Mathematics is Focus of Two Grants CAMPUS CURRENT
Cunningham to Study Cancer-fighting Compounds FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP WILL TAKE CHEMISTRY MAJOR TO IRELAND
A Fulbright scholarship is allowing chemistry major Anna Cunningham ’11 to spend the coming academic year investigat- ing pyrrolobenzoxazepine (PBOX) compounds—chemicals that show promise as a weapon against cancer. Part of her investiga- tion will entail spectroscopic analysis of how PBOX compounds synergistically interact with other known cancer drugs that also work by binding to tubulin. This, she hopes, will reveal pos- sibilities for new, even more effective anticancer treatments. It’s an approach, she says, “that has the potential to revolutionize current methods of cancer therapy.” Supervising her work will be Clive Williams, a prominent
investigator of new cancer-fighting drugs, whose laboratory she will use at Trinity College in Dublin. “I’m excited to be working at one of the leading research in- stitutions in Ireland,” said Cunningham, who hails from Seattle, Wash. “With sufficient work, this project could result in publi- cation of a scientific paper and presentation at an international conference.” Cunningham’s travel to Ireland will mark the second time in as many years that she has traveled abroad in the quest for greater knowledge. During part of her junior year at HMC, she studied at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Her interest in cancer research was sparked last summer while participating in an internship program at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. “As a chemistry major, I found it fascinating to be able to approach cancer from a chemical or biochemical perspective,” she said. In addition to the Fulbright Scholarship, Cunningham was inducted into the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Her scholastic strengths also earned her departmental honors in chemistry and recognition as an HMC President’s Scholar and a member of Phi Lambda Up- silon (chemistry honorary society). During her time at HMC, Cunningham tutored freshmen in chemistry (and underprivi- leged local high school students in all subjects) and was active in the performing arts. As a sophomore and junior, she was a member of the school’s ballroom dance team. As a freshman, she joined the Claremont Colleges Concert Choir and, more recently, the Claremont Colleges Chamber Choir. (Adding to Anna’s excitement about the cancer research project at Trinity College is the opportunity it affords to indulge a newfound ap- preciation of Irish folk music.) Cunningham credits David Vosburg, assistant professor of
chemistry, with being one of the faculty members who most influenced her. “He has been so supportive, and made a huge
positive impact on my experience here at Mudd,” Anna said. “His advice about classes, applying to grad schools and writing my proposals for the Fulbright Scholarship and the National Science Foundation was invaluable.” Vosburg said that Cunningham quickly distinguished herself
as an exceptional student. “Her initial project in my laboratory during her sophomore year was to screen a range of green cata- lysts for enantioselective and chemoselective reductions of citral,
Student News
Anna Cunningham ’11 seeks to revolutionize cancer therapy methods.
a natural fragrance from lemongrass oil. Several of the catalysts she screened were not commercial, and she showed great facil- ity with solid-phase peptide synthesis and other procedures to prepare them.” Cunningham’s later experiments led to her co-authorship of
an article that appeared earlier this year in the Journal of Chemical Education, Vosburg noted. He said Cunningham also impressed him with her choice of senior thesis topic—mercury resis- tance in flavobacteria—and reports that her involvement with a research group led by Prof. Nancy Hamlett helped convince Cunningham to set her sights on a career in the biological sciences. Upon her return next year from Ireland, Cunningham will be- gin postgraduate studies in pursuit of a doctorate in biochemistry. The Fulbright Scholarship, a highly competitive, federally
funded program, annually goes to 8,000 of the nation’s best and brightest college seniors and provides them grants to study, research or teach overseas.
—Rich Smith
SUMMER 2011 Har vey Mudd College
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WILL VASTA
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