By Kim Manahan (Whetstone staff writer)

Poster viewing

Poster viewing Whetstone / Cochise Lucas

Delaware Congressman Mike Castle met with Wesley College students Ghada Alabed and Jordan Wheatley on April 13 in Washington D.C., to congratulate them on their research at the 14th annual Council of Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill event.

The graduating seniors were two of 75 undergraduate students from 50 colleges across the country chosen to present their research for a national competition sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

“I am proud to see Wesley College students Ms. Alabed and Ms. Wheatley taking part in such an important program aimed at advancing research and policies to improve people’s lives,” Castle said. “Both students are dedicated to advancing medical research and I commend them for championing this message to their peers.  Additionally, their participation in this program highlights the outstanding work of the Wesley College community, including its educators, and the positive impact the school is having on our state.”

Alabed and Wheatley, who also met with Delaware Sen. Carper and Sen. Kaufmann,presented their research poster, Creating a Structure-based Searchable Database for FDA Approved Chemotherapy Drugs Using KnowItAll®, in the Rayburn House Office Building at the symposium.

At the poster session, the President of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Joseph S. Francisco, congratulated the Wesley students and posed for several pictures.

The yearly event is designed to encourage undergraduate participation in research.

The students’ research was supported by an IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant from the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Also attending were chemistry professor Dr. Malcolm D’Souza, who had worked with the students on their project; Wesley vice president and academic dean Patricia Dwyer; and Chad Robinson, part-time Wesley instructor and legislative assistant to Lt. Gov. Denn.

Alabed and Wheatley are only the tip of the iceberg for Wesley student accomplishments, D’Souza said.

In the past seven years, Wesley students and faculty have published 26 peer-reviewed journal articles, 24 of which have been co-authored by undergraduates, he said.

Wesley developed a consumer drug database used by the pharmaceutical industry during that time, he said, and undergraduates have made more than 150 local, regional and national conference presentations and received 15 national poster-presentation awards.