I began my research interests as an undergraduate and was drawn to medicinal chemistry because of the opportunity to design and develop compounds to target diseases.

My graduate work focused on the design and development of novel compounds for inflammatory disorders. Because some of the mediators in inflammation are also found in breast cancer, the compounds that I designed and developed were tested for their effect in some breast cancer cells and some were found to be inhibitory. As I continue to synthesize more compounds in this area, I am also interested in the possibility of these compounds having inhibitory activities in prostate cancer cells and other cancer cells as well because of the presence of some of the same mediators. To this day, I continue to design and develop compounds in an effort to explore these effects as well as the possible mechanism by which they are inhibitory. In addition to cancer research, I am also interested in trying to develop agents that would inhibit the growth and formation of uterine fibroids. Prostate cancer and uterine fibroid research are especially interesting to me because African American men and women are disproportionately affected, respectively.

As a graduate student, post doctoral research fellow and now as an assistant professor, I have mentored graduate, undergraduate and high school students in research. Many of these students are on the path to research careers. I enjoy mentoring and am always looking for mentoring opportunities because a great mentor is what led me to research.