Travel Award to attend the Gordon Research Conference
Thanks to the travel award provided by the GSA, I was able to attend the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on “Bioorganic Chemistry.” The conference was held from June 10 to June 15 at Proctor Academy, Andover, NH. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Gordon Conference on bioorganic chemistry. The conference was focused on medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, chemical biology, chemical proteomics, nucleic acids, biosynthesis, natural products, and carbohydrates. This was the first major conference I attended during my graduate student career, and I was determined to make use of it to improve my research here at Hopkins.
Altogether, there were nine sessions over the five days. Each session was devoted to a specific subject and included three to five talks by experts in the field who presented recent advances in their research. Some of the presenters whose research I found particularly interesting include Dr. Peter Tonge (SUNY-Stony Brook) and Dr. Adrain Whitty (Boston University), who discussed many concepts of drug design. Dr. Craig Crews (Yale University) described the use of small molecules to control intracellular protein levels, and Dr. Samie Jaffrey (Weill Medical College, Cornell University) shared a new concept of RNA-based biosensors that would complement protein biosensor (GFP), although RNA-based biosensors currently have stability issue when used in vivo.
Learning about such diverse bioorganic chemistry topics from these outstanding scientists was an overwhelming and extremely beneficial experience. I was exposed to more cutting-edge research at the two poster sessions held during the intersessions. During this outstanding networking opportunity, I was able to discuss my research with other scientists and learn more details about others’ projects. I presented a poster on “Protein-Small Molecule Conjugates for Therapeutic Development.” Many industry researchers visited my poster. They provided useful feedback, suggested alternative approaches to confirm my findings, and proposed experiments that would help me make progress in my thesis project.
Since only about 150 people attended the conference, it was quite intimate, and most of the scientists seemed to know each other. After every evening session, the lively conversations continued at the bar. During our free time, my friends and I were able to walk along the beautiful campus and to bike around the Andover area. This conference was not only a great scientific adventure but also a fun trip, and I would like to give the GSA my heart-felt thank-you for making it possible for me to attend this GRC conference.
Altogether, there were nine sessions over the five days. Each session was devoted to a specific subject and included three to five talks by experts in the field who presented recent advances in their research. Some of the presenters whose research I found particularly interesting include Dr. Peter Tonge (SUNY-Stony Brook) and Dr. Adrain Whitty (Boston University), who discussed many concepts of drug design. Dr. Craig Crews (Yale University) described the use of small molecules to control intracellular protein levels, and Dr. Samie Jaffrey (Weill Medical College, Cornell University) shared a new concept of RNA-based biosensors that would complement protein biosensor (GFP), although RNA-based biosensors currently have stability issue when used in vivo.
Learning about such diverse bioorganic chemistry topics from these outstanding scientists was an overwhelming and extremely beneficial experience. I was exposed to more cutting-edge research at the two poster sessions held during the intersessions. During this outstanding networking opportunity, I was able to discuss my research with other scientists and learn more details about others’ projects. I presented a poster on “Protein-Small Molecule Conjugates for Therapeutic Development.” Many industry researchers visited my poster. They provided useful feedback, suggested alternative approaches to confirm my findings, and proposed experiments that would help me make progress in my thesis project.
Since only about 150 people attended the conference, it was quite intimate, and most of the scientists seemed to know each other. After every evening session, the lively conversations continued at the bar. During our free time, my friends and I were able to walk along the beautiful campus and to bike around the Andover area. This conference was not only a great scientific adventure but also a fun trip, and I would like to give the GSA my heart-felt thank-you for making it possible for me to attend this GRC conference.