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“Getting to work closely with Professor Miles has been fun. Our department provides a lot of opportunities for research and professors are always there to encourage or you or to step in and help you develop a project,” says Kristin Pompizzi ’01, a biochemistry major from Upper Darby, Pa., and a graduate of Archbishop Prendergast High School. “This is an experience that would not be open to me at many colleges, and it has helped me to define my goals while also developing important lab and research tools.”
“Watching the pot stew” is how Marquis Scholar Kristen Pompizzi describes her summer work as an EXCEL research assistant in the laboratory of William H. Miles, associate professor of chemistry.
“Kristen is working on project related to furan chemistry, in which I received a grant from the American Chemcal Society,” Miles explains. “She is directly involved in one of the most critical studies proposed in my grant proposal, the synthesis of butenolides. These compounds model an important part of an extremely active class of natural products with promising anti-cancer activity.
“Synthesizing a part of these complex molecules is an exacting task. Things go wrong, things you don’t always understand. These are some of the aspects of research that Kristen is learning,” Miles continues.
Pompizzi says, “I convert the furan down to butenolides. These, in turn, are reduced down to an alcohol group and eventually lead to a compound that has anti-tumor properties. I’m trying to make it in the fewest possible steps, making it as pure as possible.”
Miles adds, “The reactions require Kristen to become effective in handling compounds that are both water-sensitive and air-sensitive, which entails greater skills than our students learn in sophomore organic chemistry.”
“She’s an intelligent student with an excellent academic record. As a B.S. biochemistry major, she has had the necessary background for doing research in the organic laboratory. She understands the concepts and has no difficulty mastering lab techniques,” he continues.
Pompizzi’s sights are set on medical school.
“I’ve learned that I like research,” she says, “but I prefer to see the results face-to-face working with people. Getting to work closely with Professor Miles has been fun. Our department provides a lot of opportunities for research and professors are always there to encourage or you or to step in and help you develop a project. This is an experience that would not be open to me at many colleges and it has helped me to define my goals while also developing important lab and research tools.”
Another Side of Kristen
A member of the Alternative School Break Club, she did community service in New Mexico last spring. ASB is one of more than 25 programs of sustained voluntary service that Lafayette students conduct each year under the auspices of Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center. She’s a member of Alpha Phi sorority.