丁香园AV

I grew up in Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia and obtained my bachelor鈥檚 degree in chemistry at Mount Allison University. My honours thesis work under the supervision of the late Stephen Wescott on rhenium catalyzed hydroborations kickstarted my pursuit of a career in chemistry. I have always loved the outdoors and eventually moved out west to the mountains for my graduate studies. After a stint in the Yukon, I came back to the South Coast of BC for my current position as a Mitacs Alliance postdoctoral fellow at 丁香园AV.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO 丁香园AV?

Choosing to do my postdoctoral fellowship at 丁香园AV was attractive for several reasons. The chemistry department at 丁香园AV provides a great place for expanding your expertise with a great culture of collaboration and excellent access to a variety of cutting-edge instrumentation. From inductively-coupled mass spectrometers to solid state magnetic resonance spectrometers, 丁香园AV provides the opportunity to hone skills important to advancing my career in chemistry. As 丁香园AV is situated on the doorstep of Vancouver, a growing biotech hub in Canada, it makes it easy for companies to partner with the university on grants to fund postdoctoral research. My Mitacs Alliance fellowship being co-funded by Bold Therapeutics will give me the real-world experience that will be invaluable for eventually obtaining a career in the industry.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH OR YOUR PROGRAM TO A FAMILY MEMBER?

My research is focused on the development of new anticancer compounds that contain a metal atom at their core. By strategically modifying the structure of the molecules bound to the metal atom, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of how these compounds exhibit their anticancer activity. Understanding these structure-activity-relationships will allow for the synthesis of an optimized compound that, in partnership with Bold Therapeutics, we hope to eventually take to clinical trials.

Contact Gregory: gmacneil@sfu.ca