Sharing Science in our Nation’s Capital
Thomas Oldham presents a poster of his research on targeting the alkaline environment of mosquito larvae gut proteins at the 2026 ASBMB Meeting.
During the first half of my spring break, I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Washington, D.C. As part of this trip, I was invited to participate in the Undergraduate Poster Competition where I would be judged on the quality of my scientific research I have conducted in Dr. John Jewett’s Lab in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. As well as, how well I could communicate this science to the conference attendees. This experience was incredible as I was able to talk with so many undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and leading industry employers about my research and the research that they do as well. I felt very proud to represent the University of Arizona and highlight the important and extensive research opportunities available to students at the UofA.
The research I have been working on for about a year consists of using small-molecule probes to investigate the gut proteins in the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, with the overall goal of creating highly selective and toxic larvicidal agents to mitigate the spread of vector diseases. This work has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of people a year and being able to share this work in our nation’s capital was an honor.
Thomas Oldham (left) attends the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with two graduate students from Dr. Jewett’s lab.
Throughout the conference I attended research talks given by professors from across the nation and the highlight of the event was a talk given by Dr. Wesley Sundquist from the University of Utah. He presented his work on HIV, and I was especially inspired by the persistence and dedication his lab had during this project. At the beginning of his career, he was focused on answering fundamental questions about the virus which included determining the structure of HIV capsid proteins. This opened the door for the lab to investigate the function of these proteins and potentially find a cure for HIV. Thirty years of dedicated hard work has led to the production of a drug that targets the HIV capsid proteins and prevents the transmission of HIV for six months. I found Dr. Sundquist’s career inspiring especially since I will be going to the University of Utah next year as part of the Biological Chemistry PhD program. At the University of Utah, I hope to become involved in research that has the potential to save many people’s lives through disease prevention.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to attend this conference with the help of UBRP and it has given me more motivation as finish my undergraduate career at the University of Arizona and pursue a Biological Chemistry PhD at the University of Utah.