Grant Lai is a Goldwater Scholar Recipient and a DoD SMART Scholar Semi-Finalist. A Regents’ Scholar, double majoring in Chemistry and Biological Sciences, Grant conducts chemical biology research on peptide antibiotics in the Nowick lab. Knowing that antibiotic research is largely ignored by private industry, he is interested in pursuing the synthesis of novel antibiotics, unique modifications, and targeting highly conserved regions in bacteria. A firm believer of learning for the sake understanding, Grant is also the president of the undergraduate Chemistry Club who also enjoys learning Classical Chinese and Latin phrases and has a soft spot for irony and nebulous metaphors. Grant intends on pursuing an MSTP program in chemical biology, a step toward his goal of becoming a professor conducting interdisciplinary research in drug synthesis and translational therapeutics while teaching clinical and chemical science.
Scholarship: Goldwater