Abha Verma, an Associate Professor of Chemistry and active organic chemist, serves as a Co-Investigator (Co-I) on this project. Her research interests include developing and designing biologically active molecules based on the structure-activity relationships of the ligand protein-receptors interactions. She has been teaching since 2012 and has taught and trained several undergraduates with chemistry skills and techniques, who are now pursuing graduate degrees or professional careers.

She has organized several seminars at XULA where she invites professionals from chemical industries and local businesses to expose XULA undergraduate students who are predominantly underrepresented minorities to internships and job prospects. Dr. Verma was one of the three founding members of the Graduate Chemical Society of University of New Orleans in 2008-09 and revived the Louisiana Section ACS’s Younger Chemists Committee (LSAC-YCC) in 2012-13. She was the chair of the LSAC-YCC for three years before “aging off” and has chaired the Louisiana Section ACS (LS-ACS) for one year, in 2017. For her work in with LSAC-YCC and LS-ACS, the section was awarded the ACS Chemluminary Award in 2014 and then in 2017 respectively.