Junior chemistry major Lauren Firich named a 2009 GlaxoSmithKline Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow

Chemistry and Latin American and Iberian studies major Lauren Firich, ’10, is one of six students nationally to be named a 2009 GlaxoSmithKline Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow.

GlaxoSmithKline funds undergraduate research in the areas of synthetic organic and/or analytical chemistry. Recipients of the award receive a stipend of $4,000 and a laboratory supply allowance of $1,000 and are expected to complete 10 weeks of full-time summer research at their university, under the guidance of their research adviser.

Firich submitted a research proposal based on the work she has done in chemistry professor John Gupton’s laboratory. She joined the lab in September of 2008 and is currently working on the synthesis of pyrrole containing marine natural products and their analogs, which exhibit antitumor activity. She contributed to a recently submitted paper, The application of vinylogous iminium salt derivatives to efficient relay syntheses of the marine akaloids lamellarin G trimethyl ether and ningalin B.

Over the summer, Firich will remain on campus, working in Gupton’s lab. She plans to work on a project devoted to synthesizing the core structure of Ningalin C.

Posted April 15, 2009