Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Morgan Deacon

First-year Georgetown medical student Morgan Deacon got her start as a freshman in Dr. YuYe Tong’s lab, where she learned what cutting-edge science research was like.

“I helped develop a procedure to synthesize a ligand, dioctyldiselenide. This ligand is used in the synthesis of alkanechalcogenol-protected metal nanoparticles. Previously it has been hard to obtain or synthesize, but our synthesis is easy and fast, making the ligand more obtainable. The procedure was published in Synlett. The electrochemical properties of these metal nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by the lab were then studied, for the NPs could potentially be good precursors for molecular electronics,” says Deacon. “I also started developing the synthesis of a similar ligand using a larger chalcogen, tellurium, but was unable to develop a very efficient procedure before I graduated.”

Dr. Tong’s lab gave Deacon very good sense of the process: the research, the trial and error, and the analysis. This fundamental knowledge about how to conduct studies will be beneficial to her throughout her life in the sciences.

“My favorite thing was getting results and feeling like I accomplished something. I found it really exciting to be making something new that no one had ever made before,” she says. “Dr. Tong always gave me so much responsibility, which was great. It was because of him that I was published, which I felt was a great accomplishment for an undergraduate.”

In addition to being published, Deacon, originally from New Hope, Pennsylvania, was awarded the GUROP fellowship and the John Taylor Adams fellowship. She also received a research award from the Chemical Society of Washington and the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award from the department.

Although the medical school courseload is demanding, Deacon looks forward to being a great doctor. She also enjoys cooking.

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