Murrell Godfrey
Associate Professor, Director of the Forensic Chemistry Program of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Phone Number: (662)915-5143
Email: mgodfrey@olemiss.edu
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/chemistry/faculty/index.php?faculty_id=8

Key Words: Toxicological Analysis, Mechanism of drug-nucleic acid and drug-protein interactions, DNA typing, fingerprints, bullistics, anthropology, ancestry

Research Description: Forensics is a rapidly expanding field that offers a variety of professional career options. A pre-med forensic chemistry degree affords students the flexibility needed to launch an exciting and secure career in federal (FBI, DEA, CIA, and Homeland Security), state, or local labs associated with crime labs and medical examiner's offices. Other job opportunities for forensic majors lie in industrial and environmental positions, health professional jobs (doctors, dentists, pharmacists, etc,), and other fields of forensic science and academia. A professional forensic chemist is someone who examines evidence found at a crime scene, which is essential for solving crimes. This evidence may include illicit drugs, cloth fibers, hair, fingerprints, paint chips, guns and bullets, blood stains, or other bodily fluids. Characterization of evidence requires extensive knowledge of the chemical and biological sciences. As the director of forensic chemistry, I oversee forensic research. Students develop research skills through the use of high-tech analytical methods and instrumentation that include DNA profiling (DNA analyzer, gel electrophoresis, and polymerase chain reaction) separation analyses and characterization (gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, high pressure liquid chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, ultra violet/visible spectroscopy, and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization, and x-ray crystallography). Ongoing studies include 1)detection of illicit drugs in fingerprints 2)characterization and detection of spice drugs or synthetic cannabinoids 3)development of presumptive tests for new spice drugs 4) development of computational methods for cannabinoid detection 5) development of nondestructive methods to extract DNA 6) development of better DNA typing methods for ancient DNA 7) ancestry determination 8) development of more sensitive methods to detect synthetic cannabinoids in toxicological samples

Honors Theses:

Heng, Monalisa (2022) Development of a Non-Invasive DNA Extraction Method from Teeth (full text)

Hewamanna, Isuru Nipun (2022) Identification of the Putative Binding Site of a Novel Benzimidazole (Etazene) and its Metabolites on μ-Opioid Receptor: A Systematic Computational Study and Detection using Human Liver Microsomes (full text)

Murugan, Seema (2020) Detection and Characterization of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Novel Synthetic Cannabinoid Metabolites using Human Liver Microsomes (full text)

Malloy, Kristen (2020) Investigation of the History of Fingerprinting, Advancements in the Field, and Development of Potential Methods that Could Improve the Detection of Endogenous And Exogenous Drugs in Latent Prints (full text)

Mark Reliquias and Ann-Elodie Black (2020) A Nondestructive Procedure for the Extraction of DNA from Human Teeth (full text)

Chamblee, Reba Elizabeth Ann (2019) A Study of the Kratom Alkaloids and Their Binding to the μ-Opioid Receptor (full text)

Teske, Marissa Anne (2019) Investigating the Binding of Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogs to the μ-Opioid Receptor (full text)

Reliquias, Lyncyn Louise (2017) A Study of the Hydrophobic Interactions Between Twenty-three CB1 Selective JWH Compounds and an Active-State CB1 Receptor Model to Discover Key Structural Features of the JWH Compounds and Key Protein Residues of the CB1 Receptor. (full text)

Pettus, Kelsey Leigh (2016) Study of an Active-State CB1 Receptor Model and JWH Compound Interactions to Predict New Emerging Synthetic Cannabinoids. (full text)

Roussel, Madison (2015) Method Development for the Detection and Quantitation of Illicit Drugs in Fingerprints Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Mass Spectrometry. (full text)

Morgan, Maggie Woodruff (2013) "MALDI Imaging of Latent Fingerprints"

Hibbard, Ryan Jeffrey (2007) "The Application of Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy to the Forensic Analysis of Footwear Evidence"

Marshall, Lucas James (2005) "The Relationship between Breath Temperature and Breath Alcohol Concentrations for Forensic Breath Alcohol Testing Programs"