Drew C
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Princeton University
Expertise
Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology
Bio
Hello! My name is Drew, and I'm a third-year graduate student at Princeton pursuing my PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering. I graduated from Penn State University in May 2019 with my B.S. in Chemical Engineering, with Honors, as well as a minor in Mathematics. I was the selected as the top student from my graduating class. At Penn State, I studied how to incorporate bacterial membrane proteins to be used in filtration and separation applications. Here at Princeton, I study bacterial natural products and novel enzymology. I very much enjoy meeting new people and learning about other countries and culture. I enjoy trying new foods, traveling, playing tennis (although I'm not that good!), and hiking. I have a pet guinea pig named Honey that I love spending time with. I'm hoping to mentor someone to get them as excited about science as I am, and share valuable skills I've learned during my academic journey.Project ideas
Comparing Biosynthesis of Different Natural Products
Natural products are very diverse, but many share common families of enzymes in their biosynthetic gene clusters and thus are synthesized similarly. Comparing and contrasting the biosynthetic mechanisms of various natural products can elucidate commonalities as well as the differences that leads to their diversity.
Investigating Mechanisms of Action of Potential Antibiotics
We know that antibiotics kill harmful bacteria that make us sick, but how exactly do the antibiotics that we take actually enter and bind to cellular targets, stopping infection? Why does a certain antibiotic kill certain types of bacteria, but not others? Through a genetic engineering approach, we can investigate how many antibiotics are responsible for killing certain types of bacteria.