Ouachita Stories

Abby Brumley, a senior at Ouachita Baptist University, received the second place award in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the 7th annual Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) awards in Fayetteville, Ark., on Nov. 8. 120 undergraduates from universities throughout Arkansas competed.

Brumley’s presentation was titled “Investigating the Molecular Dynamics of Oxidative Metabolism of 4-nitroanisole with CYP2E1.” A chemistry major from Arkadelphia, Ark., she conducted her research during the summer while enrolled in the Patterson Summer Research Program at OBU.

“Abby possesses an unmatched work ethic and her well-deserved recognition speaks for itself,” said Dr. Marty Perry, associate professor of chemistry at OBU.  “She was surprised and honored to be awarded.”

She was required to work 400 hours in the summer program and to make an oral presentation on the project at the end of the summer. She not only presented her project at INBRE, but also at the 64th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society held in Little Rock.

Brumley’s work was completed in collaboration with Dr. Grover Miller in the biochemistry department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and under the mentorship of Perry.

“I presented the problem to her, introduced the various resources and turned her loose,” Perry said. “We would discuss problems as they arose as well as results as they were generated.”

Brumley is a participant in Ouachita's Carl Goodson Honors Program and is the current Ben M. Elrod Scholar. She plans to attend medical school upon graduation and pursue a career as an ophthalmologist.

by Rebecca Rambin