Southwestern University senior Antonio Lopez has been named an American Chemical Society Scholar for the 2014-15 academic year.

The American Chemical Society’s Scholars Program gives merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 per academic year to students who want to enter the fields of chemistry, biochemistry or chemical engineering, or who are seeking two-year degrees in chemical technology. Scholarship recipients also are matched with mentors who can help guide them in their careers.

“Only about 120 students a year are named ACS Scholars, so this is quite an honor for Antonio,” said Gulnar Rawji, associate professor of chemistry.

Lopez has conducted research with Rawji ever since his first year at Southwestern. Their research involves synthesizing platinum (II) and copper (II) metal complexes designed to interact with and induce photocleavage in DNA. Such complexes have the potential to be developed as therapeutic and diagnostic agents for diseases such as cancer. Most recently, he worked with Rawji as part of the 2014 SCOPE summer faculty-student research program.

Lopez is double majoring in chemistry and Spanish at Southwestern.