Dr. Winstead is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) educator and researcher who uses her education and professional experience to encourage the development of student growth and to inspire and empower young, African-American scholars to reach their highest potential. Her philosophy is that a mentoring professor is most effective when teaching, research, and advising are intertwined together to provide a greater impact on the overall development of the student.
Over her career in synthesis, she has conducted basic and applied research in the areas of organic and organometallic synthetic chemistry. In addition to extensive organic synthesis experience, she has worked with rhenium, iridium and zinc based organometallics at various points in my synthetic career. Her specific areas of research include:
Microwave Synthesis of Near-IR heptamethine Cyanine Dyes and pathogen detection. Applications include: 1) Characterization of the fluorescence lifetime and intensity changes of cyanine derivatives in various microenvironments, 2) Investigation of the microenvironmental changes and their ability to characterize the onset of cellular toxic events, 3) Development of pathogen biosensors,
Development of organorhenium tosylato compounds as a new class of anticancer drugs
STEM Education in the areas of critical thinking and curriculum redesign
