May 12, 2021
Ph.D. candidate Samantha Ottavi has been selected as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Medicinal Chemistry fellow.
Fellowships are provided to predoctoral students in their third or fourth year of graduate study engaged in medicinal chemistry research in a medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry, or chemistry department listed in the current ACS Directory of Graduate Research, according to the organization’s website. Ottavi’s fellowship was sponsored by Dr. John LaMattina, Ph.D., former President of Pfizer Global Research and Development.
The fellowship provides $30,000 toward research support, $1,000 for travel to present a fellow’s work at a national ACS meeting, and an invitation to attend the medicinal chemistry Gordon Research Conference.
Ottavi is focused on researching the treatment of tuberculosis and studies in the lab of Jeff Aubé, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry.
“I am incredibly honored to have my work recognized by the ACS MEDI Division. I am especially grateful for my advisor, Jeff, and the other fantastic scientists both within and outside of UNC that I have had the privilege of working with. Modern science is a highly collaborative effort, and this would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from those around me,” Ottavi said.
Since joining the Aubé lab in 2019, Ottavi said she has been interested in studying tuberculosis, which still kills about 1.5 million individuals per year. Despite having a number of drugs on the market for the treatment and cure of tuberculosis, drug resistant strains present a growing public health crisis. Ottavi said her research is centered around designing and synthesizing small molecule inhibitors of lipid biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis to weaken the cell’s protective outer coating.
“I couldn’t be more excited for Sam. This is a challenging, collaborative project with some of the best tuberculosis researchers in the world, and Sam has not only held her own but has been a major contributor since day one,” Aubé said. “An award like this is a shot in the arm for a young investigator and we are very grateful to Dr. LaMattina for his support of emerging talent.”
Prior to joining the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2019, Ottavi attended Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ where she received her B.S. in biochemistry in 2018. During her time at Rider, she worked with Dr. Danielle Jacobs and Dr. Kelly Bidle, synthesizing and investigating a number of small molecules with antimicrobial properties, for which she was awarded an internal scholarship, an ACS Organic Division “Outstanding Undergraduate in Organic Chemistry” award, and participated in the McNair Scholars Program. Ottavi came to UNC in 2018 through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program.
About the future of her fellowship, Ottavi said, “The opportunity to share my work at national conferences and network with leaders in the field will be invaluable for my career development as an aspiring medicinal chemist. I am extremely excited to advance my research with the support of this fellowship and work on becoming a more well-rounded scientist – both at and away from the bench.”
Latest News
Dean Angela Kashuba receives Carolina Alumni Faculty Service Award
RASP poster presentations capture student research
