\u201cOur goal is to spread awareness about how these things affect your brain and your body,\u201d says Shah. \u201cI came into it asking, \u2018How can I have my organic chemistry students, who are trained to understand molecules, help people understand how these chemicals affect them in the real world?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For students \u2014 many of whom plan to pursue careers in health care fields \u2014 the project offers a chance to practice explaining complex scientific ideas to a broad audience while learning how chemistry can shape public health conversations in their own community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love hands-on learning, but I didn\u2019t expect to love this project as much as I did,\u201d says Josiah Mansfield<\/strong>, a nondegree student who took the course to complete prerequisites for dental school. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much I loved the research until I was in it, and I learned I would love to do more of it in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Shah says she first began incorporating service learning into her introductory organic chemistry courses during the 2016-17 academic year. Working with the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition, students in her classes created outreach materials on health-related topics for community audiences.<\/p>\n After becoming a service-learning fellow through the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning<\/a> in 2024, Shah adapted that model for her more advanced organic chemistry lab course and looked for a partner with a direct connection to the UConn community, eventually establishing a partnership with SHaW.<\/p>\n Because students in the lab course have either completed or are concurrently taking related biology coursework, Shah says they are better prepared to connect chemistry to broader questions about health and the body.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you say this drug molecule is working this way in the body, that\u2019s not organic chemistry alone. It\u2019s organic chemistry with biochemistry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n For SHaW, the course has become a way not only to create outreach materials, but also to engage students in conversations about health through peer-to-peer education.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the chemistry background, the students are not just seeing the clinical manifestation, they\u2019re seeing the impact at the molecular level,\u201d says Dax Sousa \u201916 (CLAS), \u201917 (NUR)<\/strong><\/a>, a regional nurse navigator at UConn Hartford, who advised the projects.<\/p>\n As part of SHaW\u2019s Regional Nurse Navigators Program, Sousa provides nursing education, triages immediate concerns, and helps students navigate the health care system. He says he drew on his current work with students, along with his previous experience in pediatrics and training in psychology, to identify issues most relevant to undergraduates.<\/p>\n In spring 2025, course projects focused on cannabis use and its effects on the body. In spring 2026, Sousa suggested several additional topics, including some with less established research.<\/p>\n \u201cVaping is newer, we don\u2019t have all the same data as cigarette use and long-term impact on health. I thought it would be good for students to learn about how it can impact their well-being,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Students selected their topics and developed brochures and presentations, while Sousa served as a liaison to ensure the materials were clinically accurate. The resulting materials are now used at UConn Hartford and are available to nurse navigators at other campuses.<\/p>\n Students also presented their topics to peers at an event on April 22, drawing dozens of attendees.<\/p>\n \u201cI overheard a lot of insightful conversations peer to peer about these particular issues,\u201d says Sousa. \u201cI think there\u2019s a power in having that dialogue between students rather than from health care provider to student.\u201d<\/p>\n For students, the project offered a chance to use chemistry in a way that felt immediate and personal.<\/p>\n Rayan Al Dulaimi \u201928 (CLAS)<\/strong>, a molecular and cell biology major, focused her project on e-cigarettes and vaping products and their effects on physical and mental health. She chose the topic because she saw how common vaping had become among young people and wanted to better understand the risks.<\/p>\n \u201cAs kids you hear all sorts of things about how bad smoking is, so I wanted to research and present to my peers to see if it changes their view of what happens to them,\u201d Al Dulaimi says.<\/p>\n Her research examined different products, the contents of vape liquid, and how vaping and cigarettes affect the heart, lungs, brain, and other organs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think that something that people inhale would be so bad for you,\u201d she says. \u201cThe number of metals I found in vapes, like nickel and lead, is something many people don\u2019t even know about.\u201d<\/p>\n The course also attracts post-baccalaureate students completing prerequisite coursework for medical or dental school.<\/p>\n Mansfield, who previously graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a degree in community health education, chose to study Adderall misuse among people who are not prescribed the medication.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of students are looking for ways to perform better on exams and boost their cognitive function,\u201d he says. \u201cLooking at the performance of people who took it on exams versus people who didn\u2019t, I found that even though Adderall is a heavily abused drug, there are no perceived benefits from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mansfield\u2019s research also examined negative side effects, including anxiety, memory problems, and depression during withdrawal, which he says drew strong interest from students during his presentation.<\/p>\n \u201cI approached it not from the idea of, \u2018I\u2019m going to convince you that you shouldn\u2019t take drugs.\u2019 I approached it from, \u2018I\u2019m going to try to convince you not to take this drug because it doesn\u2019t actually help you in any way,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Nathan Miller \u201924 (BUS)<\/strong>, who majored in marketing and an individualized major in humane technology design, brought another perspective to the course, having previously conducted research on social media. He is currently a research fellow in diagnostic radiology at UConn Health and enrolled in the lab as a prerequisite for medical school.<\/p>\nConnecting Chemistry to Student Well-Being<\/h2>\n
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Putting Concepts into Practice<\/h2>\n
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