LSU Chemistry graduate student receives GEM Fellowship

BATON ROUGE - LSU Chemistry graduate student Lucinda Boyd was named a 2023 GEM Fellow. The National Consortium of Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) connects graduate students to a national network of universities, corporations, and government laboratories, enhancing diversity in the technical workforce and shaping the nation's ability to remain a global leader in innovation.

As part of the GEM Fellowship, Lucinda will participate in a summer internship at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. She will investigate the key metabolomics elements of Rhodosporidium toruloides cultured in lignin-derived aromatic compounds to develop feedstock for jet fuel.

As a graduate student in the Rivas research group, Lucinda designs novel liposomal drug delivery systems for steroidal natural products to be used in breast cancer research, particularly triple negative breast cancer. After earning a PhD, Lucinda plans to pursue an industry career focusing on metabolomics and/or drug discovery.

To learn more about the GEM Fellowship Program, visit their website.