Personal Bio
Adara graduated from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 2021. She conducted undergraduate research synthesizing novel natural products with anti-cancer properties utilizing green chemistry methods. In the fall of 2021, she joined the chemistry Ph.D. program here at NC state under the direction of Dr. Yi Xiao. In her free time, she enjoys roller skating, music, and exploring new places.
Research Summary
Adara’s research focuses on the isolation of new DNA aptamers with high affinity and specificity for a wide variety of small molecule targets (e.g. neurotransmitters, hormones, and illicit substances). She also works to develop colorimetric sensors based on dye displacement assays for the detection of illicit substances. Additionally, she performs aptamer characterization to determine an aptamer’s affinity and specificity utilizing different methods such as enzyme digestion, ITC, and PAGE gel analysis for their implementation in various sensors for real-world applications.
Publications List
- Yu H., Canoura J., Byrd C., Alkhamis O., Bacon A., Yan A., Sullenger B., & Xiao Y. (2025). Improving Aptamer Affinity and Determining Sequence-Activity Relationships via Motif-SELEX. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 9472–9486.
- Jin X., Liu Y.Z., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Bacon A., Xu R.Y., Fu, F.F. & Xiao Y. (2022) Near-infrared dye-aptamer assay for small molecule detection in complex specimens. Anal. Chem. 94, 10082 – 10090.
