I work in an integrative dental office which has given me a unique introduction to the health care industry, including following treatment for a wide range of unique health issues including Lymes disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. In my position, I help our patients by explaining treatment plans, including how they may be scheduled in conjunction with other medical treatment, providing oral health education, and assisting in restorative work, including our specialized safe amalgam removal process. Our office places an emphasis on using biocompatible products which are tailored to the patient’s specific needs, requiring an understanding of the interesting chemistry challenge that is inherent to dental composite material. In the first four months of this position, I went from having no dental training to being in charge of the maintenance of all equipment, monitoring of sterile protocols, training of new personnel.

During my time at KU, I rotated through four different lab groups in which I learned a variety of chemical techniques. During my time with Dr. Brian Blagg’s lab, my research focused on the structure-activity relationship of Novobiocin derivatives in the binding of the ATP site of Hsp90. While working in Dr. Blake Peterson’s lab, I was responsible for synthesizing fluorophores, specifically Oregon Green, to be used for live imaging of cells under confocal laser microscopy. My rotation in Dr. Ryan Altman’s lab introduced me to the art of methodology, specifically those requiring anhydrous conditions. My research specifically involved the use of anhydrous solvents obtained from a still and chemical reactions either in a glove box or performed under nitrous conditions to limit the presence of oxygen and water. Along with methodology, this work was further used to evaluate the effect of a fluorinated substituent on a target molecule to alter the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. My time at KU ended with me working in Dr. Thomas Prisinzano’s lab in which I was researching nalfurafine derivatives and their targeted effect on the opioid receptors. The research in the various labs was able to give me first-hand experience in many named reactions including Mitsunobu, Suzuki, Wittig, hydrogenation and protecting group manipulation as well as significant experience with proton, fluorine and carbon NMR.

My work as an undergraduate research assistant resulted in my capstone project in anti-tubercular agents under the mentorship of Dr. Francis Umesiri. This project included both the chemical synthesis and biological evaluation of novel compounds in hopes of assessing their anti-tubular properties. To this end, I was responsible for the synthesis and initial biological testing of novel compounds, as well as training of three fellow students to grow the lab. With the help of Dr. Joel Funk, I used mycobacterium smegmatis as a model of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) and performed Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion assays and alamarBlue Cell Viability assay to assess the anti-tubular properties of the novel compounds.

I assisted three professors in the Natural Science Department with grading, inputting grades and laboratory prep/ set up and clean up. I graded all homework, quizzes and exams for the introduction to biology, cell biology, statistics and calculus. My laboratory efforts varied from simple glassware set up to preparation of stock solutions for biological experiments.