At this year’s American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in San Diego, there will be approximately 200 people traveling from across the nation to showcase poster abstracts for the Division of Medicinal Chemistry (MEDI).

Of the 200, Hailey Hibbard from Colorado State University’s Department of Chemistry was one of three to receive the travel award, which covers all travel expenses during the meeting, totaling $1,000. Hibbard will receive recognition at the awards ceremony on the first day of the national meeting on Aug. 25.

 

The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, is a nonprofit organization chartered by U.S. Congress.

Award

The purpose of the MEDI travel award is to aid young chemists in presenting papers at ACS national meetings. To be eligible, the individual must be an ACS member, student, or affiliate. The individual must also be a first-time recipient for the award. Each university department can have only one recipient.

“It’s nice to be recognized,” Hibbard said. “Companies from across the nation attend these meetings, and I’m excited to be able to talk with them and utilize the resume and interview training workshops that ACS provides.”

Going into her fifth year of graduate school this fall, Hibbard will have access to career resources and networking at the upcoming ACS meeting.

Research

Presenting at the ACS MEDI poster session, Hibbard’s abstract focuses on combatting the antibiotic resistance crisis, predicted to surpass both cancer and heart disease as the number one cause of death by 2050.

“Currently, a majority of antibiotics target a specific gene or enzyme to kill bacteria,” Hibbard said. “Because of this, bacteria are quickly mutating and developing ways to fight back, making antibiotics less and less powerful.”

Hibbard’s research focuses on making antibacterial materials to address this problem. The key is an enzyme-activated nitric oxide (NO) prodrug.

To learn more about the research Hibbard and her group (led by Melissa Reynolds) are doing, visit  https://sites.chem.colostate.edu/reynoldslab/.