Brockton Native Nisha Khubchandani Named Stonehill SURE Scholar

2014 Apr 3

Brockton native Nisha Khubchandani, a member of the 2016 at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., will be one of 50 students at the College who will be conducting research with Stonehill faculty this summer through the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program.

Khubchandani will be working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Pamela Lombardi on a project titled "Enantioselective Cu-Catalyzed Allylic Oxidations Using Amino Acid Based Ligands & Synthesis of new Chiral N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands for Catalysis."

Molecules are said to be chiral if they have a non-superimposable image. Reactions to produce these molecules often result in two mirror images, or enantiomers, which can be problematic if the biological activity of one is different the other. Therefore, producing one enantiomer is the preferred objective.

Khubchandani, a chemistry major, will build on her research from last summer’s SURE research by focusing on optimization of the allylic oxidation reaction to determine enantioselectivity and ligand synthesis.They aspire to present their findings at a scientific conference. Khubchandani will as serve as a SURE Leader this summer.

The scholars and their faculty mentors are the 19th group to work under the SURE Program, which provides students with an opportunity to perform significant, publishable research under the guidance of an experienced faculty researcher.

The research experience will help to provide Stonehill students with a competitive advantage in graduate and professional school applications and in post-college employment opportunities, as well as to provide assistance to faculty in research activities.

Stonehill is a selective Catholic college located on a beautiful 384-acre campus in Easton, Massachusetts. With a student-faculty ratio of 13:1, the College engages over 2,500 students in 80+ rigorous academic programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and pre-professional fields. The Stonehill community helps students to develop the knowledge, skills, and character to meet their professional goals and to live lives of purpose and integrity.