Tymmaa Asaed ’25 sits squarely at the intersection of a chemistry and neuroscience collaboration at 鶹ý.
She works closely with both Elizabeth Glater, professor of neuroscience, and Chuck Taylor, professor of chemistry, who have been teaming up for about a decade. Glater and Taylor’s partnership not only bridges distinct fields but also creates a unique environment where students from both areas can come together.
“Our collaboration is interesting because it brings together tools from our research areas,” says Taylor. “It’s a great opportunity for the students to see scientists from different disciplines collaborating on a project that neither of us could do on our own.”
Glater’s research is interested in the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our gut. The composition of the microbiome has been shown to affect many aspects of physical and mental health. She studies the simpler microbiomes of C. elegans worms specifically, looking at how their food choices affect the composition of their microbiome.
About 10 years ago, while giving a talk at a local symposium, Glater wondered aloud about the chemical cues that attract the worms to certain bacteria.
Someone directed her to Taylor. “I know someone who could do that experiment,” Glater recalls the person saying. “He’s your colleague.”
Since then, Glater and Taylor have published multiple papers together, including one earlier this year with five student co-authors (Asaed, Victor Chai ’23, Tiam Farajzadeh ’23, Sokhna Lo ’25 and Yufei Meng ’25) titled, “”
Students from both labs regularly held joint lab meetings to discuss what they saw from the behavior end and the chemistry side. Glater explains that the neuroscience students noticed that the worms were drawn to three specific species of bacteria while ignoring other species. The chemistry students then shared that those three bacteria species all produced the same chemical.
“The fun part for us was how well the data came together,” says Glater.
Asaed first met Taylor three years ago as a first-year student in the Pomona Scholars of Science program, a cohort for first-generation and low-income students. Taylor was the advisor for the cohort and met with the students each week to help foster a successful transition to college and science classes. Since then, he has remained Asaed’s academic advisor.
After her first year, Taylor invited Asaed to join his lab for summer research, which involved conducting gas chromatography to analyze various odorants. That project contributed to the paper published earlier this year, and Asaed credits this experience, along with Taylor’s mentorship, for setting her on a successful research path.
“Professor Taylor’s lab was dedicated to giving us the most exposure to different instruments, different techniques,” says Asaed. “He took the time to teach us, to help us make mistakes, to help us contribute to his teachings.”
Then, the summer after her sophomore year, Asaed ended up in Glater’s lab and had a similarly beneficial experience.
“Professor Glater is one of the most supportive professors in terms of research and making sure that you’re not only a thorough researcher but that you are confident in your skills and abilities and presenting those,” says Asaed.
Throughout her time at Pomona, Asaed has alternated between majoring in chemistry and neuroscience. Ultimately, she landed on neuroscience but has also completed most of the requirements for a chemistry major.
She sees a lot of benefits to branching out from just one area of science.
“Going from a chemistry lab to a neuroscience lab showed me that chemistry is a part of everything,” she says. “Chemistry is the basis of a lot of science, but neuroscience contextualizes a lot of the chemical findings that we have. You can say that these three chemicals are present in this bacteria. But with the neuroscience lens, you can say what that means with regard to behavior.”