![\"immunology](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/elias-wheibe-and-mel-johar-brian-goess-in-background2-cropped.jpg\")
Wheibe (left) and Johar (right) present poster.<\/p><\/div>\n
But this year at the 58th meeting, the conference also played host to six Furman biology undergraduates who presented posters based on summer research \u2014 Jeremy Irsik \u201821, Mel Johar \u201819, Jamila Johnson \u201819, Ryan Scruggs \u201819, Sara Stuart \u201819 and Elias Wheibe \u201820.<\/p>\n
And two of the Furman cohort, Johar and Wheibe, won special recognition on the national stage with an award sponsored by the American Association of Immunologists \u2014 The Ray Owen Poster Award for Outstanding Young Investigator.<\/p>\n
Johar and Wheibe presented their work (and the work of biology major Haley Konsek \u201820, who was on study away) investigating the biological activity of hibiscone C derivatives in the inhibition of a protein that controls cellular metabolism that is upregulated in many cancers \u2014part of a long-standing collaboration between Biology Professor Jason Rawlings\u2019 lab and that of Chemistry Professor Brian Goess.<\/p>\n
In short, according to Rawlings, the students successfully determined the molecular features critical to biological activity and were able to shed light on the mechanism directly responsible for positive outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe long-term goal of this project,\u201d said Rawlings, \u201cis to develop a chemotherapeutic drug that is more potent, more stable and more selective than existing options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing the achievement as a \u201cbrilliant paradigm,\u201d Furman Office of Integrative Research in the Sciences Director John Wheeler is struck by how all the elements of The Furman Advantage<\/a> coalesced to bring about the opportunity. That included faculty commitment and student excellence, support from internal and external sources, and interdisciplinary engagement across the fundamental research question.<\/p>\n About the award, for which there was no undergraduate category, Wheeler said, \u201cWe are exceptionally proud of the accomplishment of Elias, Mel and Haley, whose work stood out among the research of graduate students and other more senior investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n Rawlings said he is grateful for the Furman Student Fellows program, which provided research support for Johar, Konsek and Wheibe, and for the Office of Undergraduate Research, which funded travel to Asilomar for all six students.<\/p>\n The research projects for the biology students were also supported by grants awarded to Rawlings from two other sources \u2014 South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence, funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the SC Space Grant Consortium, a program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.<\/p>\n Rawlings said the efforts of Wheeler and the Furman Office of Integrative Research in the Sciences ensure Furman remains competitive for awards that are \u201cessential for our continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n