Chemistry Students Awarded Beckman Scholarships

Three students from the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Chemistry were awarded Beckman Scholarships. Recent graduates Payton Downey, Brian Hu and Mackenzie Riley became Beckman Scholars during their time at Carnegie Mellon, allowing them to focus on research during their junior and senior years.

The scholarships are awarded by the Arnold & Mable Beckman Foundation to support undergraduate students studying chemistry or biological sciences and conducting research. They provide funding for 15 months of research, which allows students to continue their work over the summers.

"Undergraduate research has been a defining part of the experience of CMU chemistry majors literally for decades," said Karen Stump, teaching professor of chemistry. "It has guided the development of our outstanding academic laboratory courses and informed generations of students in their search for a postgraduate path. The Beckman program provides critical support to them not only financially but also via mentoring and professional development opportunities."

Payton Downey

Downey conducted research with Stefan Bernhard, professor of chemistry, to investigate the fluorescence of chemical compounds.

When light is emitted, it is polarized to rotate to the left or the right. In most light sources, like a lamp, the rotation cancels out. However, certain chemicals known as chiral luminophores can polarize the light depending on the orientation of their functional groups, which are parts of any chemical that give a chemical its specialized form and function. Downey investigated chiral luminophores to see why they polarized light.

Downey will attend the Max Planck Institute in Dresden in 2024 so they can pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry. They said they hope to continue to investigate questions in inorganic chemistry.

Brian Hu

Hu conducted research with Krzystof Matyjaszewski, J. C. Warner Professor of Natural Science, into the creation of polymers, substances composed of repeating subunits. Polymers include both natural substances, like DNA and silk, and synthetic substances, like nylon and epoxy.

As part of the Matyjaszewski lab, Hu investigated ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). During ROMP, chemists increase the length of a chain by opening chemical ring structures through olefin metathesis, an organic reaction that redistributes functional groups then reforms bonds between carbon atoms. With other members of the Matyjaszewski lab, he helped create a range of new polymers.

Hu plans to go into industry. He said he hopes to blend his passion for research with creative problem solving and business.

Mackenzie Riley

Riley conducted research as a member of the Armitage lab, where she investigated DNA configurations known as G-quadruplexes.

G-quadruplex structures are an orientation of DNA outside of the standard double helix chromosome structure. In a G-quadruplex structure, four guanines, one of the four DNA base pairs, pair together. Riley created a variant of a molecule known as a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) that selectively binds to damaged quadruplexes. This PNA could be used in the future to find damaged quadruplexes, which commonly occur in gene promoter regions.

In fall 2024, Riley will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry. She said she looks forward to making a difference in the field of biological chemistry.