20 Aug 2015
For over thirty years, SCI has supported and recognised the excellence of early career people, by aiding their studies in the form of an SCI Scholarship.
Since 1985 over 65 scholarships have been awarded which have not only given the recipients financial assistance, but have enabled them to broaden their network and strengthen their skills and knowledge. SCI Scholars receive access to publishing and mentoring opportunities and are given a platform to present their work amongst esteemed scientists and industrialists, thus raising their profile within the scientific community. In the past eight years alone, SCI has generously bequeathed nearly £115,000 of its charitable funds to SCI Scholars and the scientists of the future.
Tanatorn Khotavivattana was awarded an SCI Scholarship in 2014. At the end of their first year, SCI Scholars present an end of year report to SCI. Read on to find out more about what Tanatorn has done in his first year as an SCI Scholar.
‘It has been a year since I have become an SCI Scholar and it has been such a great experience. In the past year, my colleagues and I have developed a novel methodology to introduce fluorine-18 isotope into organic molecules as a radiotracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, a non-invasive imaging technology that can detect pre-symptomatic changes in body tissues, thus assisting disease diagnosis. The technique is also widely utilised in drug development for oncology, cardiology, neurosciences and inflammatory diseases.
‘Due to the challenging nature of the topic, we have encountered many unexpected problems during the work. Nevertheless, together with my colleagues, we managed to complete the project and we were very pleased that the work has been published in the Angewandte Chemie - International Edition Journal with the topic of ‘18F-Labeling of Aryl-SCF3,-OCF3and-OCHF2 with [18F]Fluoride1’. I was very delighted as this is the first paper that I have co-authored. Consequently, I have recently given an oral presentation based on this project in the Chemical Biology Science Meeting within the department of Chemistry, University of Oxford. The presentation has allowed me to act as an SCI Ambassador by featuring the organisation as one of my main sponsors. Moreover, with partial funding from the SCI Scholarship, I am looking forward to giving a poster presentation in the 21st International Symposium on Fluorine Chemistry (ISFC) and the 6th International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies (ISoFT) which will be held in Como, Italy.
‘In addition to the financial support from SCI, I had an opportunity to attend the SCI College of Scholars’ Lunch, a gathering of SCI Scholars and Members from various backgrounds. At this event, we had a chance to exchange our expertise and expand our knowledge. The experiences I acquired have further highlighted the privileges of being an SCI Scholar.’
Tanatorn Khotavivattana, SCI Scholar 2014-2016
1http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201504665/abstract
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