Dr. Jayalakshmi Sridhar is an associate professor in the chemistry department at Xavier University of Louisiana. She teaches courses in organic chemistry, computational chemistry and a science and public policy course that is focused on science communication to varied audience. As part of her NSF IUSE project, Dr. Sridhar conducts workshop on pedagogical interventions workshop on science communication to the public and oversees the award of mini-grants to faculty at Xavier for the development and implementation of course modules on this subject. She also trains undergraduate students as moderate facilitators for deliberations on science and science policy options. Dr. Sridhar’s scholarly efforts include research in the design and development of organic molecules as therapeutics for debilitating diseases such as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disorders. National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Louisiana Cancer Research Center and Louisiana Biomedical Research Network have awarded her several research grants. She has published 37 papers, 5 patents, 3 book chapters. She has trained more than 40 undergraduate students and 3 high school students in organic synthesis and drug discovery fields.