COVER FEATURE
WORLD
BY DORA DALTON
School of Pharmacy from around the globe.
USC Brazilian student visitors and their USC student mentors: Lethicia Diniz Guimaraes, USC student mentor Ruowei Liu, Ana Beatriz Cantuaria da Silva, USC student mentor Daniel Freire and Lorena Chaves
BRAZIL Brasil [Portuguese] Several Brazilian pharmacy students came to the School to collaborate with faculty in labs as part of the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program. The prestigious one- to two-year exchange program, funded by the Brazilian government, allows students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields to spend time studying at top U.S. universities. Ana Beatriz Cantuaria da Silva worked in Professor Daryl Davies’ lab, where she assisted with electrophysiological investigations of pharmaceuticals that may be used to treat alcohol abuse. “I was able to learn how to inject DNA/RNA in Xenopus oocytes [frog ova], how the equipment works, how to handle the oocytes
the right way and how to collect the results,” she says. “This experience was essential for the development of my education. I have grown so much, not just as a professional but as a person, too.” Another student in the program, Lethicia Diniz Guimaraes, worked in the lab of Associate Professor Ian Haworth, where she had her first exposure to computational chemistry. “This was a completely different focus from what I’ve done in the past,” she says. “I hope I can continue to explore it.” “At home, I just do theoretical work. Here, I actually did experiments,” says Lorena Chaves, who worked on a biochemistry project with Davies and USC graduate student Daniel Freire. “Once I graduate, my USC experience will influence my pharmacy practice, for sure.”
FALL 2015
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