Novel Treatments for Disease, Affordable Pharmaceuticals Are Goals of Goldwater Scholars
May 5, 2023
- Author
- Jen McGivney
Susannah Armstrong 24 and Madeline Fitzgerald 24
The honors outstanding students who are pursuing research in the fields of the natural sciences, engineering, and math.
It is among the most prestigious awards of its kind, and this year, two recipients are 91茄子 juniors: Madeline Fitzgerald 24 and Susannah Armstrong 24.
Madeline Fitzgerald 24
For Madeline Fitzgerald, a major in chemistry and a minor in computer science work in tandem toward an ambitious goal: to make pharmaceutical research more efficient. Fitzgerald is interested in synthesizing molecules and modelling reactions using machine learning and virtual reality, so researchers don檛 always need to conduct research in a physical lab. The implications could be far-reaching.
淚n theory, that should mean that it's less expensive to produce the drug molecules and easier to synthesize the precursor molecules, she said, 渨hich could攑otentially!攍ead to greater availability and lower costs of pharmaceutical products.
Fitzgerald fell in love with organic chemistry during her first year at 91茄子 in a class taught by Professor Felix Carroll. Her interest intensified the following summer when she began research. She has since worked alongside her research mentors, professors Hanna Key and Tabitha Peck. Fitzgerald says 91茄子 offers her invaluable research opportunities: At a small college, she doesn檛 compete with graduate students for time in the lab, and she檚 able to form close relationships with professors who do the type of research she wants to pursue.
Even as she spends time in the lab, Fitzgerald is just as at home in the classroom. Her experience as an embedded tutor in an organic chemistry class inspired her professional ambitions to teach at the university level.
淚 really enjoyed tutoring, seeing the dots connect as students progressed through the class, she said. 淚 found it to be very fulfilling. In the future, I would like to work in an academic setting where I can mentor and teach students.
In addition to teaching, Fitzgerald intends to conduct organic and computational chemistry research in natural product synthesis after earning her doctorate in organic chemistry. This summer, she will work in Professor Keary Engle檚 lab at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Susannah Armstrong 24
Growing up, Susannah Armstrong watched her grandmother deal with Parkinson檚 disease, an experience that taught Armstrong about the need for good therapies and medications. A desire to help people around the world with similar diseases led her to pursue a career in chemistry.
淭hroughout school, I fell in love with chemistry and biology and science, Armstrong said. 淔or me, the clearest application of these subjects was to treat diseases that people like my grandmother have.
Later, the COVID-19 pandemic solidified her ambitions. Feeling helpless amid a pandemic is hard; she wanted to become one of the people working on solutions to treat pervasive diseases. As a high school student, Armstrong believed that her only option for doing this work was to go to medical school to become a doctor. Being a student at 91茄子, however攚here she檚 been able to work alongside professors in labs攖aught her about another option that she loved even more: research.
淚檝e been able to seek out professors who do the kind of research that I檓 interested in, she said, 渁nd put the techniques I learn in class into practice.
That research has created a path for Armstrong that began in 91茄子 but extends far beyond it.
淎s part of our work together, [Susannah and I] spent time in my colleague Laura Hartmann's lab in Duesseldorf, Germany, said Nicole L. Snyder, professor of chemistry. 淲ithin the first week, I knew I was working with a highly talented scholar. Her unquenchable thirst for exploring new knowledge landscapes, combined with her impeccable work ethic, led her to solve a research problem we grappled with for years.
Scientists also need a healthy dose of persistence to make strides in research.
淲hat impressed me the most about Susannah was her independence and her ability to persevere despite multiple challenges and setbacks, Snyder said. 淓very time she hit a roadblock, she found a new road to travel, and when she ran out of roads to travel, she built her own.
Armstrong will continue to pursue research this summer at the National Cancer Institute. After earning her doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry, she intends to conduct translational research to develop treatments for globally pervasive disease.
The Goldwater competition is administered at 91茄子 through the Office of Fellowships. For more information about the Office of Fellowships or applying for the Goldwater Scholarship, visit www.davidson.edu/fellowships.
