Lauren Watts Presents at 2017 Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference

2017 Feb 3

Bob Jones University student Lauren Watts presented an oral research paper entitled The Two-Step Hantzsch Thiazole Synthesis of Sphingosine Kinase Inhibitor II at the 2017 Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) conducted at the University of South Carolina Saturday, Jan. 28, in Columbia, South Carolina.

Watts, a resident of Greenville, is a senior biochemistry and molecular biology major at BJU. Her research was conducted during the summer of 2016 under the direction of Dr. Robert Lee in BJU's Department of Chemistry and Physics in conjunction with Cayman Chemical located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"We were so glad to have Lauren in the first Chemistry RIU summer research program," says Dr. Lee. "Her peer review and acceptance for oral presentation at the 2017 SURC was a fitting capstone for the project. It was an outstanding opportunity to interact with many excellent researchers and their mentors from all over."

The SURC provides an ideal opportunity for undergraduate students to meet other students and faculty members engaged in chemistry and biochemistry research and to network with industrial and graduate school recruiters. Undergraduate students from schools in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee were given the opportunity to present research and learn about cutting-edge advances in chemistry, biochemistry, and related fields.