Goldwater Scholars Conduct Research in Japan
Posted on August 25, 2026
Mary Helene Marmande and Bailey Baxter joined Dr. David Forbes, professor of chemistry, in Nagoya this summer. Marmande, a chemistry major, and Baxter, an Honors College student and double major in biomedical sciences and chemistry, are Goldwater Scholars. They have discovered five different ways to attach a compound called norcantharidin to gold nanoparticles. Their research will advance work in studying tumor cells, and how they travel throughout the body.
"We are now positioned to extend this concept to drug transport and imaging," explained Dr. Forbes, "which became the focus of my sabbatical at the Institute of Transformative BioMolecules (ITbM) at Nagoya University in Japan. The research group we joined is internationally recognized for its work in the design and synthesis of gold complexes and nanoparticles."
The group's research approach is to covalently attach a gold complex to norcantharidin, their established scaffold for therapeutic development. Because gold nanoparticles are known to accumulate in tumor cells, this strategy offers the potential to combine our advances in norcantharidin design with the unique properties of gold as a delivery and imaging platform.
Dr. Forbes added, "This work was the central focus of my sabbatical and provided an exceptional opportunity for Bailey and Mary Helene to contribute to a new area of research." Marmande's and Baxter's work in gold-complex formation and characterization will form an integral part of their Honors Senior Projects and theses.
This was far more than a productive research experience. Working at ITbM gave Dr. Forbes, Marmande and Baxter the opportunity to collaborate with an internationally recognized research team, immerse themselves in a different scientific culture and experience Japan in ways that would not have been possible through a traditional research visit.
