Holford summarizes her research interests as moving "from mollusks to medicine" for drug discovery and delivery.[7][8] She and her research team extract
peptides from venomous snails to identify possible treatments for pain and cancer.[9] Her work takes an interdisciplinary approach, leveraging
biochemistry,
genomics,
proteomics,
evolution, and
cell biology to isolate, identify, and characterize novel venomous peptides and devise drug delivery strategies.[10][11] Research projects in her lab takes advantage of inventive tools from chemistry and biology to: (1) investigate the evolution of venom in predatory marine snails, (2) discover disulfide-rich peptides from a venom source, (3) develop high-throughput methods for characterizing structure-function peptide interactions, and (4) deliver novel peptides to their site of action for therapeutic application.[2]
Science diplomacy
Holford was first trained in
science diplomacy as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy fellow at the National Science Foundation.[6][12] Since that time, she has worked on several projects and initiatives to encourage early career scientists to think globally about their research impacts. These efforts include the Hurford Science Diplomacy Initiative, which is a six-week long program taught at
The Rockefeller University by
Jesse H. Ausubel, Rod Nichols, and Dr. Holford.[13][14] She has also worked with the
AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy on their programs to train scientists for global leadership and advocacy.[15]
Her writing on the importance of training young scientists to leverage their expertise to build global connections has been featured in the
World Science Forum and Scientific American.[16][17] She has also written about the role scientists played in re-establishing connections with Cuba in 2015 for Science magazine.[18]
Holford is actively involved in science education and is the co-founder of
KillerSnails.com, a
learning games company supported by the National Science Foundation and the
Small Business Innovation Research Fund.[20][21] They have produced games like Killer Snails: Assassins of the Sea and Biome Builder, which won the International Serious Play Gold Medal.[22] She has also appeared on
The Moth,
Science Friday,
NBC Learn (where she was named a 21st Century Chemist in the NBC Learn
Chemistry Now series), and You're the Expert, speaking about her research expertise and her experiences as a scientist.[23][24][25][26] Holford and her lab have also participated in a NYC based program led by the non-profit organization
Ligo Project called
Art of Science where her and her lab collaborated with NYC based artist
Jackie Lima to
create new works that explore the exchange between two seemingly disparate disciplines and seeks to provide new and unique perspectives on science to the NYC community.[27]