New faculty spotlight: Martin Conda Sheridan, Ph.D.

Martin Miguel Conda Sheridan, Ph.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC. Here’s a brief rundown of his background and the expertise he brings to campus.

• Name: Martin Miguel Conda Sheridan, Ph.D.
• Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina
• New title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research/professional interests:
My research focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of small molecules and biomaterials to treat bacterial infections and cancer. Later, I would like to expand to other areas, such as heart diseases. I love to collaborate with other scientists, so if someone has an idea, I am open to expand my current research interests.

How I fell in love with chemistry:
I do not know. I guess it just happened. I attended a high school that focused just in chemistry, so I have been doing this since I was 14.

Teaching activities:
Medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, biomaterials. Of course, I consider my future research group my top teaching activity.

Previous positions:

• Postdoc at Northwestern University

Education:

• Ph.D., Purdue University (medicinal chemistry)
• M.S., University of Utah (organic chemistry with focus in methodology development)
• B.S., Brigham Young University

Honors:

• Cancer Prevention Fellowship, NCI, R25CA128770, Purdue University
• Undergraduate Research Award, Brigham Young University
• Office of Research (ORCA) Award, Brigham Young University
• Finalist with honorary mention (top 10 in the country), Argentinean Olympiad of Chemistry

Four things you don’t know about me:

• My dream was to become a sports journalist. I love sports. However, it was hard for me find a way to help people doing sports journalism, so I chose chemistry.
• I love traveling and eating food from different places.
• My wife is my best friend (together with my mom). When he was alive, my dad was my best friend, and we loved many of the same things, including Star Wars.
• Bonus: I am a Christian and I enjoy going to church and learning about Jesus

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