Why do people apply to become a postdoc after their Ph.D. degree, how do people secure a postdoc position, and what would the interviewer focuses on when recruiting a postdoc?

Event organised by the China Dragon Forum, KDSA, KCLSU. 

Speakers

Aishwarya Mishra is a Research Associate at KCL in Cell Tracking. He graduated from University of Mumbai in chemistry followed by a PhD at CDT in Medical Imaging based at King’s College London and Imperial College London. His interests include chemical synthesis, nanomedicines, drug delivery, gallium radiochemistry and preclinical validation. He has a keen interest in public and school engagement and has helped organise major science festivals including the Great Exhibition Road Festival. He has held key team positions in the European Society of Molecular Imaging (ESMI) and Controlled Release Society (CRS).

Dr Michelle Ma focuses on engineering metal binding sites into peptides or proteins, through incorporation of a synthetic chelating group or selection of amino acids with affinity for a specific transition metal. I am particularly interested in synthesising and testing new bifunctional chelators that firstly, allow for simple attachment of the chelator to biomolecules such as peptides, proteins, nanoparticles and other targeting vectors, and secondly, allow for coordination of radioactive metal isotopes (including 68Ga, 99mTc, 64Cu, 213Bi, 89Zr, 52Mn and 188Re) that are used in diagnostic imaging or radiotherapy.

George Keeling is a medical imaging scientist working in the Biomedical Engineering department at King’s College London. I began my studies at the University of Hull, where I completed an integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in Chemistry with Molecular Medicine. After doing a few medical imaging projects during my final 2 years, I joined the King’s CDT in medical imaging and completed an MRes and PhD in the department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, in which I developed new gallium-68 conjugates for medical imaging of various diseases, I finished in 2021. I was awarded a 1-year fellowship to investigate the fate of inhaled particulate pollution. Following this, I joined the department of Biomedical Engineering developing probes for use with various modalities for clinical translation.

Hannah Greenwood completed her BSc (Hons) in Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of Liverpool before completing a Masters in Biological Sciences. Hannah completed her PhD at University College London in Molecular Imaging under the supervision of Dr Tim Witney investigating the use of positron emission tomography for the non-invasive imaging of drug resistance in cancer. In 2020 Hannah was awarded a Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering postdoctoral fellowship at King’s College London where she continued her work imaging drug resistance in Dr Tim Witney’s lab.

Peter Gawne is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London. He received his Masters in Chemistry from the University of Hull, before joining the Medical Imaging CDT at King’s College London (KCL) and Imperial College London in 2015; obtaining a Masters of Research in Medical Imaging Sciences. This was followed by his PhD in Radiochemistry at KCL, under the supervision of Dr Rafael T. M. de Rosales. He subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the same group focusing on the radiolabeling and imaging of cells and nanomedicines. Following this, he worked as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Prof. Paolo Decuzzi at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genova, Italy – working on the radiolabeling and PET/MRI imaging of microparticle-based drug delivery systems. His current role is focused on the development of immunoPET and radioimmunotherapy agents for the imaging/therapy of Neuroblastoma.