Susan J. Ramos-Hunter

Raised in the wilds of rural Northern California, Susan’s early experiences of trekking through the woods defined her love of nature and science. Pursuing her undergraduate education on the west coast (best coast), Susan graduated with a B.S. from Southern Oregon University before earning her M.A. in Chemistry at Fisk University. She then joined the Department of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2012. Finding her chemical research interests in the Sulikowski laboratory, a collaboration opportunity through the Chemical Biology Interface (CBI) with the Weaver laboratory focused her research in the area of chemical biology. Here she assisted with the design and synthesis of molecular tools for the investigation of potassium ion channels in the brain and found a series of selective GIRK activators and inhibitors. Continuing her journey in both realms of chemistry and biology, Susan hopes to develop a series of enzyme activating fluorescent probes for use in high-throughput screening. On the flip side, Susan enjoys gardening, weight lifting and feeding her two super cute cats gourmet cat food.