Airionna Fordham’s “Effect of the Mobile Phase in the Analysis of Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography” won the Best Poster in STEM Overall Award at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted by Valdosta State University in April.
Fordham said “My research is about finding ways to optimize the HPLC. I chose this topic because I want to work in the chemical industry and find ways improve the field. I found that for the samples we studied in reverse phase chromatography, the more acidic the mobile phase the quicker the samples will elute.”
Fordham’s research was guided by Dr. Linda de la Garza, Associate Professor of Chemistry and VSU Campus Coordinator for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program.
All undergraduate students at VSU were invited to submit proposals for the annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research. Individual academic departments and colleges then selected the University’s best paper, posters, and video research presentations and prize winners. This year’s poster session included more than 100 posters from all areas.
Fordham, 20, is a regular on the Dean’s List and an LSAMP Scholar at VSU. She attended the LSAMP Summit in February and presented her initial results at their poster session. She is also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and is an ACS Scholar.
The LSAMP program was created to provide support to underrepresented minority (URM) students (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders). The goal of this program is to transform the STEM learning environment by significantly increasing the number of URM majors graduating with baccalaureate degrees and applying to graduate programs in the STEM disciplines.
“Since joining the LSAMP Program I have been able to do research that has prepared me for my career in the chemical industry. I have been able to connect with other people in the field of science, and gain research and public speaking experience”. – Airionna Fordham
This summer, Airionna is participating as a Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Scholar in an internship at Trinseo, a sustainable materials industry in Dalton, GA. Airionna anticipates graduating from VSU in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree. Her future plans include attending graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry and to work in the chemical industry.
To learn more about the Undergraduate Research Council at VSU, click here.
To learn more about VSU’s Chemistry Department, click here.
To learn more about the LSAMP program, click here.
To follow LSAMP at VSU on social media, click here.