ChemConvos Henry Powell-Davies and Medina Afandiyeva

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota. Chemist, mom, wife, immigrant, and a metalloenzyme lover. We discuss how she overcame challenges as an international student and young parent, turning them into opportunities to secure funding for her research group and successfully complete her studies.



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Email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com

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In this episode we are joined by Dr. Andryj Borys (@AndryjBorys on Twitter, He/Him/His), Post-Doc in Main-Group/Organometallic Chemistry with the Hevia Group at the University of Bern in Switzerland. A fan of Belgian beer, plants, and fitness, we discuss his journey to date and how he has become well-known as the Schlenk Line expert on all things air sensitive chemistry after publishing his Schlenk Line Survival Guide - link below.

If you have ideas for new podcast topics or would like to be a guest on a future episode, then please reach out to us! 

On Twitter: @ChemConvosPod 

Or email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com

Schlenk Line Survival Guide: https://schlenklinesurvivalguide.com/

In this episode we are exploring the topics of mentoring, grad school life and networking with Stanna Dorn (@stanna_dorn) who is about to finish her final year of PhD in the Brown lab at the Indiana University! Hope you will enjoy the episode! 

If you have ideas for new podcast topics or would like to be a guest on a future episode, then please reach out to us! On Twitter: @ChemConvosPod Or email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com

In the second part of our conversation with Dr LC (DrLCsquare on Twitter), we hear more about his day to day work at Merck and advice for those looking for career in pharma as well as how he has used Twitter to bring people together through the #SocialIsolationSocial that he and Dr. Stuart Cantrill started during the pandemic and his love of food too… If you have ideas for new podcast topics or would like to be a guest on a future episode, then please reach out to us! On Twitter: @ChemConvosPod Or email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com

In the first part of our conversation with Dr LC (DrLCsquare on Twitter), we hear about his role at Merck Pharmaceuticals as the Associate VP Head of the Small Molecule Process R&D Division, his love for all things golf and how a fascination with cooking great tasting and looking dishes led to the creation of a now viral Twitter hashtag… If you have ideas for new podcast topics or would like to be a guest on a future episode, then please reach out to us! On Twitter: @ChemConvosPod Or email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com

In this episode we’re joined by the brilliant Dr Laia Vilà-Nadal (@laiavilanadal on Twitter), a newly appointed lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Glasgow. We hear all about her journey from beginning her undergraduate studies in Spain to becoming a leader of her own research group in 2019. We discuss how the past two years with the pandemic and the shift to hybrid-working has impacted on being an independant PI and also hear her advice for other researchers wishing to pursue a career in academia. Dr. Nadal is an avid supporter of the #WomeninSTEM movement and is an advocate for removing barriers to enabling success in all areas of scientific research.

Her research focusses on computational chemistry in relation to metal oxides & complex mixtures - more information can be found at: http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/wp/lvn-group/

If you have ideas for new podcast topics or would like to be a guest on a future episode, then please reach out to us! 

On Twitter: @ChemConvosPod Or email us: chemconvospod@gmail.com