Faculty Mentor of the Week Samuel Awuah College of A&S, Chemistry
Dr. Samuel Awuah is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Awuah's research focuses on innovative drug discovery through computer-aided drug design, genetic editing, and rigorous chemical synthesis of organic and inorganic small molecule probes to interograte human biology processes and disease states towards new therapeutics. His laboratory is pivoted on three overarching themes involving drug discovery, chemical biology, and chemical immunology. In the past year, Dr. Awuah has mentored five undergraduate students.
When asked how mentoring adds value to his life, Dr. Awuah explains, "Working with talented undergraduate students at UK constantly stimulates personal learning as they ask important scientific questions that I would not under normal circumstances think about. They bring great enthusiasm and energy to my research program becuase of their desire to make discoveries." When considering an undergraduate research mentee, Dr. Awuah looks for students who are "passionate about solving problems using science as the vehicle." He also appreciates "traits of persistence and hard work" in his research mentees.
Dr. Samuel Awuah supports and values undergraduate research at UK and notes, "Our future scientific breakthrough lies in training undergraduate researchers." Thank you Dr. Awuah for your continued support and dedication! We are honored to recognize Dr. Samual Awuah as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week!