Jones Lab undergraduate researchers win 2 awards at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University students traveled to San Diego to compete in the undergraduate poster competition, ultimately bringing two top-tier awards back to Oxford, Ohio.
Jones Lab undergraduate researchers win 2 awards at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Seven students recently had the opportunity to travel to the to present research findings from a variety of labs on campus. This year the meeting was held in San Diego, California where students from across the country travel to compete against each other. In this competition, students are divided into groups of ten based on specific topics, and the top three presenters from each group receive awards. ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University had two students place this year.
Felicia Guagliardo (Chemistry and Biochemistry major), placed 1st in Food, Pharmaceuticals, and Bioengineering Group 3 with her poster “Exploration of Tryptophan Modifying Enzymes: An Expansion of Nonnatural Psilocybin Derivatives.” She presented her research on expanding the biosynthetic routes towards nonnatural psilocybin derivatives in an effort to add to the drug candidate pool for mental health treatment. To do this, she leveraged a class of enzymes which had not previously been combined with the Jones Lab’s current psilocybin pathway to make new biosynthetic psychedelics.
Guagliardo said that she is “incredibly grateful for the opportunity to present my work at the national level. Going into it I was definitely a little bit nervous, but once it started, I was having so much fun presenting to such a smart and diverse crowd of people.”
Grace Kemmerly (Biochemistry and Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology major) was awarded 3rd in Food, Pharmaceuticals, and Bioengineering Group 4. Kemmerly presented her work titled “Expansion of Non-Natural Psilocybin And DMT Pathway Derivatives in E. coli.” This work focuses on synthesizing derivatives of the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and DMT with the hope of producing non-hallucinogenic forms that maintain their therapeutic benefits. She is currently working to increase biosynthesis pathway promiscuity to enable the production of more of these derivatives.
Kemmerly reflected that “preparing for the conference was really nerve racking, but once I started presenting it was actually fun. Seeing other people so excited about my research and having the opportunity to talk with them made me even more motivated to continue my work and share what we've learned.”
Guagliardo and Kemmerly are both a part of . Jones is Associate Professor of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering with research focusing on genetically engineering microorganisms for high-value chemical production.
“Providing students the opportunity to not only perform top tier undergraduate research, but to also be able to share their work on the national stage provides me with a great sense of pride,” said Associate Professor Jones, whose research on lab-created psilocybin was recently . “This experience with science communication at the highest level helps our students grow in their confidence and develop soft skills which will be needed in their future careers,” he said.
Other ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú student presenters in this poster competition included Nolan Brown (Kinesiology and Nutrition major and researcher in the Jones Lab), Philip Glawe (Biomedical Engineering major and researcher in the Saul Lab), Brooklyn Lengyel (Biomedical Engineering major and researcher in the Saul Lab), Brynley Platt (Biochemistry and researcher in the Yehl Lab), and Jonathan Ackley (Chemical Engineering major and researcher in the Almquist Lab). Registration and travel costs for the students were covered by a generous grant from the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University Center for Career Exploration and Success.