F.A.Q.s

Q: How much time will be spent in lab?

A: We estimate about 6 hrs per week for the spring term. You will also be writing up your weekly lab reports outside of this time. In the fall, we shoot for 8-10 hrs of lab time as there is less writing (notebooks & lab reports) and more of a focus on moving the research forward.

Q: How much virtual screening will we do?

A: We spend about half of the spring course on virtual techniques and half on wet lab procedures. In the summer and fall, this ratio changes to about 80% wet lab and 20% virtual.

Q: Will I need to have programming skills? I haven't taken any computer science courses!

A: No, you do not need programming skills. But it helps if you aren't afraid of computers! We will just use basic script files to modify what we want the virtual screening program to do. We can teach you all you need to know from the ground up.

Q: What kind of students sign up for VDS?

A: Our students are those that like both chemistry and biology and learning how they interface in order to help us find cures for human diseases. Many of our group are pre-med or pre-pharm while others are strictly biology, chemistry or biochemistry majors. We also have a few students interested in biomedical engineering. This stream is best for students that do enjoy 'getting their hands wet' in the lab since we do a great deal of wet lab procedures in addition to the virtual work. If you are drawn towards applied science - then Virtual Drug Screening might be for you since it marks the first steps of research which could eventually bring a drug to the bedside.

Q: What if I am not sure if I like this kind of research?

A: Don't worry - the research you do your freshman and sophomore years may or may not define your future career. What we really want is for you to be immersed in a opportunity where you will have to do some critical thinking and apply it to a given set of protocols. Once you have done this in an intensive and experiential manner, you will be better able to define what motivates you and where your skills and abilities in life could be most useful.

Q: Are there opportunities to continue research if I like the stream?

A: Yes, we have had students stay on in the Spring after their first year to continue work on their projects for the Undergraduate Research Forum. We have had 2 students work on their senior theses in the lab. A few students have worked in the Fast lab or on related projects.

Q: Have you discovered any drugs yet?

A: The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Drug discovery is a long and arduous process. The compounds that we discover today may end up in clinical trials 10 years down the road. We have shown some inhibition against our protein targets, but these must be followed up by more rigorous kinetic and QSAR studies before advancing to the next level of drug discovery.

Q: What diseases are you trying to treat?

A: We have studied several human diseases (listed on the main page) and are focusing these towards anti-infectives (when the disease is cause by a pathogenic organism). Traditionally, anti-infectives drug strategies have been neglected by large pharmaceutical firms due to their diminished profit potential next to chronic disease like cancer where a patient takes the medicine for years. This phenomenon has left an opportunity open for academic labs to step up and focus their efforts on this class of targets since monetary gains are less valued over pure scientific and altruistic motivations.