Not too long ago, I accepted a UBRP Travel Grant to go the national American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Anaheim, CA. I could remember the last time I had the opportunity to go to an ACS conference (New Orleans, LA) and I remember the fun I had. Not just because I was in New Orleans (“The Big Easy”), but also because I was surrounded by about 13,000 other scientists. I had the opportunity to listen to a number of talks including some general concerns/movements in science down to the very specific talks regarding work being done all over the world. This time, in Anaheim, it would different. I would have the opportunity to present my own research; the tip of the iceberg for what I could potentially contribute to the scientific community.

I set out from Tucson with two friends (both chemists), one of which was also presenting research as well as being co-author of the poster for which I was presenting. The five or so hours on the road went by extremely fast as we anticipated our arrival in California. The conference didn’t start until the next day, so the first night was ours. I had been to the Los Angeles area quite a bit and knew my way around so, since we had our own transportation, we decided to go to Beverly Hills for dinner. I knew a little place that served up some delectable garlic cuisine. I had the ‘forty clove garlic chicken’, garlic bread and garlic ice cream for dessert…so good! Once we thoroughly reeked of garlic, we went out to “offend” students at UCLA and hang out on their campus. We spent about 45 minutes looking for their “4th Avenue”, but had no luck. They had a couple of hookah bars but we couldn’t find the hot spots on campus. Accepting our defeat, but still having a good time we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we would have plenty to do at the convention center.

The next day we joined our scientific brethren and headed to the Anaheim Convention Center. It is a very strange and unique feeling to be in the same room as about 10,000+ other chemists and scientists. I honestly felt smarter just being there! During the few days that I attended the convention, I had the opportunity to hear talks given by, not only grad students, but also some big names in many different fields of chemistry. I spoke with other scientists in person, both young and old, and it was truly an enlightening experience to interact with scientists at that level. I heard talks about the future of nanotechnology, the future of biotech, and even talks on ethics, among others and overall from this experience my viewpoint of the scientific world has changed significantly. One of the more important reasons I was at the convention, however, was to present my own research.

I presented one of the projects I have been working on for the McGrath Research Group at the undergraduate poster session. My poster was titled “Regioselective Synthesis of Benzyl Aryl Amine Disassembling Dendrimers.” And now to explain; basically I work in the field of organic synthesis and our group specializes in polymers and materials based chemistry. For those of you that have taken organic chemistry, or know a thing or two about it, polymers are highly repetitive macromolecules based around one or more repeating units in the molecule (which react with each other indefinitely until all of the material in the reaction is used up). Dendrimers, on the other hand, are still based around a repeating unit, but the difference between these and traditional polymers is two-fold. First, these molecules are globular-like structures with highly branched repeating units. As you move from the center of the dendrimer, the units become larger and larger. Second, as an advantage to traditional polymers, the synthesis of these molecules is divergent and highly controlled, meaning that we start from the center and built out in a stepwise fashion (over a number of different synthetic steps). The specific dendrimers I make are designed to “disassemble,” as the title of the poster suggests. In other words, we spend many months and lots of money making huge molecules designed to completely fall apart upon interaction with a very specific stimulus (which the chemist can control). Another way to put it is that we build the skyscrapers of the chemistry world and if we can demolish it, we are successful. “Why might one do this,” you ask? Well, there are a number of theoretical applications, one of which is drug delivery (and there are many others). It is possible to insulate a pro-drug with the dendrimer (or mask it with the dendrimer) and allow it to pass untouched through the body until it reaches a location where the certain stimulus is present. The stimulus can be enzymatic, which makes the application ideal for drug delivery and as soon as the dendrimer is triggered, it disassembles and releases the active form of the drug at the site of interest. This could potentially magnify the efficiency of drug therapy and reduce the possibility of adverse side effects. Phew!

So I had the opportunity to share my research with other undergraduates, and even a few professionals (on both a superficial level and on a technical level). All of the non-undergrads who came by, however, were there merely because they knew my research director or were from the UA, but they did humor me and we talked a little chemistry. The experience was very good for, not just learning how to put a poster together, but to also think on your feet because people asked really good (sometimes hard) questions.

To cap off my trip, we attended the Sci-Mix portion of the conference that night. Here you get to walk around an extremely huge ballroom and talk to graduate students about their work (so it’s another poster session, in other words). The thing about this gathering though is the free beer (and yes…I’m over 21)! So I had a few free “frothy libations” and I went and harassed the physicists (or as they call themselves, “P-Chemists”). I didn’t understand everything, but what I did, allowed me to ask some real tough, hard-lined questions (regarding the nature of the universe and such). They wanted to talk about their own work, however, which rendered me useless. I guess that’s P-Chem for ya’! Long story short, I am grateful to UBRP (and of course Dr. McGrath) for funding my trip/research and allowing me the opportunity to grow as, not just a chemist, but as a scientist in general.

Charlie Shanahan, UBRPer in Dr. Dominic McGrath's laboratory, Chemistry