Josiah Sánchez, 3rd Year, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 2022

Research Program: MURPPS
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alan Balch
Research Title: Development of Open-Cage Fullerenes as Host Molecules for Metal Insertion
Hometown: Merced, CA
Three words to describe me: Charismatic, Creative, and Caring

What are your future plans and/or goals?

I want to continue research, and hopefully develop antiretrovirals for HIV-1 & HIV-2 enzyme inhibition in the near future! I want to pursue HIV research in my graduate studies and thereafter I hope to gain some experience in the chemistry industry.

In what ways has engaging in undergraduate research impacted your future goals and plans?

By having a graduate student who encouraged me to become a better chemist I was able to feel more capable as a researcher, and as a student. Through my lab experience, I was able to begin utilizing the skill sets I had and start to apply my thoughts and ideas in a real-life setting; I have gradually started to give my input on the projects we are working on at the time -the experience made me feel included and that I had something worthwhile to contribute. Overall my involvement in research made the concept of pursuing graduate studies less foreign and attainable.

What contribution(s) will your research make to your field of study?

Our efforts would help find more ways to functionalize fullerenes (soccer-ball-shaped cage molecules) and analyze the limits of endohedral fullerene chemistry. I hope that my contributions can be utilized by others to find more sustainable and longer-lasting methods for our special corner of inorganic chemistry.

What preparation and research experience did you have before applying to your research program?

I was a part of the Balch lab beforehand; where I was working under my previous mentor Lucy Loung on her Gold (I) Luminescent Crystal Polymorphs.

What advice do you have for other undergraduate students seeking research experiences?

First and foremost, be curious and genuine. Always go to office hours and build relationships with your professors & TA's. If you're really interested in their research, brush up on it, and talk about it with them.

What else would you like us to know about you?

One of my hobbies is writing poetry. I was very fortunate to be able to perform a poem at the Orpheum Theatre while in high school, and because I did, I was able to see Hamilton (a Broadway Musical) for free.