Delaney Davis
Graduate Student
About Delaney
Delaney hails from High Point, North Carolina, the so-called “Furniture Capital of the World” and home to the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers. She worked for Dr. Abigail Knight at UNC, using peptoids to probe the sequence-dependent hydrophobic collapse of peptidomimetic polymers (#TeamPeptoid!).
After falling in love with the world of bioinspired materials, Delaney decided to head to UChicago to explore the applications of polymer science in immunology. Trained in both chemistry and anthropology, she’s motivated by the use of science as a creative cultural tool to innovate and improve society.
Two of Delaney's biggest passions in life are hiking and playing in waterfalls, which makes her slightly resentful of Chicago’s topography. As a consolation, you will find her at Promontory Point any time it is above 40°F. She also loves going to ramen restaurants, collecting plants from Trader Joe’s, and watching Nordic Noir crime shows.
Education
BS, Chemistry and Anthropology, German Minor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2021)
Favorite Quote
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
-John Wesley
Scientific Hero
Kathleen Lonsdale–Prison reformer and chemist? Yes please.
Favorite Paper
DNA origami protection and molecular interfacing through engineered sequence-defined peptoids.
Wang, S.-T., Gray, M. A., Xuan, S., Lin, Y., Byrnes, J., Nguyen, A. I., Todorova, N., Stevens, M. M., Bertozzi, C. R., Zuckermann, R. N., Gang, O. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 6339–6348 (2020).
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/12/6339
If you could be a piece of lab equipment, what would you be?
"I’m probably not cool enough to be an LCMS, so DSC.
At least I get the cute little pans."
Delaney's Research
Delaney researches controlled-release polymeric formulations to induce trained immunity in single-dose vaccines.