Amy Deveau invited to deliver research seminar in Rhode Island

Amy Deveau, associate professor and assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics
Amy Deveau, associate professor and assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics

Amy Deveau, Ph.D., associate professor and assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics, recently delivered a research seminar at Rhode Island College (RIC) in Providence, Rhode Island.

Deveau was invited by the RIC Department of Physical Science to present the seminar as part of its Spring Colloquium Program.

The first project of her seminar, "A Tale of Two Projects: Drug Discovery Efforts on the Coast of Maine", highlighted the progress made toward isolating and characterizing natural products from sugar kelp (Saccharina latissimi) and sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) and efforts to understand the antimicrobial properties of the algal extracts.

Collective research suggests that sugar kelp and sea lettuce harvested from the coast of Maine are novel sources of bioactive natural products that may demonstrate potential as antibiotics.

The research was conducted by bioscience master's graduate student Amber Cusson (’20), and 91AV undergraduates Andi Sinde (Biochemistry, ’19), Derek DeMartinis (Biochemistry, ’20), Jessica Meader (Medical Biology, ’17) and Jessica Woolf (Biochemistry, ’17).

The research was conducted through a collaboration with Kristin Burkholder, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biology, and her research students Fallon Weiss (B.S. ’16 Biological Sciences) and Cameron Russell (B.S. ’18 Biological Sciences), also contributed to the project. Additionally, results from a new collaboration with Carrie Byron, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Marine Programs, and current graduate student Gretchen Grebe, were emphasized.

The research presented was part of the “Innovations Theme” of a SEANET project funded by a National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) award.

During the seond opart of the symposium, research work by Deveau group alumni Liz (Andrews) Delgado and Andrea (Pelotte) Galasyn was highlighted.

The second project highlighted progress made toward the synthesis of opioid receptor antagonists that may be used to probe receptor biochemistry and as therapies to treat opioid overdose and addiction.

 

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