Prof. Pawliszyn's Research Group

The primary focus of Professor Pawliszyn's research program is the design of highly automated and integrated instrumentation for the isolation of analytes from complex matrices and the subsequent separation, identification and determination of these species.  The primary separation tools used by his group are Gas Chromatography, Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis coupled to variety of detections systems, including range of mass spectrometry techniques. Currently his research is focusing on elimination of organic solvents from the sample preparation step to facilitate on-site monitoring and in-vivo analysis.  Several alternative techniques to solvent extraction are investigated including use of coated fibers, packed needles, membranes and supercritical fluids.  Dr. Pawliszyn is exploring application of the computational and modeling techniques to enhance performance of sample preparation, chromatographic separations and detection.  The major area of his interest involves the development and application of imaging detection techniques for microcolumn chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and micro chip separation devices. 

Professor Pawliszyn has supervised 43 PhD and 64 MS students and he is an author of over 500 scientific publications and a book on Solid Phase Microextraction. His Hirsch Index (H-index) is 82.  He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada and Chemical Institute of Canada, editor of Analytica Chimica Acta, Trends in Analytical Chemistry and a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Separation Science and Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis.  He initiated a conference, “ExTech”, focusing on new advances in sample preparation and disseminates new scientific developments in the area, which meets every year in different part of the world.  He received the 1995 McBryde Medal, the 1996 Tswett Medal, the 1996 Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography Award, the 1996 Caledon Award, the Jubilee Medal 1998 from the Chromatographic Society, U.K., the 2000 Maxxam Award from Canadian Society for Chemistry, the 2000 Varian Lecture Award from Carleton University, the Alumni Achievement Award for 2000 from Southern Illinois University, the Humboldt Research Award for 2001, 2002 COLACRO Medal, 2003 Canada Research Chair, in 2006 he has been elected to the most cited chemists by ISI, in 2008 he received A.A. Benedetti-Pichler Award from Eastern Analytical Symposium, 2008 Andrzej Waksmundzki Medal from Polish Academy of Sciences, 2008 Manning Principal Award, 2010 Torbern Bergman Medal from the Swedish Chemical Society, 2010 Ontario Premier’s Innovation Award, 2010 Marcel Golay Award, 2010 ACS Award in Separation Science and Technology, 2011 PittCon Dal Nogare Award, 2012 E.W.R. Steacie Award, 2013 CIC Environmental Research and Development Award, 2013 CIC LeSueur Memorial Award and 2015 Maria Skłodowskiej-Curie Medal from Polish Chemical Society. He presently holds the University Professor, Canada Research Chair and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chair in New Analytical Methods and Technologies.

B.Sc./Chem.Eng., 1977, Technical University of Gdansk

M.Sc., 1978, Technical University of Gdansk

Ph.D., 1982, Southern Illinois University