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Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my advisor, Dr. Yan Zhang, for his guidance and teaching from the first day I was accepted in to the Department of Medicinal Chemistry until now. I would also like to thank him for providing me with generous financial support. My day to day experiences in the lab could not have been successful without the help from Dr. Guo Li whose patience is endless. I would also like to thank Dr. Joy Ware in the Department of Pathology for the opportunity to work in her lab and gain valuable experience outside an organic chemistry lab and Amanda Richardson for her infinite help with cell culture as well as for always letting me talk about my mutts. I would like to thank the other members of Dr. Yan Zhang’s lab, past and present, for helping me learn more about organic chemistry and teamwork. To my friends, I would like to extend my gratitude for giving me friendship, support, and laughter. Thank you Genevieve, for always being willing to take a break. I am especially grateful to Nolan, for sitting through practices of seminars and listening to every detail about my day, and loving me anyway. I would like to thank my family for tolerating my extended stay in Virginia, for buying many plane tickets, and all their love and support. I would especially like to thank m