THE EDGE OF DISCOVERY

One student's discovery could provide valuable insight into treating tuberculosis.

Recently, Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Mel Schriver (PhD, University of New Brunswick) and Samantha McWilliams ’21 (BSc in Biology, Crandall University) published a paper with co-authors from Saint Mary's University titled, "Synthesis and Crystal Structures of Halogenated Oxathiazolones" in the journal Acta Crystallographica C. Their study details the synthesis and structures of new chemical compounds, which is not uncharted territory for the Crandall Science department with Dr. Schriver: “My background before Crandall was in the discovery of new molecules, especially rings of atoms in previously unknown sequences that had very reactive bonds,” explained Schriver. “When I came to Crandall (ABU at the time) in 1996 I looked for an overlooked area in chemistry that no one was developing in the hopes that the chemistry would be simple and safe enough to include in my Organic Chemistry courses. From the student’s perspective they would get to be involved in honest discovery at the edge of known science and learn that research in science is incremental, cooperative, and disciplined. That is why I selected the oxathiazolones back in 1998 for research here in the Science labs at Crandall University.”

Dr. Schriver couldn’t have known in 1998 that oxathiazolones would become the cornerstone to his research relating to tuberculosis, a disease that still kills millions of people worldwide each year. “In 2009, I noticed an uptick in citations forsome of my oxathiazolone research related to the discovery by some large research groups from Cornell, Duke, and Uppsala that the molecules we had been looking at had significant potential for treating tuberculosis. What they had discovered was a keyhole in tuberculosis that would disable the microbe. They were devoting all their significant resources in trying every key they could find to fit the keyhole. The oxathiazolones were fitting in the keyhole correctly but they were all too fragile,” shared Schriver. “At that time, I developed a research collaboration with the Masuda group at Saint Mary's University, where I used to teach, and we began to look at the structure of these systems to see if we could find more structural clues that could give more robust keys.”

This research collaboration became the second publication in the past five years that Dr. Schriver has co-authored with a Crandall Science undergraduate student. The partnership with former student, Samantha, was the result of one of her discoveries in class. “Samantha was part of a group of students in my Organic chemistry class looking at the preparation of a then unknown member of the molecular family that we were exploring. She was the first to realize that not only had we not made what we expected, but that what we did make was amazing and the chemistry had never been reported before,” described Dr. Schriver. “It gave us a window to place halogens like chlorine and bromine in positions where they could function as structural struts that could make the keys more robust.”

When asked how she felt about this collaboration, Samantha – who since graduating in the spring of 2021 has moved to Northern England and completed a MSc in Advanced Biomedical Science with honours at Teesside University and is currently working as a Scientific Journal Manager while searching for a fitting PhD opportunity – shared: “I am happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to my field and hope that our discoveries can be used in future research projects. The library of known oxathiazolones continues to expand and my hope is that one of these chemicals can check all the boxes needed to become a new treatment for tuberculosis. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Mel for many reasons. His talent as an educator and mentor were pivotal in my academic journey, and this work would not have been possible without him. Though my time at Crandall University is complete, the impact that my professors had on me will last forever. I can say without a doubt that the Crandall science faculty have gone above and beyond to prepare me for life after my BSc.”

Although Dr. Schriver expects to retire in the next three years, he still has hopes for the Crandall Science department’s future. “In many ways, the idea that a university our size would have any science degree integrated into a Christian liberal arts education is breathtaking and a heroic commitment by the University. In all my years here, I have known the support of the University for the Science program and if I may dream for those that come after me I would dream that there would continue to be space in the vision for this University that would include a vital, growing Science Department that can speak to the larger internal and external community to say that it is possible to stand on the edge of discovery and see with the eyes of the Creator, if just for a moment.”