Ashley was nominated for the program by two professors in the science department. After completing an essay and landing a face-to-face interview, Ashley was selected to represent Elon. During her internship, Ashley worked 40 hours a week with an organic synthesis chemist, senior scientist Hari Patel. The team conducted structure activity relationship (SAR) analysis on a series of molecules that could act as a potential diabetes treatment.
“Working with GSK has definitely given me industrial chemistry experience which is very different from what you can get in a school setting,” says Black. “I’ve also gained an inside look into what pharmaceutical company’s look like and how they run.”
GSK supports a Women in Science scholarship at Elon, an endowment that the company generously doubled last year. Two students each year receive scholarship support for their studies and are paired with a GSK researcher who serves as a mentor. Ashely’s GSK academic mentor, who also assisted with her summer internship, is senior scientist Melissa Gomez, a specialist in analytical chemistry.
