Conference Description:

The National Organic Chemistry Symposium highlights the most recent discoveries and important developments in organic chemistry. At this conference, the Roger Adams Award is given to an outstanding organic chemist. This year the awardee was Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD, who also gave a lecture on her research and contributions in the development of biorthogonal chemistry. 

The five-day symposium had lectures from academic institutes and industrial affiliates on diverse topics, including total synthesis, transition metal catalysis, biologically driven method development, organic synthesis methodologies, etc. The variety in lecture topics provided an opportunity to further expand in my own area of expertise as well as explore new areas of research. This year the Organic Process, Research & Development (OPRD) Outstanding Publication Award was presented to acknowledge a significant advancement in process chemistry. The team at Bristol Myers Squibb, with Jason Stevens presenting their efforts, were the awardee. Besides the lectures, each day also included either industry sessions, undergraduate sessions, faculty workshops, or a social outing event. I participated in the industry sessions and the social outing to the Indiana Dunes National Park. 

The poster sessions were in the evening and presenters were a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and principal investigators at primarily undergraduate institutions. I had the opportunity to present a poster on research from my postdoctoral work as well as participate in all the poster sessions, which was informative and beneficial in research discussions as well as networking events. 


How will attending this conference add to your professional and scientific training? 

The 48th National Organic Chemistry Symposium (NOS) 2023 was highly beneficial for my professional and personal growth. I was encouraged to see the diversity in speakers as well as in participants. On a personal level, it was inspiring to see Professor Carolyn Bertozzi present her research as the first woman to receive the Roger Adams Award. For my professional development, the NOS provided me with the opportunity to meet with younger students, 

other postdoctoral researchers, experienced scientists from industry, and academic faculty members to discuss research as well as learn about their career paths. This was informative to me at this point in my research career as I am still pursuing both avenues. 

At the conference I presented a poster on research that I conducted recently as a postdoctoral fellow in the Engle Lab. The discussion with other researchers was fruitful and gave me a few ideas on how to proceed with the project in terms of expanding the substrate scope of the reaction and the mechanistic studies. The poster sessions were productive sessions for me personally as well because I strive to be more verbal and ask more questions. I was exposed to a variety of organic chemistry, and it was beneficial for my own understanding of chemistry to discuss the scientist’s research findings. Furthermore, it provided a good forum to introduce myself to both researchers in industry to learn about their workflow as well as professors at academic institutions to hear about their research journeys and their experiences in mentoring students.