Two Northwestern chemistry majors, JoJo Holm and Anthony Tam, have joined the ranks of a select group of students who have received Lambert Fellowships, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute’s most prestigious undergraduate award. Each student will receive multi-year funding for year-round, hands-on laboratory research in Institute faculty laboratories.
Lambert Fellows are placed in a community of dedicated scholars and offered a generous stipend that covers research materials and supplies as well as travel and academic conference fees. It also includes a mentoring plan that allows fellows to develop their skills with CLP faculty members and postdoctoral and graduate students who share the same interests. Awardees are required to present at the CLP Undergraduate Summer Research Forum in August and the Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium in April 2023. They are also invited to participate in CLP-sponsored workshops throughout the year.
“JoJo and Anthony are great examples of young researchers who are eager to learn, and passionate about their studies,” says Penelope Johnson, CLP’s senior project coordinator, education and outreach. “One thing I appreciate about them, along with our other undergraduate award recipients, is how grateful they are to have been chosen to do year-round research. In a nod to school/life balance, I plan social activities for them to get to know one another and have some fun. They could have returned home and gotten jobs over the summer, but instead chose to spend their time doing research in a lab! They deserve to have some fun.”
The Lambert Fellowship Program was founded in 2010, and endowed in 2016, by CLP Executive Advisory Board Chairman and Senior Vice President of Research Biology at Genentech, Andrew Chan, MD, PhD. The program is named in honor of Dr. Joseph B. Lambert, the Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry. Lambert was Dr. Chan’s advisor in the late 1970’s at Northwestern and helped him succeed as a student; Lambert had a profound impact on Chan’s educational experience.
Recently, CLP spoke with awardees about their research projects, experience in the fellowship program and plans for the future.
ANTHONY TAM
Hometown: Fishers, IN
Year: Rising junior
Major: Chemistry and Math in the Weinberg School’s Integrated Science Program
CLP Mentor: Karl Scheidt, PhD (Chemistry and Pharmacology)
What is the focus of your Lambert Fellowship Research Project?
I work in Dr. Karl Scheidt’s lab under Joshua Zhu, PhD candidate, finding new ways to create bonds and synthesize molecules that are important to society such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and food preservatives. I wrote my proposal to research alpha-amino ketones found in natural products. What often happens in drug discovery is that scientists will study a plant or fungus, or something out in nature that has certain antimicrobial or antiviral properties and they will try to isolate the active ingredient. For instance, the synthesis of buprioprion [Wellbutrin], a commonly prescribed anti-depressant drug, uses harsh reagents and chemicals. In the Scheidt lab, we’re interested in using milder and greener methods to develop new reactions and synthesize new and important compounds.
Why did you apply for the Lambert Fellowship?
I was really interested in doing summer research in the Scheidt lab. Last summer, I was funded by Northwestern’s Summer Internship Grant Program, but was looking for something more long-term. Penelope Johnson, Senior Project Coordinator, Education and Outreach, recommended that I apply for the Lambert Fellowship because it gives two-year funding during both the academic year and summer. It seemed like a really good opportunity to continue doing research in the Scheidt lab since I’m interested in doing graduate school in chemistry. So, this seems like the perfect funding opportunity for a student like me.
Another big thing for me is that the CLP community is very supportive and inviting. It feels like a family of scientists and undergraduates. I’m really good friends with the other Lambert fellows and appreciate having like-minded people around me. I’m also looking forward to hearing about everyone else’s research at our undergraduate forum at the end of the summer. It is a really good influence and helps drive my academic career forward.
Do you know yet what you want to do after completing your education?
After graduate school, I’m leaning towards academia. I really enjoy the environment of pushing the frontiers of chemistry, especially organics. In terms of the amount of creativity in total synthesis methodology and medicinal chemistry, it’s a really cool intersection of a lot of different fields that I’m really interested in and excited about.
JOJO HOLM
Hometown: Bellville, Illinois
Year: Rising junior
Major: Chemistry
Minor: Psychology
CLP Mentor: Nathan Gianneschi, PhD (Chemistry)
I am working in Professor Nathan Gianneschi’s Lab with my graduate student mentors Kendal Carrow and Madeline Hopps. The goal of our project is to develop new, first-in-class therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. My summer research project is focused on developing a proteomimetic polymer capable of disrupting a difficult-to-drug protein-protein interaction in cells. Here, we incorporate multiple binding domains mimicking the transcription factor Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2). The Nrf2-mimicking polymer competitively binds Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), which regulates native cellular Nrf2 levels. This competitive inhibition leads to increased Nrf2 levels and antioxidant pathway activation. As oxidative stress has been found to play a key role in neurodegenerative disease, my project aims to optimize a neuroprotective polymer through disruption of the Nrf2/Keap1 protein-protein interaction.
Why did you apply for the Lambert Fellowship?
Earlier this year, I decided I really wanted to get involved with research, figure out what it’s all about. I really loved Gianneschi Group and the projects they were working on. They seemed like a bunch of fun people. I started working there in February with the goal of doing this over the summer. Pretty early on, my mentors told me about the Lambert Fellowship and encouraged me to apply. It seemed like a really great opportunity. It allowed me to do what I wanted to do and have the funding to do it.
The fact that I can engage with groups of students in the STEM field also really appealed to me. Sometimes, it can be hard to engage with STEM students. In classes, we’re all very intense. CLP provides lots of opportunities to meet with other students. It was exciting to see some other women because I don’t have a lot of connections with other women in STEM.
Do you know yet what you want to do after completing your education?
After my undergraduate career, I hope to attend med school in a MD/PhD program. One thing that drew me to the Gianneschi Lab was the medical implications of much of their work as I feel that it connects my passions in chemistry and medicine. This lab, as well as both of my wonderful mentors, allows me to feel secure and hopeful for my plans after Northwestern.
Story and photos by Lisa La Vallee
