While many of her peers stayed on campus over the summer to pursue research in the sciences, Matroner George '07 (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) traveled to South Africa to work in a research lab with Professor Kelly Chibale at the University of Capetown.
George chose to study abroad in South Africa for the summer and took a class with Professor Chibale. In addition to coursework, she was able to work in his lab under the advisement of a Ph.D. student. Chibale's lab focuses on antiparasitic drug discovery and exploring the probable mechanisms of drug resistance in malaria and cancer. George, a biochemistry major, worked specifically with creating a di-hybrid of two known drugs to make an anti-malaria drug.
George spent two summers doing research on campus with Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and, while she enjoyed doing research, wanted to try something new. "I wanted to experience how science is in Africa," she said. However, George was no stranger to drug design; her computational chemistry research at Hamilton focused on it as well. In South Africa, George had the opportunity to work with researchers focused on synthesizing drugs that were "specifically important to Africans," she explained, such as anti-malaria drugs. A major difference George noted between the South African lab and the other research she has done was that a lot of the equipment, such as TLC (thin layer chromatography) plates, had to be made in the lab, rather than bought.
George says this experience changed her goals for the future. Rather than working for a pharmaceutical company as she had previously considered, "I would rather work in research," said George. George is currently pursuing a senior thesis in biochemistry with Professor of Biology Jinnie Garrett.
"I would like to encourage science students to take a chance and study abroad, to work with professors both here and abroad," said George. "[It is valuable] to gain a better understanding of different areas."
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
