Sharfi Farhana '09 (West Haven, Conn.), a former STEP/Dreyfus program participant, returned to research this summer to work with George Shields, the Winslow Professor of Chemistry, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner on computational chemistry research.
Farhana is working on two projects. For the first part of the summer she researched alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a naturally occurring protein in women who are pregnant or have given birth that has been proven in animal models to treat breast cancer.
Researchers are trying to produce a drug form of AFP that can be used in cancer treatment because "proteins degenerate very quickly [in storage]," explained Farhana. Farhana worked on developing a computer program that could analyze the five main factors of drug design, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity, in order to find the optimal form of an AFP drug. In her research, Farhana analyzed several similar computer programs to look for the pros and cons.
Farhana's second project involves collaboration with a team at the Florida Institute of Technology who discovered a new DNA cleaving agent. A cleaving agent breaks bonds between the nucleotide bases in a strand of DNA. The new cleaving agent cleaves certain DNA strands in cancerous cells in such a way that the cell ultimately dies. Farhana is building the ten DNA strands found by the Florida team on the computer and using the program AMBER to find the most minimized, or stable, form. "The most challenging part was learning about AMBER and manipulating the DNA structures," said Farhana.
"I came back [to do research] this summer because I liked it a lot last summer," said Farhana, who worked in a neuroscience lab with Associate Professor of Biology Herman Lehman as a pre-freshman. "It was very productive but fun at the same time." Farhana came to Hamilton with no intentions of studying science, but says that her experience in the STEP program changed her mind. "Last summer, I got a taste of biology, and this summer I was looking for a taste of chemistry, which is why I'm working with Professor Shields," said Farhana, who is planning to declare a chemistry major during her sophomore year.
In addition to pursuing a pre-med track at Hamilton, Farhana is a cultural ambassador for the admissions office, a program that tries to recruit a more diverse pool of applicants at Hamilton, and teaches chess at the Clinton Elementary School through Focus, a HAVOC program; and, she plans to continue to participate in science research.
"I do have plans to come back next summer. I want to get in as much research as I can [as an undergraduate]," said Farhana. "I hope this project advances to a level that I can continue with it throughout the year and into next summer."
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
