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Hector Caldera<\/strong> collected medicinal plants as a child, sparking an interest in chemistry.\u00a0 “My summer project took me out of my comfort zone, from organic chemistry to molecular biology,” said Hector.\u00a0 His poster, “Investigation of the Structure of Recombinantly Expressed Influenza M1 Matrix Protein,” reflects his research into a protein that plays a key role in the life cycle of the influenza virus.\u00a0 Discovering how to disrupt the protein’s function could lead to new drug designs in the ongoing war against\u00a0 influenza.\u00a0 Hector’s faculty mentor was Medicinal Chemistry Associate Professor Kelly Lee.\u00a0 “I really enjoyed the mixture of support and independence from my mentors,” said Hector. “But . . . I don’t know about being down in that basement.”<\/p>\n Brianna Morgan<\/strong> is a pre-med student and new to the lab environment.\u00a0 “This experience opened my eyes about grad school and options I might not have had before,” said Brianna.\u00a0 “It was a supportive team experience for me, and I learned new techniques for research.”\u00a0 Her poster, “Inhibition of the Cholesterol Biosynthetic Pathway by Known Drugs,” discusses how certain drugs can interrupt the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway.\u00a0 This inhibition effect may be a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, because cholesterol plays important roles in the development of the nervous system.\u00a0 Brianna’s faculty mentor was Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor Libin Xu.<\/p>\n Hannah Rudolph<\/strong> rotated with Associate Professor Paul Phillips in Pharmacology.\u00a0 We wish our 2015 Summer Diversity students all the best as they begin Fall Quarter in their respective colleges and universities!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a summer of hard work and discovery for four undergrads who participated in the Pharmacological Science Summer Diversity Program (PSSDP).\u00a0 Hector Caldera (Fort Lewis College), Brianna Morgan (Southern Oregon University), Monica Pengshung (Southern…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medchem-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sop.washington.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brianna2015web-250x186.jpg\")
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