poster presented at the Microwave-Assisted Organic Synthesis. La Jolla, California (April 2003)

24. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Benjamin. “Microwave Assisted-Synthesis of Cyclic Imides and Thalidomide Analogues”” Poster presentation at RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities 2002. Hawaii. (December 2002)

25. Ellis Benjamin*, Yousef Hijji. “Microwave Assisted Cyclic Imide Synthesis” Poster presentation at the Morgan State University Undergraduate / Graduate Symposium. Baltimore, Maryland. (April 2002)

26. Yousef Hijji*, Ellis Menjamin (Misspelled). Synthesis of Unsubstituted Cyclic Imides Assisted by Microwave Heating. Abstracts of Papers, 223rd ACS National Meeting, Orlando, FL, (April 2002)

27. Ellis Benjamin*, Kraig Wheeler. “The Creation of Novel Non-linear Optical Materials.” Oral presentation at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Pomona, New Jersey (April 1999)

28. Ellis Benjamin*, Mukta Hendi, Kraig Wheeler. “Crystal Engineering: An Approximate Centrosymmetric Approach.” Oral Presentation at Midwest Solid State Chemistry Symposium X.” Indianapolis, Indiana (July 1999)

29. Mukta Hendi*, Shella Fomulu, Ellis Benjamin, Kraig Wheeler, Raymond E. Davis. “Approximate Centrosymmetry as a Tool for Crystal Engineering.” Poster Presented at the Northeast Solid State Symposium. Buffalo, New York (August 1998)

30. Peter Straub*, Ellis Benjamin, Paul Kaplan, Georgia Shearer and Daniel Kohl. “Isolation of a Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PDH) gene probe from Soybean (Glycine max) by a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.” Poster Presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Seattle, Washington. (July 1995)

31. Peter Straub*, Ellis Benjamin, Paul Kaplan, Georgia Shearer and Daniel Kohl. “Isolation of a Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PDH) gene probe from Soybean (Glycine max) by a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.” Presented Published Abstract: American Journal of the Botany (1995)
 

Teaching Experience
Sept.07 -  Present

Assistant Professor

Arkansas State University, Organic Chemistry
Taught organic principles to undergraduate students.

Sept.02 – June 03

Instructor

Morgan State University, General Chemistry Laboratory
Prepared and administered general chemistry labs to undergraduate students.

Jan. 98 – May 99

Teaching Assistant

Delaware State University, General Chemistry Laboratory
Prepared and assisted in the teaching of general chemistry to undergraduates.

Jan. 99 – May 99

Teaching Assistant

Delaware State University, Biochemistry Laboratory
Prepared and assisted in the teaching of biochemistry to undergraduates.

Jan. 99 – May 99

Teaching Assistant

Delaware State University, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory
Prepared and assisted in the teaching of inorganic chemistry to undergraduates.

Sept. 94 - Jan.96

Teaching Assistant

Richard Stockton College (NJ), Genetics Laboratory
Prepared and assisted in the teaching of genetics to undergraduates.

Jan. 96 - May 96

Teaching Assistant

Richard Stockton College (NJ), Molecular Genetics Laboratory
Prepared and assisted in the teaching of molecular genetics to undergraduates.

Community Service
Apr. 1999

Judge

UMBC 2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences

Mar. 1998

Judge

South Jersey Regional Science Fair

Aug. 1998

Volunteer

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Partnership in Mathematics and Science Career Conference, Atlantic City (NJ).  Allowed grade school students to experiment and learn chemical principles.

June 95 – Aug. 96

Volunteer

Richard Stockton College's Summer Preparatory Program. Sought to increase minority representation in the sciences.

June  95 – Aug 95

Volunteer

UMDNJ Mentor Scholars Program. Mentored high school honor student through several undergraduate classes.