ODENSE, Denmark – What was LSU Shreveport undergraduate Ahmed Ghazawneh, who dreams of becoming a physical therapist, doing at an international chemistry conference?
The public health major who took a liking to research in chemical compounds presented a research poster at the International Coordination Chemistry Conference (ICCC) that suggests a new class of antimicrobial compounds could take shape.
Ghazawneh, under the direction of LSUS chemistry assistant professor Dr. Henry Nkabyo, formed and studied the crystalline structures of three halogens -- bromine, chlorine and fluorine.
Of particular interest were how their electron orbits behave, which dictate how well a substance could bind to entities like bacteria or fungi.
“Fluorine had much higher binding energy than the other two, possibly due to its high electronegativity,” Ghazawneh said. “DNA gyrase is an essential bacterial enzyme that assists in replication and transmission, and fluorine (in this stage) binds to the DNA gyrase and could possibly slow bacteria replication and even eliminate it.”
Molecular docking simulations were carried out, which indicated high levels of binding interaction with the ligands of the DNA gyrase.
“The results show that halo-substituted benzoyl thioureas and coordination compounds posses promising binding affinities toward bacterial DNA gyrase, suggesting their potential as lead compounds for the development of novel antimicrobial agents,” Nkabyo said. “A future direction for this research would be to extend the structural and computational methods to experimental evaluation of antimicrobial activity against a broad panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
“Those include Staphylococcus aureus (responsible for human staph infection), Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumonia and meningitis), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (displays resistance to traditional antibiotics) and Escherichia coli (E. coli).”
While that future research will happen without Ghazawneh, a rising senior who will concentrate on finishing his public health degree with a concentration in pre-physical therapy this May, he highly recommends undergraduates participate in research alongside faculty mentors.
“There’s great benefit to set time aside for something outside of your planned career,” said the Captain Shreve High graduate. “I have an opportunity to go into physical therapy, public health or chemistry because of this experience.
“This experience opens my mind to new interventions and studies. I like to branch off and not limit myself to one course, and this has taught me to go above and beyond. I can’t thank (Nkabyo) and LSUS enough for this opportunity, and I encourage any undergraduate to take the chance to present research.”
Ghazawneh became interested in chemistry research after taking Nkabyo’s general chemistry class and lab.
That led to Ghazawneh becoming a research assistant of Nkabyo, resulting in a spot with the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network, which secures grant funding for research at Louisiana colleges.
Nkabyo points out that the research isn’t completely unrelated to Ghazawneh’s career goals.
“Ahmed’s desire to participate in chemistry research stems from his interest and commitment to enhance lab-based skills at the interphase of chemistry and biology,” Nkabyo said. “He was keen on deciphering molecular and chemical processes behind physical therapy.
“I was drawn by his desire to go beyond routine synthesis of compounds. His interest in learning new skills in molecular spectroscopy and computational chemistry was highly commendable for a non-chemistry major student.”
Nkabyo added that the ICCC is a “prestigious global chemistry event” that proves Ghazawneh’s “resourcefulness and productivity to publish rigorous research and communicate effectively on a global stage.”
It also spruces up a resume in a highly competitive physical therapy field where acceptance rates hover around 10 percent.
“It’s a great conversation starter, and it shows that I’m open to different kinds of information and experiences,” Ghazawneh said. “Conducting chemistry research gives you the basics to work with any subject and any course.
“Working in a chemistry lab has taught me so many different things like taking responsibility, organizing myself, time management and broadening my scope.”
