James G. Martin Professor of Chemistry, Erland Stevens has received funding from Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (NIBR).

The collaboration between Professor Stevens and NIBR will produce a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in drug discovery for use by biomedical and pharma personnel worldwide. The $40,000 award will be used to create instructional videos, printable lecture summaries, problem sets, lab activities built upon online tools and interviews with pharma professionals. The MOOC will present up to-date information on how drugs are safely and effectively developed for the treatment and prevention of disease, bridging an important gap by updating the training of chemists and biologists in drug discovery. The online delivery provides universal access in a concise and self-paced manner that adapts to the busy schedules of advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional scientists seeking to expand their knowledge in drug discovery. 

Previous online courses produced by Professor Stevens include Drug Discovery & Medicinal Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry: The Molecular Basis of Drug Discovery, on edX.  

RCSA awarded $55,000 to each of seven research teams selected for the COVID-19 Initiative: Detecting and Mitigating Epidemics. Professor Snyder was awarded for the project titled “Glycomimetics for Inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 Entry” (27368), with collaborators Mario Schelhaas, of Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany,  and Laura Hartmann of Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany. 

In addition to the significance of the award, Professor Snyder is the only principal investigator from a primarily undergraduate institution awarded this highly competitive grant. 

Professor Snyder actively involves her students in her research and has several other current external awards that provide students with training in carbohydrate chemistry, polymer chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, and biochemical and biophysical techniques that enhance their education and prepare them for a competitive international workforce.

Professor Snyder’s grants include: an NIH AREA (R15GM119067) in collaboration with the University of South Carolina Upstate; an NSF RUI (1708546) that has supported the development of a course in Glycomics; and an NSF IRES (1854028) that engages Davidson students in an international cohort research experience at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The Office of Grants and Contracts congratulates Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Mitch Anstey, on a National Science Foundation Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms grant (1955619). 

Professor Anstey joins collaborators Professor Chris Bejger of University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Professor Todd Coolbaugh of Johnson C. Smith University, on the $456,394 grant to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, for the project titled “CAS: Radialene Radicals: Aqueous Soluble Organics for Energy Storage.”

The three-institution team will engage undergraduate student researchers to examine redox flow batteries (RFBs) for electrochemical energy storage, to develop low cost and environmentally friendly energy storage devices.   

In addition to NSF funded research, Professor Anstey has provided interdisciplinary science experience for Davidson student researchers on projects funded annually since 2016 by Sandia National Laboratories.  Read more about the Anstey Research Group here.

The Office of Grants and Contracts congratulates Assistant Professor of Biology Bryan Thurtle-Schmidt on his National Institutes of Health AREA: Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15GM132786). 

The $346,277 grant funds the project “Mechanisms of Transport by SLC4 Borate Transporters,” with Davidson College student participation in three years of biomedical research. Experiments will focus on dissecting the transport mechanism of SLC4 borate proteins to understand related diseases at a molecular level and enhance development of new treatments.

 “AREA awards provide funding for small-scale, new, or ongoing health-related meritorious research projects, enhancing the research environment at eligible institutions and exposing students to research opportunities.”  NIH typically funds less than 20% of the AREA proposals received for this highly competitive award.

In addition to the NIH AREA, Professor Thurtle-Schmidt also has support for his research from a Life Sciences Research Foundation fellowship.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Nicole Snyder will lead twelve Davidson College students to engage in high-impact research opportunities in Düsseldorf, Germany in collaboration with the research group of Prof. Dr. Laura Hartmann at the Heinrich-Heine-University (HHU), thanks to a three-year, $299,915 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Awarded in March, Davidson in Düsseldorf: Glycopolymer Research in Düsseldorf, Germany, provides undergraduate students “training in carbohydrate chemistry, polymer chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, and biochemical and biophysical techniques that will enhance their education and prepare them for a competitive international workforce.”

Professor Snyder enjoys “involving undergraduate students in my research, I have mentored nearly 50 over the past eight years. Three quarters of those students have gone on to pursue graduate work and/or medical training at some of the top institutions in the U.S.” 

The National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) programs award projects that “engage a group of undergraduate students in active, high quality collaborative research, to develop world-class research skills in an international cohort experience.”

Professor Snyder also serves as Assistant Dean for Research and Creative Works.