I would like to thank the WIC+ Professional Development Grant for supporting my participation in the Metals in Medicine on Gordon Research Conference in June 2022. With the opportunity of spending five days at Proctor Academy, I learned about the latest research in this field and interacted with many great scientists in the bioinorganic community.
Under the theme of “Metals in Medicine”, the conference focused on improving human health using metal-based drug candidates and consisted of talks and posters spanning from fundamental science to therapeutic application. I learned about the frontiers in this field and got to know about the most recent clinical updates on some promising drug candidates. My abstract for the poster presentation was selected to be a part of the poster preview talks, and I learned how to introduce my work in a three-minute talk to the audience, including my peers at other institutions and some luminaries in this field. During the poster sessions, I had very interesting and insightful discussions, received feedback on my research, and gained inspiration from others. It was very helpful for me to connect with scientists in both academia and industry, who generously shared their experiences in different career paths and gave me much advice on the possibilities of my next steps. I also built friendships with PhD students and postdocs and had a great time talking about our research and life experiences together.
Overall, this conference was a wonderful experience, and I believe that it will be beneficial to my research and life in the future. I am very grateful for the generous support from WIC+ Professional Development Grant that allowed me to participate at this great conference.