Lacie Smith

Home Dr. Varadarajan Research Interests Publications Students Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry UNCW

I joined Sridhar’s lab during the fall of 2004 to do a Departmental Honors project. This involved synthesizing potential quorum sensing molecules. Bacteria use these quorum-sensing molecules to communicate with one another. Our goal is to understand how to use these signaling molecules to interfere with bacterial communication and thus fight bacterial diseases. In 2005, I received an undergraduate research fellowship award from UNCW and a Summer Undergraduate Research scholarship from GlaxoSmithKline. I graduated with a BS in chemistry and a minor in mathematics cum laude with departmental honors in spring 2006. I returned to UNCW as a master’s student in fall 2006. My project has now switched gears! I am continuing the master’s work of Andrew McIver. This project involves synthesizing sequence specific DNA methylating compounds that target the pancreatic beta cell. Contact Info: lms0108@uncw.edu