Spring 2010 - There will be no spring symposium - watch for the one offered Fall 2010.
Current Symposium Topics
Synthesis and Cytoxicity of Chalcones
Director: Dr. Pamela Lord
Medicinal chemists discover, design, and develop pharmaceutical drugs. In addition, you may have the opportunity to see your drug through clinical trial and potentially human trials. In this workshop, we will design a series of molecules which have been explored for their potential as cytotoxic drugs.
Chalcones, a derivative of combretastatin A4, are a class of molecules being explored for their potential to starve tumor cells of oxygen. In combination with radiation or chemotherapy, these drugs have shown promise for future cancer therapies. In this workshop, each student will have the opportunity to synthesize their own chalcone. You will learn methods to isolate, purify, and characterize your product using melting point (MP), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, UV-Visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy. We will also explore the cytotoxicity of the chalcone and relate the structure to its function.
Paleontology Rocks!
Directors: Drs. Richard Hurley and Larry Wiedman
Who hasn't at some time dreamed of discovering dinosaur bones or some other prehistoric beasties? Come join Drs. Richard Hurley and Larry Wiedman as they explore the biological and geological sides of Paleontology. Participants will spend most of the time eyeball-to-specimen and very hands-on, up close and personal, with real fossil specimens while learning to eke out taxonomic, ecologic and taphonomic (ancester/decendent relationships, niche/habitats, and what happens when they die) information from them. We will use the extensive fossil collection housed at Saint Franics that few ever get to have contact with.