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Undergraduate Research Programs in Chemistry

Learn more about undergraduate research in chemistry at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ Baptist by expanding the sections below!

Research is at the core of every chemistry-related profession. Either you are performing research (e.g.: biomedical, material science, epidemiology), applying research (e.g.: medicine, pharmacy, industrial chemist, environmental chemist), or both! It is crucial for anyone in a chemistry-related field to have some experience with the process of research to understand the value and the limitations of our scientific knowledge. This is why we strive to make research one of our core distinctives.

The chemistry faculty have a wide range of interests and expertise, and are willing to help guide students that have their own curiosities as well. Recent topics have included:

  • Isolation of anti-tumorigenic molecules from plants
  • Cell death pathways
  • Development of molecular imaging techniques
  • Microfluidic prototyping
  • Bacterial tRNA bioinformatics
  • DNA-protein interactions
  • Tuberculosis drug resistance
  • Genomic PCR test development

Here at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ we have a proven track record of transforming students into competent researchers. The process is straightforward and anyone can get involved!

Step 1 – Meet the research faculty!

Introduce yourself to one of the active research faculty and learn about their interests and ongoing projects.

Dr. Clancy CollomAssistant professor of chemistry – research interests include microplastics and environmental toxicology

Dr. Matthew DysonAssociate professor of biology and chemistry – research interests include PCR-based techniques, genomics

Dr. Robert MooreProfessor of chemistry – research interests include enzymology, bioinformatics, and bioanalytics

Dr. Adam ReinhartDean of the Kenneth L. Mattox School of Mathematics and Science – research interests include discovery of novel compounds for cancer treatment, metabolic pathways

Step 2 – Pick a topic!

After meeting the faculty, was there anything that piqued your interest? Is there something you’ve always wanted to investigate that one of the faculty seem well-suited to help you learn the techniques? Meet again with that faculty member and see if they’d be willing to take you on as a research student.

Step 3 – Make a plan!

Do you want to do research during the semester? How much time can you spend? Discuss with your research adviser and sign up for MSCI 4103, 4203, or 4303 depending on the amount of time you can devote. Be sure to build this into your weekly schedule and stick with your plan!

Do you want to do a bigger project? Consider applying for the Welch Research Program where you will take MSCI 4103 with your research adviser in the spring to make a research plan and then take MSCI 4303 over 8 weeks in the summer and get PAID to do research! You can learn more about this at our Welch Research Program page.

Step 4 – Discover and share!

Under the mentorship of your research adviser, experiment, explore, and even learn how to overcome obstacles, disappointments, and failure on your way to making discoveries and enjoying the excitement of fulfilling your project. Once you achieve your project goals, you can present your work at scientific meetings, at the annual WBU Spring Research Day, or take MSCI 4360 Thesis and Presentation to write up and publish your work as an undergraduate thesis. It’s only science if it gets shared!

Check out some of the most recent presentations made by chemistry researchers at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ Baptist University!

Some of the titles below may be clicked on to see the poster or a video of the talk! Do research with us and see your work get added to the list!

Winner – best poster in Chemistry and Biochemistry – TAS 2024
Wirth, E., Moore, R. (2023) “The Impact of Base Redundancy on DNA binding of E. coli RecA” Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Oklahoma City, OK. *POSTER*

Winner – 2nd place poster in Cell and Molecular Biology – TAS 2024
Brockway, L., Dyson, M. (2023) “Induction of M. tuberculosis recA in a rhamnose inducible system” Welch Conference, Houston, TX. *POSTER*

Kelley, C., Lozano, T., Moore, R., (2023) “Adventures in developing a radiationless strand exchange assay: A TWEEN drama” Welch Conference, Houston, TX. *POSTER*

Moureira, B., Dyson, M., (2023) “The efficacy of targeted genes is used as an assay to evaluate plant extract on MCF-7 breast cancer cells” Welch Conference, Houston, TX. *POSTER*

Winner – best poster in Chemistry and Biochemistry – TAS 2023
Lozano, T., Patterson, P., Moore, R. (2023) “Addition of ATP-Removal Step Creates Avenue for Chemiluminescent RecA Strand Exchange Assay” Texas Academy of Science, San Angelo, TX. *POSTER*

Smedema, J., Moore, R., Dyson, M. (2023) “Engineering an expression cell line for Mycobacterium tuberculosis RecA” Texas Academy of Science, San Angelo, TX. *POSTER*

Torres, A., Galbreath, T., Gray, G., Reinhart, A. (2023) “Isolation of compounds in Larrea tridentate and Pterocarpus santalinus that demonstrate cytotoxic effects on the prostate cancer cell line, PC-3” Texas Academy of Science, San Angelo, TX. *POSTER*

Argueta, S., Dyson, M. (2023) “ Refining Assay Specificty for X-chromosome copy number variation detection in the THL” Texas Academy of Science, San Angelo, TX. *POSTER*

Winner – 2nd place poster in Biochemistry – TAS 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ
Patterson, P., Alvarez-Garcia, A., Moore, R. (2021) “Phosphates for protection, not detection: Development of a non-radiolabeled strand exchange assay” Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Austin, TX. *POSTER*

Winner – 3rd place poster in Biochemistry – TAS 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ
Alvarez-Garcia, A., Patterson, P., Hamzy, E., Rickman, K., Moore R. (2021) “Binding properties of repair protein RecA suggest direct role in tuberculosis drug resistance” Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Austin, TX. *POSTER*

Winner – best presentation in Chemical Education – SWRM ACS 2021
Chavez, L., Dyson, M. (2021) “Molecular Genotyping the Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) - a Goal for Inquiry-based Learning in Biochemistry” Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Austin, TX. *POSTER*

Winner – best presentation in Cell and Molecular Biology – TAS 2021
Rodriguez, J., Moore, R. (2021) “” Texas Academy of Science, online meeting. *TALK*

Winner – best presentation in Biomedical Sciences – TAS 2021
Knippa, K., Galbreath, T., Donaldson, J., Reinhart, A. (2021) “” Texas Academy of Science, online meeting. *TALK*

Daugherty, D., Dyson, M., (2021) “” Texas Academy of Science, online meeting. *TALK*

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Pioneering Research

Get plugged into research in chemistry at WBU and be a true 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ Pioneer.