When Professor Scott Eagon introduces himself to new people, he sometimes jokes he never thought he would spend his career making drugs. Eagon initially focused on becoming a pediatrician, but he later realized he was more interested in curing disease than treating patients.
“Both are important, of course,” Eagon said. “But [curing diseases] got me into chemistry.”
During his postdoctoral studies at San Francisco State University, Eagon studied under a scientist researching malaria.
“Malaria is the number one killer of children under five,” Eagon said. “So it was like ‘Here’s something that can marry chemistry, my love of pediatrics and treating disease.’” Around the world, a child under five dies of malaria nearly every minute, according to U.N. data.
For the past 20 years, Eagon has researched cures for cancer and leishmaniasis, a type of flesh-eating parasite from South America. Since joining Cal Poly’s chemistry and biochemistry departments in 2014, Eagon has led research groups for undergraduate students interested in pharmaceuticals.
Students in Eagon’s group are given hands-on learning experience in the lab, and many of these opportunities have led to new discoveries. Some of the more memorable moments have resulted from accidents. Eagon remembers a time where he told a student to run a reaction with a metal called palladium. The student accidentally used silver instead, producing a reaction that had not been documented before.
“It was all the students, they did all the work.” Eagon said. “Most things are discovered by accident. And that was really cool to watch those students figure that out. They published that paper.”
Ishita Patel is a biological sciences senior who has been involved with Eagon’s research since her sophomore year, where she developed an interest in medicinal chemistry after taking Eagon’s organic chemistry I course.
“We are a medicinal chemistry group, which basically means that we make drugs.” Patel said. Specifically, the group is working on creating new treatments for those exposed to ebola and anthrax, a disease caused by bacteria.
After her participation in Eagon’s research group, Patel’s goal is to become a medicinal chemist.
“My decision to pursue a PhD was heavily influenced by my experiences working in the Eagon Lab, as was my decision to pursue medicinal chemistry,” Patel said. “Being able to actually apply the knowledge I learned from chemistry and biology classes in my research helped me discover and cultivate my passion for this field.”
In addition to leading research, Eagon also teaches chemistry courses at Cal Poly including CHEM 110, an introductory course for non-STEM majors. For many students, this course is their first and likely only exposure to college-level chemistry.
Cahlan Kim, a graphic communications junior, is currently enrolled in CHEM 110 with Eagon. Although Kim took chemistry in high school, this class is her first introduction to chemistry at a college level.
“He includes a lot of jokes within his lectures, but also educational facts that relate to real life experiences where we can apply chemistry,” Kim said. “He understands that most of us, if not all of us, are not STEM majors. So he wants to make sure that our understanding of chemistry can be applied outside of class.”
Kim recalls a time when Eagon was teaching his CHEM 110 class about how electrons will always choose to be far apart. Eagon did not demonstrate this by putting it on a slideshow but instead blew up four balloons, tied them together, and threw them onto the table. The balloons pushed away from each other and spread out, allowing the students to understand how electrons behave.
Through both his research and lessons in the classroom, Eagon’s goal is to make chemistry more approachable and applicable to the real world, even for students who are not interested in pursuing a career as a chemist. For those who are, Eagon’s research group provides an opportunity for students to learn-by-doing and make discoveries of their own.