Dr. Mahesh Peddibhotla is mentoring Nicole Hew, a Pharm.D. candidate in the class of 2025 (Gainesville Campus) towards completion of the Research Elective Course, Spring 2023. Nicole is assisting Dr. Peddibhotla in the lead optimization of chemokine receptor CXCR6 antagonists for preclinical studies aimed at overcoming chemo-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nicole had no previous research experience and is learning synthesis and medicinal chemistry-based optimization of small molecules under the guidance of Dr. Peddibhotla.