Our own Dr. Edward Behrman has been named as one of five senior scientists in the United State to be awarded the 2016 Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Senior Scientist Mentor Program Award. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is known as a leading non-profit organization focused on advancing the chemical sciences. The foundation was established in 1946 by chemist, inventor and businessman Camille Dreyfus who dedicated his life to the field.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation supports emeritus faculty, like Dr. Berhman, who maintain active research programs with undergraduates in the chemical sciences. The Senior Scientist Mentor Program provides an award of $20,000 over two years for undergraduate stipends and research support, helping to promote undergraduate researchers.

Behrman is currently a part of an interdisciplinary team alongside microbiologists Brian Ahmer and Kelly Wrighton, and biochemists Venkat Gopalan and Vicki Wysocki. In 2015, their group was awarded a five-year, $2,608,207 NIH grant based off of previous research done by Ahmer, Behrman and colleagues. This research identified a potential way to attack Salmonella by highlighting a unique metabolic pathway inside the bacteria.

 “Each of us work on different approaches,” Behrman says. When asked about what role his lab plays in this research, he expands: “My job is to synthesize the required molecules, which are not commercially available. They are all conjugates between amino acids and sugars. These sugar-amino acid conjugates are known as Amadori rearrangement products, the first of which is fructose-asparagine, a well-known precursor of acrylamide in fried foods. ”

“As the pathway is rare in the microbial world, it offers a window for the development of drugs to kill Salmonella selectively," Behrman says. "The Dreyfus award will support the efforts of undergraduates in my laboratory to carry out these syntheses.”

The impacts of this award for far reaching and help to create a support system for undergraduates hoping to establish themselves in research. “Many emeritus faculty no longer teach courses nor take on graduate students," says Dr. Mark Cardillo, executive director of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. "Their wealth of experience and knowledge, however, makes them a unique and valuable educational resource for undergraduates. This program provides for the development of a relationship where these senior scientists guide the students in perhaps their first research experience to generate new knowledge.” We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Dr. Behrman and his undergraduate team!

Written by: Laura Esposto