UMaine valedictorian Bailey West embarking on a journey to make a difference through research
George Harvey
University of Maine valedictorian Bailey West. (Courtesy University of Maine)
ORONO — University of Maine valedictorian Bailey West is impassioned by scientific research. She has been, in fact, since her days as a student at Searsport District High School.
West has been involved in research since high school, first with scientists at the Jackson Laboratory, MDI Biological Laboratory and Maine Medical Center, and then at UMaine with professor Dr. Julie Gosse.
At UMaine, West’s primary research, serving as her honors thesis project, has been in the toxicology lab under the instruction of Dr. Gosse studying an antibacterial chemical known as cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) which is used extensively in personal-care products. Her honors thesis is titled, “Oral-care antimicrobial cetylpyridinium chloride inhibits mast cell function: role of tyrosine phosphorylation cascade.”