David Schrum Ph.D.

David Schrum’s research focuses on analytical chemistry applications, including electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) using capillary electrophoresis (CE). EMMA is employed to perform enzyme assays and determine substrate concentrations using Michaelis–Menten kinetics. One enzyme system under investigation involves lactate dehydrogenase with lactate or pyruvate as substrates and NADH or NAD+ as cofactors. Data generated from CE experiments are used to construct substrate calibration curves for application to unknown concentrations commonly encountered in clinical laboratory settings.

Professor Schrum also studies the analysis and characterization of mesembrine-type alkaloids obtained from Sceletium tortuosum, a South African plant containing psychoactive compounds that act as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. This work involves extraction and purification of mesembrine compounds from milled plant material, with separation and confirmation using thin-layer chromatography, automated accelerated column chromatography, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).

• Ph.D., analytical chemistry, Purdue University
• B.S., chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point

• Professor, University of Redlands, 2011–present
• Associate professor, University of Redlands, 2005–2011
• Assistant professor, University of Redlands, 1999–2005
• Visiting research professor, Louisiana State University, 2005–2006
• Analytical postdoctoral research associate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1998–1999
• Research associate, Microbial Insights Inc./University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1996–1997

• Klausner, A.; Lyons, R.; Schrum, D. P. Analytical Determination of Kidney- and Bladder-Stone-Causing Minerals and Compounds in Dog Foods. Presented at the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, California State University, Fullerton, November 2023.
• Ionescu, L.; Schrum, D. P. Isolation and Characterization of the Four Major Alkaloids in Sceletium tortuosum, an Alternative Natural Therapeutic for Anxiety and Depression. Presented at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, March 2022.
• Luna, K.; Schrum, D. P. Electrophoretically Mediated Microanalysis (EMMA): An Application of Capillary Electrophoresis. Presented at the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, November 2017.
• Adomaa-Fordjour, A.; Schrum, D. P. Separation and Quantification of Mesembrine Alkaloids in the South African Plant Sceletium tortuosum: A Possible Alternative to Antidepressants. Presented at the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, November 2017.
• Finkbohner, S.; Schrum, D. P. Electrophoretically Mediated Microanalysis (EMMA): An Application of Capillary Electrophoresis for Performing Enzyme Assays. Presented at the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of California, Riverside, November 2016.

• HEDCO Foundation grant for the purchase of a GC–MS system, 2016
• HEDCO Foundation grant for the purchase of an LC–MS system, 2010
• Undergraduate Science Research Grant, Merck/AAAS, 2003–2007