Stephen Purdy ’18 was awarded first place at the 2018 Undergraduate Research Conference by the Purdue College of Pharmacy for his research poster.
Purdy is a recent graduate from the College of Pharmacy. His research focuses on targeted therapies for HER2-positive breast cancer. He worked with Dr. Michael Wendt, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, and Saeed Akhand, a Purdue graduate student, to understand how these cancers develop resistance to certain therapies and how to treat these patients.
“Therapies such as the drug, Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1), have been successful in treating patients with HER2-positive breast cancer,” said Purdy. “However, a significant population of these patients develop drug resistance to this therapy, making the cancer difficult to treat. My research was focused on looking for new therapeutic targets in these resistant cancers.”
Through participating in the Undergraduate Research Conference, Purdy was able to practice his speaking skills and enjoy presenting his research in a stress-free environment. It allowed him to share his work with people outside of his lab, which is something that he doesn’t get to do very often.
“Classwork can teach you science, but working in a lab teaches you how to DO science,” said Purdy. “Doing undergraduate research made me realize that I wanted to make a career out of it. It’s the reason that I am going to graduate school.”
Undergraduate Research Blog 