Abstract 1350 Drugs sell: And other lessons learned in the development of novel therapeutics with undergraduates

Running a research lab exclusively of undergraduates comes with a unique set of rewards and challenges. In other contexts, research decisions might be driven by scientific concerns or return on investment, but in an exclusively undergraduate lab the drivers of research decisions are often quite different. Ultimately, the metrics for success for undergraduate research may be fundamentally different as well. As a result, successful research with undergraduates involves a delicate interplay between the demands of the research project itself and student-centered concerns such as desired outcome, skill level, schedule, and safety. Therefore, the choice of a research project plays an outsized role in the probability of success for an undergraduate research program. This talk aims to provide insight into some of the opportunities and pitfalls of research with undergraduates, using real-world examples of success, and a bit of failure, from 15 years of mentoring undergraduate research in drug design. Come for the tips and tricks for building a burgeoning research program, stay for the photopharmacology and directed evolution. Funding for this work was generously provided by NSF-ROA and the ASBMB Summer research grant, as well as Albion College Foundation for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (FURSCA), Faculty Development Committee, and the Scholarship Assistant Program.