Faces of Penn State: Andrew Ewing

Organization is the key to Andy Ewing’s schedule filled with travel, meetings with students, and working with collaborators. In recent weeks he also is caring for his 10-month-old daughter, Selma, full time until his wife, Ann-Sofie, joins him from Sweden, so he is thankful that his family, students, and staff have all pitched in to help.

Years at Penn State: 20

rofessional background: Penn State (1984 to present, professor / J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Natural Sciences / department head / associate professor / assistant professor); University of North Carolina (1983-1984, research associate)

Academic background: Doctoral degree in analytical and biological chemistry, Indiana University (1983); bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Saint Lawrence University (1979)

Andy Ewing’s interest in science was first tapped in high school, working for a veterinarian who used to preach to him about laziness and other vices. “But at the end of the day he’d be sprawled out on this chaise lounge with a book,” Ewing said. “It would always be something about science and medicine.”

That experience was fostered well into college, where Ewing, now professor of chemistry and former head of the department, earned his first degree cum laude from St. Lawrence University.

His work eventually led him to a postdoctoral position at the University of North Carolina under premier scientist Royce Murray, a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

“In addition to the science, Royce taught me organization,” Ewing said. That organization is a skill much in demand with his current schedule. When he’s not traveling to Sweden to work with collaborators and students, and to see his wife, Ann-Sofie, he’s meeting with students, traveling around the country, and working with collaborators from across campus to Edinburgh to Paris.

What’s all the commotion about? Brain cells, vesicles, electrochemical transmissions, imaging, articles in Science, and plenty of new discoveries. Ask him to pick his latest, greatest effort, and he resists, not wanting to focus on one student’s project over another. But he is willing to discuss the medical implications of some of his work with brain cells that may contribute to an important new understanding of a common debilitating disease.

“People are thinking now that treating Parkinson’s with L-dopa may alleviate the symptoms but increase the progression of the disease,” he explained. L-dopa is a naturally-occurring amino acid that has been used to treat the disease for decades. “The bottom line is that understanding the basic process of vesicle expansion and the modulation of neurotransmitter levels will be key to better treating Parkinson’s disease.”

Ewing’s research has resulted in three major methods for monitoring nerve cells during their communications with each other: an electrochemistry technique using very small electrodes; a capillary-electrophoresis technique capable of analyzing volumes less than one millionth of a rain drop; and a mass spectrometry imaging technique, developed in collaboration with Nick Winograd, Evan Pugh Professor of chemistry, that is capable of imaging submicron sections of cell membranes.

Three-foot-tall stacks of journals line the end of his desk, giving the impression that other demands push reading aside. The calendar is filling up with meetings, talks and travel plans—which may explain Ewing’s attraction to Sweden. “I’m busy all the time here. When I go to Sweden I get so much out of working with those guys, sitting around and thinking science,” he says calmly. “It’s a nice place to be, because nothing else bothers me.”

Suzan Erem