Don B. Elrod, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
don.b.elrod@nasa.gov

Dr. Don Elrod received his Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry from Auburn University in 1998. His graduate research focused on the synthesis and antimicrobial testing of small molecule and polymeric biocidal agents. He then took a postdoctoral fellow position at the University of Tennessee at Memphis, Department of Pharmaceutical Science in 1999. His research involved the synthesis of anticancer phospholipids. In 2000, Dr. Elrod joined a small product development company in College Station, Texas where he expanded his antimicrobial research to include the modification of polymeric surfaces in order to give them antimicrobial properties for various medical, dental, and military applications. In 2004, Dr. Elrod moved to Houston, Texas and took a position at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston as Assistant Professor (research). At the medical center, he synthesized iodinated phospholipids in order to create multifunctional liposomal nanoparticles for simultaneous computed tomographic (CT) imaging and drug therapy. He joined USRA in May 2007 and is studying the effects of radiation on the stability of pharmaceutical and nutritional compounds during long-term missions to the moon and Mars.