Research Information
Research Interests
The Crespo research group focuses on probing and understanding light-induced phenomena in molecules and polymers in solution with primary applications in photodynamic therapy and photosensitizers. There are two major areas of ongoing investigations in skin-cancer related research: (1) excited-state dynamics and photochemistry of DNA/RNA monomers and polymers; and (2) design and study of modified DNA and RNA sensitizers for photodynamic and photo crosslinking applications. Our group uses analytical instrumentation and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to produce specific knowledge of the factors controlling these photochemical processes. The experimental work is complemented with ground- and excited-state electronic-structure computations.