Ph.D. Student

B.S. Norfolk State University (2023)

Ariana is a 2nd year analytical chemistry graduate student at Louisiana State University. She is interested in developing methods for forensic analysis of psychoactive plant metabolites for illicit drug detection.

Research Assistant Professor

Ph.D.: Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai (2016)

Dr. Arathala is a Research Assistant Professor whose research interest involve studying atmospheric gas phase reactions using experimental, analytical, and high-level computational methods. He received his Ph.D. in combustion studies of model biofuels, hydrochloroethers, and alkyl silanes using single pulse shock tube and computational methods from Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai, India in 2016, and then he did postdoctoral research at the University of California San Diego in the field of atmospheric chemistry. He is currently working on the determination of the environmental fate of volatile organosulfur compounds (VOSC) as well as other compounds emitted by plants through investigation of the kinetics of their gas-phase reactions when exposed to atmospheric oxidizing agents such as hydroxyl, Cl, and NOx species. In addition to performing these studies by FT-IR, he will also work on the development of platforms that interface with the JEOL AccuTOF™ Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART®) mass spectrometer to: (1) conduct DART-HRMS analysis of VOSC under ambient conditions in air, and (2) study the kinetics of VOSC interactions with relevant free radicals. He will also perform high level computational studies on the kinetics of relevant reactions.

Research Director

Ph.D.: Colorado School of Mines (2006)

Dr. Dane is the Research Director of the Musah Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from Colorado School of Mines in 2006 for his research involving tobacco combustion and the development of an electron monochromator ion source for GC-MS. Afterwards, he did postdoctoral research with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using electron monochromator GC-MS to evaluate the relationship between biodiesel blends and their combustion products. Subsequently, Dr. Dane spent 16 years working for JEOL USA as an MS Applications Scientist (12 years) and then as MS Product Manager (4 years). During that time, he collaborated with many academic and government researchers and coauthored over 30 articles and chapters in a variety of research areas.

Ph.D. Student

B.S.: SUNY Albany (2021)

Alexa is a Ph.D. Candidate whose research focuses on the development of novel ambient ionization mass spectrometric and machine learning approaches to resolve challenging questions in forensic entomology with an emphasis on carrion insect colonization of decomposing remains for accurate determination of postmortem interval. She is currently a recipient of the prestigious National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship.

Ph.D. Student

B.S.: Southern Utah University (2021)

Benedetta is a fifth year Ph.D. Candidate in the Chemistry Department at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on method development for the mass spectral characterization of complex matrices, as well as on the mechanistic interpretation of metastable helium-induced fragmentation of organosulfur compounds.

Ph.D. Student

B.S.: Rhodes College (2023)

Sarah is a Ph.D. student in the Chemistry Department at Louisiana State University. Her research involves the development of ambient ionization and paper spray approaches for the forensic identification of species and determination of illegal hunting and the use of SIFT-MS for the detection, identification, and spatiotemporal mapping of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their secondary products in the environment.

Ph.D. Student

B.S.: SUNY Albany (2021)

Niara is a Ph.D. Candidate whose research focuses on the detection and structure elucidation of cannabinoid pyrolysis products using gas chromatography — mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Additionally, she applies the chemometric processing of mass spectrometric data for the metabolomic profiling of Cannabis-user fingerprint residues to detect novel Cannabis-use biomarkers.

Dr. Pittman is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Musah Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Colorado State University, where his work primarily focused on developing low-cost electrochemical diagnostic platforms and automated microfluidic systems, applying immunoassay strategies to sensors for both COVID-19 and salivary heart failure biomarker analysis.

Currently, his research centers on developing portable electrochemical detection systems designed for rapid, on-site forensic analysis and targeted small molecule screening. His ongoing work aims to deliver accessible, field-deployable solutions for forensic professionals, bridging laboratory-grade analytical performance with real-world usability for the detection of trace chemical evidence across diverse matrices.