From the fall 2017 issue of UNCG Research magazine
Newly discovered molecules that could prove to be anti-cancer agents.
Plant-derived compounds that could give us new ammunition against deadly drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA.
Nanoparticles that might one day help doctors focus cancer drugs more precisely on tumors.
New drug candidates to minimize damage to the brain after a stroke.
That’s a small sample of the research that UNCG’s Medicinal Chemistry Collaborative — MC2 — is carrying out.
And there’s certainly more where that came from. That’s what happens when you combine a couple dozen chemists, biochemists, biologists, and other scientists, plus their labs, students, and millions of dollars in research grants, together in a single center.
MC2 has been around, under different names, for about 10 years. But the new name is part of an effort to draw in a wider array of researchers and provide the UNCG scientists involved with more chances to learn from one another.
“The goal is to support each other, and to train students, and to engage with the greater scientific community and the community in general,” says Professor Nadja Cech, who, along with Professor Nick Oberlies, is co-director of MC2.
Sometimes that means one researcher saying something or sharing a story that sparks a new idea. Sometimes it means opportunities to collaborate and combine knowledge or access to special resources. Sometimes it means another colleague to ask for advice or finding the perfect mentor.
It certainly means high-impact research.
Photography by Martin W. Kane.
