Navigating Biology, Calculus and Statistics knowledge, I conducted a PBL project with my classmates to investigate how coating materials in cat food may affect cats’ oral health, a less studied topic in the current research field.

We reviewed existing research and found that fats and other chemicals in coatings may contribute to oral diseases such as periodontal disease.

We then conducted online molecular docking simulations using Gibbs free energy as an operational definition of binding effects, and used statistical tests and confidence intervals to analyze the results. We found that animal fats were less likely to cause harmful effects than plant fats, while different coating factors were associated with different health effects.

Based on our findings, I developed an interactive online scale using existing cat health indicators to help cat owners choose suitable cat food and raise awareness of cats’ oral health.