Bursars find inspiration
in California
Reports on the 229th American
Chemical Society national meeting
13-17 March, San Diego, California
 The
229th American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting took
place between 13–17 March in San Diego, California, US.
This is a major scientific event for scientists in the area
of chemistry and biology attended by more than 13 000 scientists,
mainly from the US.
I was very excited to see so many parallel lecture sessions
running, by more than 20 divisions. Each division had it own
parallel lectures and general oral and poster sessions. I
presented my research work in the general oral presentation
session of the Medicinal Chemistry division. I was very pleased
that towards the end of the meeting a research scientist from
one of the pharmaceutical companies approached me for potential
collaboration. I enjoyed the medicinal chemistry poster session
as I met a lot of PhD students working in the area of designing
molecules targeting various sites for cancer therapeutics.
I noticed from this meeting that many pharmaceutical companies
and academia are now targeting various pathways of the kinases
by small molecules or big peptide molecules.
On the other hand, some lectures from other divisions also
attracted me. The lecture by Paul Schimmel, a Professor of
Molecular Biology and Chemistry, was most interesting, especially
his many contributions towards decoding genetic information
and the human genome project.
The conference was well attended by PhD students and scientists
from academia and the pharmaceutical industry. I had the opportunity
to meet quite a few people to discuss my interest in post-doctoral
research in academia. I would like to continue my research
in the area of understanding the causes of prostate cancer
diseases at molecular level. The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) and the National Research Council (NRC) at the exhibition
hall allowed me to find out a bit more information on the
availability of postdoctoral research fellowships for overseas
researchers. The resumé review and mock interview provided
by the ACS career centre provided very useful feedback.
Overall, I found the conference experience to be rewarding
and interesting. I am really grateful to SCI for the contribution
towards my travel to San Diego.
By Messel Fund Bursar Sook Wah Yee
The SCI Messel Fund bursary granted me the fantastic opportunity
to experience a premier scientific event, the 229th American
Chemical Society national meeting in San Diego, US. I am extremely
grateful to SCI for awarding me this bursary, without which
I could not have made the trip. I hope that in the future
more students avail themselves of the wonderful opportunities
that an SCI Messel Fund bursary can offer.
Even though it was an American Chemical Society event, there
was a considerable international contingent, with delegates
from the UK, Japan, China, Korea, India, Israel, Germany and
Hong Kong to name a few. To say the conference was huge would
be a massive understatement; it encompassed 41 divisions covering
every conceivable part of the chemistry spectrum, from agricultural
and food chemistry to small chemical businesses and everything
in between. The division of organic chemistry — the division
I was most interested in from a personal point — ran
parallel lecture sessions with opportunities for over 900
speakers to present their current work. The speakers ranged
from PhD students and post-docs at some of most renowned institutions
to young academics and on to Nobel Laureate Barry Sharpless
from the local Scripps research centre in San Diego. The plenary
and invited lectures were enjoyable and extremely informative,
showing the highest levels of research from groups at the
cutting-edge of current organic chemistry. The simplicity
of some of the research ideas, coupled with the enthusiasm
shown by the speakers, was inspiring.
I also had the opportunity to present my own research at
the poster session. This proved a marvellous opportunity to
present my work to a large and varied international audience.
It also allowed interaction with other researchers, both academical
and industrial. I was elated to see that so many other researchers
showed interest in my work, and were able to offer new ideas
and suggestions as well as being able to take away ideas for
their own work. A number of researchers have contacted me
with further questions and I am pleased to have made new contacts
and have been able to share information and ideas.
This trip has been an excellent learning experience and has
opened my eyes to advances at the cutting-edge of current
organic chemistry research. I have also been able to see the
many career opportunities for chemists, not just in the US
but further afield. While in San Diego I was able to attend
some of the many professional development workshops and seminars
arranged by the ACS, which included helping foreign scientists
obtain a job in the US.
Overall, my visit to the 229th ACS national meeting was an
incredible experience, which has enabled me to return to my
research at Queen’s University Belfast with renewed vigour.
By Messel Fund Bursar Andrew Walker
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