University of Rhode Island senior Meagan Hamblin knows that Alex and Ani founder and CEO Carolyn Rafaelian isn’t just interested in conveying positive messages through her jewelry. Not after the Rhode Island entrepreneur donated $1 million last fall to the University of Rhode Island to support natural products research, the discovery of plant-based molecules to improve human well-being and other campus initiatives.

“I met Carolyn when she came to visit the lab, and it was clear that she genuinely cares about natural products research and has a few ideas of her own for our research,” said Meagan, a double major in pharmaceutical sciences and biology. “She was also very kind and interested to meet me and see what other students were doing and learning in the lab.”

This gift will expand the scope and quality of the research being done here, which will ultimately benefit undergraduate and graduate students.

The research by Meagan and her student colleagues into the health benefits of berries, plants and other natural products, including marine organisms, will only be enhanced by the company’s generosity. The University has named a research lab in the new state-of-the-art College of Pharmacy building, the Alex and Ani Positive Impact Lab, which is overseen by Pharmacy Professor David Rowley.

Professor Rowley’s research focuses on finding new antibiotics from marine organisms, developing new methods for improving shellfish aquaculture, and gaining a better understanding of how certain natural products like cranberries may treat, prevent or mitigate bacterial infections.

Robert Deering, a doctoral student in pharmaceutical sciences, said natural products research has been vital to advances in the food industry, medicine and overall human health. “While this type of research has been conducted for centuries, modern technology allows us to gain considerable knowledge in old fields of study like natural products,” he said.

“This gift from Alex and Ani will enhance the capability of our laboratory,” said Professor Rowley, who is now working with Ocean Spray to research the beneficial compounds in cranberries. “This will expand the scope and quality of the research being done here, which will ultimately benefit undergraduate and graduate students.”

Meagan and Robert agree and are looking forward to more students like them having greater opportunities to study natural products. “Support of a natural products research lab shows Alex and Ani’s continued faith in nature as the primary resource for advancements in scientific knowledge,” Robert said.