VERTICES PREP Program

Sydney McCoy was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised in Powder Springs, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. During her matriculation, she was heavily involved on her college campus serving as Greek Leader in the Greek Life Office and being a mentor for underrepresented students in STEM. She is a Fall 2021 initiate into the Eta Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.  During her undergraduate career, she performed malaria and SARS-COV2 research in the Biochemistry department. She studied the hemotoxicity of novel antimalarials and developed an in-vitro diagnostic assay for SARS-CoV-2 using a neutralizing antibody and an engineered mini protein. With a research interest in pharmacology and drug discovery, she is interested in finding new drug targets and new mechanisms of action for novel therapeutics for major diseases. Sydney plans to pursue a Ph.D in pharmacology or Pharmaceutical Sciences to become a pharmacologist. Outside of science, she likes to collect vinyl records, build Lego architecture sets, and explore new restaurants.