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Dr. Ochiai earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. He conducted postdoctoral research at Ohio State University, taught at the University of Tokyo and the University of British Columbia, and was a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland before coming to Juniata as an associate professor in 1981. He has since taught as a visiting professor at the university of Umea, Sweden and the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Ochiai is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association of the Advancement of Science.
In his leisure time he enjoys singing as a choir member of the Stone Church of the Brethren and the State College Choral Society.
Research Interests:
Dr. Ochiai's research interests lie in two different areas. One is "Bioinorganic Chemistry", and the other is "Nonlinear Dynamics" (for the lack of a proper term).
He has been studying the former area the last three decades, and published four books on the subject. Two of those: Bioinorganic Chemistry: An Introduction (1977, Allyn and Bacon) and General Principles of Biochemistry of the Elements (1987, Plenum) are considered to be the standard works for the discipline. He is now writing a series of articles for J. Chem. Ed. subtitled "Principles and Applications in Bioinorganic Chemistry". As these reference works and the articles indicate, he is interested in the whole field of bioinorganic chemistry, including the environmental issues associated with metallic elements. However, in terms of the actual lab work, he has been engaged in research on oxygenases and their models, B12-coenzyme and enzymes dependent on it, and ribonucleotide reductase.
Another special interst is the bioinorganic aspects of the origin and evolution of life. He did, e.g., analysis of purin and pyrimidine bases in carboneous meteorites in search of abiogenic synthesis of the bioorganic substances. He theorized the whole sequence of biological evolution based on the availability of essential inorganic elements. He is going to join a field study (geochemical) on the explosive evolution between the precambrian and Cambrian period.
Nonlinear dynamics in not really an appropriate term for what he has in mind. He has been interested in the formation of pattern (order), particularly in biological systems. In recent years this has been pursued in terms of so-called "chaos" theory or "complex" theory. He has been participating in an endeavor to study the whole issue of "pattern formation", in a sense, an antithermodynamic (entroy-decreasing) process. He is still trying to find a paradigm that governs these entropy-diminishing, order-creating processes.
Some of these interests are reflected in the list of more recent publications below.
Representative Publications:
General Principles of Biochemistry of the Elements, Ochiai, E-I., 1987, Plenum Press.
"On the Mechanism of Tyrosyl Radical formation in the Small Subunit of Mammalian Ribonucleotide Reductase, E-I. Ochiai, G. Mann, A. Graslund and L. Thelander, J. Biol. Chem., 265, 15758-15761 (1990)
"Chemical Instabilities: A Spectroscopic Study of Spatial Inhomogeneities in the ClO2-/I- Reaction Occuring in a CSTR E-I. Ochiai and M. Menzinger, J. Phys. Chem., 94, 8866-8868 (1990).
"Toxicity of and Defense against Heavy Metals - Principles and Applications in Bioinorganic Chemistry - VII," Ochiai, E-I., J. Chem. Ed., 72, 479-484 (1995)
"CO, N2, NO and O2, their Bioinorganic Chemistry - Principles and Applications in Bioinorganic Chemistry - VIII", Ochiai, E-I., J. Chem. Ed., 73, 130-134 (1996)
"Global Metabolism of Elements - Principles and Applications in Bioinorganic Chemistry - XI", Ochiai, E-I., J. Chem. Ed., 74, 926-930 (1997)
CH 399 Advanced Environmental Chemistry
SyllabusSyllabus
Dr. Ei-Ichiro Ochiai
Juniata College
Huntingdon, PA 16652
Phone: 814-641-3561
e-mail ochiai@juniata.edu or ochiaie@hotmail.com (in Japanese)
e-mail me!!
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