LATROBE, PA – Seven Saint Vincent College students recently attended the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy’s signature event, Pittcon Conference and Exposition, at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Pittcon is a dynamic, international conference and exposition on laboratory science and is a venue for presenting the latest advances in analytical research.
The students were accompanied on the March 8-11 trip by Dr. I. Mitch Taylor, Chemistry Department chair and an associate professor in the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing at Saint Vincent College.
“Attending Pittcon is a great culminating experience for our SVC chemistry and biochemistry students,” Taylor said. “It allows our students to see that they are part of a global scientific community with a shared common interest of bettering our world based on objective findings and peer-reviewed conclusions.”
Taylor and six Saint Vincent students presented original research during the conference. Additionally, the undergraduates worked as student aides for the conference, which afforded them an opportunity to interact with professional scientists from around the world.
“Every year, I am excited and motivated by the positive feedback that our students provide about their Pittcon experience,” Taylor said. “Students are surprised with how much ‘high-level science’ that they understand and how well received their independent research is by conference attendees. It serves as an eye-opening realization for our students of how well our SVC curriculum is preparing them for life after graduation.”
One of the highlights of the conference was the keynote speaker, Dr. Francis Arnold, an American chemical engineer and Nobel Laureate. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018 for pioneering the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes.
“Dr. Arnold, a western Pennsylvania native, spent a great deal of time with our students and was kind enough to pose for a photo,” Taylor said.
Taylor was accompanied by Boyer School students Kate Bollinger, a junior biochemistry major from Mentor, Ohio; Sloane Condo, a senior biochemistry major from Altoona; Elizabeth Dacanay, a senior biochemistry major from Beaver; Brooke Garman, a senior biochemistry and mathematics double major from Bloomsburg; Skyler Olp, a senior chemistry education major from Marion Center; Rebecca Slate, a senior biochemistry major from Boswell; and Olivia Yancy, a junior biology major from Kittanning.
The following presented original research during the conference:
Bollinger: “Enhanced Radiosensitization of Medulloblastoma Cells by CDDO-2P-Im Relative to Omaveloxolone”
Condo: “Synthesis and Optimization of Quinoline Intermediates Toward Selective HOCl Fluorescent Probes”
Dacanay: “Optimizing Prozac Analog Encapsulation and Efficiency in Hybrid Nanoparticles”
Garman: “Synergy Between Silver Nanoparticles and Either Ampicillin or Streptomycin Against E. coli and S. aureus”
Olp: “Evaluation of Photocatalytic Activity in TiO₂, Bi₂MoO₆, and TiO₂–Bi₂MoO₆ Heterostructures”
Slate: “Penicillium Expansum Growth and Patulin Concentration in the Presence of Essential Oils”
Taylor: “Development of Bread-derived Carbon Electrodes for Electrochemical Detection”
Next year’s Pittcon Conference and Exposition is scheduled for April 24-28, 2027, in Pittsburgh.
