Undergraduate researcher in biological chemistry receives CLAS Scholars Award

Alexander Duong, an undergraduate researcher in the Eddy Research Group, was recently named a recipient of a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Scholar Award. UF CLAS provides this award to high achieving undergraduate students who show great promise for making significant contributions to original scientific research, and the award provides undergraduate students an opportunity to work one-on-one with a CLAS faculty member on a research project. Alex is a rising sophomore and chemistry major, and he will be studying the structures and functions of human G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are sensory proteins on the surfaces of cells involved in numerous diseases including cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. GPCRs are the target of over 1/3 of FDA-approved drugs and are top targets for the development of new therapeutics. Alex?s research will focus on improving our understanding of the activity of GPCRs to improve drug design criteria.