Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Danielle Orozco-Nunnelly
College
College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
Discipline(s)
Biology, Chemistry
ORCID Identifier(s)
0000-0003-3381-0504, 0000-0002-6100-4633
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-24-2025
Abstract
Infectious diseases are cited as one of the main causes of death worldwide. Many drugs to treat such illnesses were discovered in the mid-1900s, but this type of research has declined in recent years. At the same time, antimicrobial-resistant “superbug” infections are on the rise, including superbug biofilms present in the oral cavity, which are responsible for diseases such as tooth decay, gum disease, and implant failure. Therefore, I have been working to explore various plants from a medicinal garden on the Valparaiso University campus to screen extracts against common disease-causing oral bacteria with the goal of discovering novel compounds to fight these illnesses. Several of these extracts have shown promising antimicrobial effects specifically against Gram-positive bacteria, and the results will be presented in this poster. Future work will focus on separating several promising extracts using column chromatography to identify novel plant compounds relevant in dental health. This is a self-proposed project that I have received internal funding to work on via a CWR Guild Undergraduate Research Expense grant from my institution. I am very excited about this work due to my ambition to attend dental school.
Recommended Citation
Serrano, Daileen; Yehyawi, Jenna; Orozco-Nunnelly, Danielle; and Pruet, Jeffrey, "Discovering New Plant-Based Compounds To Treat Oral Diseases: An Independent Research Project" (2025). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1357.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1357
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Daileen Serrano pre-dental undergraduate student majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. After graduating in May of 2026, my future goals are to attend dental school. I became interested in the topic in order to come up with new ways to prevent oral diseases. I received a CWR Guild Undergraduate Research Expense grant to complete my research.
Jenna Yehyawi has also assisted with this research project. Jenna Yehyawi will graduate with her B.S. degree (Chemistry major, Biology minor) in May of 2025 and plans to go to dental school after graduation. She hopes to further continue research in the healthcare field post-graduation.