{"id":28592,"date":"2023-11-28T16:09:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T21:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=28592"},"modified":"2025-02-13T13:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T18:53:11","slug":"carly-slough-24-named-beckman-scholar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/carly-slough-24-named-beckman-scholar\/","title":{"rendered":"Carly Slough \u201924 named Beckman Scholar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carly Slough \u201924 was an ocean away when she received a late-night notification that she\u2019d been selected to participate in the Beckman Scholars Program. A chemistry and Japanese major from Knoxville, Tennessee, Slough was studying in Japan when she got word.<\/p>\n

The Beckman Scholars Program<\/a> is a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry, biological sciences or interdisciplinary combinations of the two. Each May, Beckman Scholars institutions with active awards name their honorees.<\/p>\n

Since the program\u2019s inception in 1999, Furman has earned consecutive funding over multiple three-year cycles. Past awards have supported research into the chemical origins of life, discoveries related to solar energy, the study of cloud aerosols to inform our understanding of climate change, and research focused on bacteria-resistant films for lining water pipes, for example.<\/p>\n

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Mary Beth Daub, Department of Chemistry.<\/p><\/div>\n

Slough and her research advisor, Mary Beth Daub<\/a>, assistant professor of chemistry, are working with chemical compounds that, when paired with antimicrobials, aim to curb antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. Due to misuse or overuse of antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics and other factors, AMR is considered one of the largest threats to global health<\/a> and development.<\/p>\n

Take opportunistic yeast Candida albicans<\/a>. Sometimes dubbed the \u201csneaky yeast,\u201d C. albicans quietly lives in and on our bodies without causing a fracas. But if the balance of bacteria and fungus that naturally occurs gets off-kilter, overgrowth of yeast happens, which can lead to life-threatening infection of the blood and vital organs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the lab, I\u2019m trying to synthesize a chemical compound, an adjuvant, which helps antibiotics and antifungals do their jobs,\u201d Slough said. \u201cSo if I can make this compound, and other chemists can use it to make those adjuvants, then we can help fight against drug resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the way Slough is creating the compounds is more sustainable than the traditional approach.<\/p>\n

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Carly Slough ’24 was named a Beckman Scholar.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cPrevious methods of synthesizing similar compounds use harsh, expensive reagents that aren\u2019t environmentally friendly,\u201d Slough said. So, the researchers are using visible light, or photocatalysis, to trigger chemical reactions. \u201cPhotochemistry is a simpler and greener way to get results,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

While Daub is on family leave, Slough, who plans on pursuing a Ph.D. after graduating, is exercising a measure of autonomy in the lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019ve had a couple of years of experience under my belt so far, and everyone in the Chemistry Department is super supportive,\u201d she said. \u201cDr. Daub is there for us when she is able to, which is really nice. All of us in my lab have gained a little independence, and we\u2019ve had to adjust to challenges in our own ways. That\u2019s something I really appreciate,\u201d Slough added.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarly\u2019s curiosity and attention to detail make her well-suited to complete her research project,\u201d Daub wrote in an email. \u201cShe has already made tremendous progress, and her discoveries will help us better understand the reactivity of the compounds we\u2019re studying and their potential applications in the treatment of fungal infections.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When pathogens like yeast overgrow and resist treatments, a cascade of health problems ensue. Carly Slough is working with Mary Beth Daub on chemical compounds to help antimicrobials do their job better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":29202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,53,35,61,55],"tags":[2351,2353,2355,2352,2354],"class_list":["post-28592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-chemistry","category-parent-news","category-the-furman-advantage","category-undergraduate-research","tag-antimicrobial-resistance","tag-beckman-scholars-program","tag-candida-albicans","tag-fungus","tag-yeast"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36260,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28592\/revisions\/36260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}