James Beham, CU Denver MS Chemistry Student, stands next to an NMR spectrometer.
CU Denver Chemistry graduate student James Beham has been awarded a scholarship to present his research at the Small Molecules NMR conference, an international conference taking place in Breckenridge, Colorado, this month.
Beham, an MS student in Associate Professor Liliya Vugmeyster’s laboratory, will present “Investigating the Binding Between Amyloid-Beta Variants and Tricyclic Antidepressants Using NMR Techniques.” His work adds new evidence to a growing area of Alzheimer’s disease research: how small molecules may interact with amyloid-beta, a key protein implicated in the disease.
A Real-World Research Opportunity, Backed by Collaboration
This scholarship recognizes the impact of Beham’s contributions and supports him in sharing his findings with an international community of NMR scientists and researchers.
The project is a collaboration between CU Denver Chemistry and Professor Noah Johnson at the CU Anschutz Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center. Together, the teams are investigating interactions between imipramine, a well-known tricyclic antidepressant, and amyloid-beta.
In the Vugmeyster lab, Beham played a leading role in conducting NMR experiments that provided clear evidence of imipramine binding to amyloid-beta. Those results help strengthen scientific understanding of how small molecules can engage amyloid-beta, a line of research that may inform future drug development strategies.
Impact on Students and the Broader Community
Beham’s scholarship-supported presentation is also a reminder of what CU Denver students do every day: learn by doing, collaborate across institutions, and contribute to work that matters beyond the classroom.