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2019 COHORT
Daniya Aynetdinova
Wolfson College
Daniya is the recipient of a University of Oxford's Clarendon Scholarship. Born in Moscow, Russia, Dana moved to UK for her A-levels in Bromsgrove followed by an MChem degree at the University of Oxford. She did two summer internships at Imperial College London working in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry areas. After her third year, Dana did an internship in AstraZeneca in synthetic oncology chemistry. For her final year Part II project, she worked in Prof Tim Donohoe's group towards the Total Synthesis of (+)-Lophotoxin. Dana really enjoys working in the lab and performing interesting synthetic reactions! Outside Chemistry she enjoys travelling, spending time with friends and cooking.
Alistair Boyd
Wadham College
Alistair is the recipient of the Derek Calam-SBM CDT Graduate Scholarship 2019. Born in Hertfordshire, Alistair moved to Kent at an early age and then to Gothenburg in Sweden. He completed a four year MChem with first class honours from the University of York. During his final year, Alistair conducted an analytical chemistry placement at Bristol-Myers Squibb, investigating low level impurity quantification in pharmaceutical intermediates using vibrational spectroscopy. His research interests include the use of enzymes as catalysts for organic synthesis, the total synthesis of natural products and in the discovery and the design of chemical probes. Outside of the lab Alistair enjoys cooking, travelling, skiing and reading fantasy novels.
Mia Callens
Balliol College
Mia is the recipient of the Oxford-RE Jones Scholarship 2019. She recently graduated from the University of Leeds and was awarded the Craig Jordan Medicinal Chemistry Prize for the best performance on the MChem Medicinal Chemistry programme. Mia completed her MChem project under the supervision of Prof. Adam Nelson, using activity-directed synthesis in the discovery of novel kinase inhibitors. As part of her degree, Mia also spent a year working in Process Chemistry at GSK, Stevenage. Outside of academia, Mia holds a skydiving license, and enjoys playing music.
Thomas Corner
Merton College
Thomas is the recipient of a CASE Conversion award with UCB. Originally from Kent, Tom graduated with a First Class Honours MSci degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. In his final year, he completed his Master's project under the supervision of Dr Ben Pilgrim in The Nitschke Group, researching the application of “click” chemistry in the synthesis of supramolecular architectures, and was awarded the Emeleus Prize for Distinction in Inorganic Chemistry. Last summer, Tom completed a ten-week internship at AstraZeneca, investigating visible light mediated [2+2] cycloadditions and their scale-up using continuous flow technology. Outside the lab, Tom enjoys playing cricket, practicing the violin and spending time with friends and family.
Joseph Ford
Lady Margaret Hall
Joseph is the recipient of a CASE Conversion award with Syngenta. Originally from Reading, Joe graduated in September 2019 with a First Class MChem degree from Magdalen College, University of Oxford. He worked under the supervision of Prof Veronique Gouverneur for his master's project, which focused on the synthesis of organocatalysts for nucleophilic fluorination reactions. He previously spent the summer of 2018 at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in the group of Prof Tobias Ritter working on the thianthrenation and trifluoromethylation of arenes. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, going to the pub and trying to speak German.
Harry Hicks
University College
Harry is the recipient of the Oxford-Radcliffe SBM CDT Scholarship 2019. Originally from Devon, Harry graduated in 2018 with First Class BA MSc degrees in Natural Sciences, specialising in Chemistry, from Girton College, University of Cambridge. During his master's year, he worked under the supervision of Prof David Spring investigating the use of enantioselective nickel schiff base complexes for amino acid synthesis and how stapled peptides can target protein-protein interactions. After graduating, Harry spent a year working at Charles River Laboratories as a Medicinal Chemist, focusing on the synthesis and development of novel antiviral drug candidates. His research interests span the whole of synthetic chemistry, with natural product and medicinal chemistry being of particular interest. Outside the lab, Harry is a keen footballer but also enjoys cycling, running and hiking. When inside he enjoys cooking, films and reading about science and history.
Morgan Keenlyside
University College
Originally from Reading, Morgan completed his MChem degree at University College at the University of Oxford. During his Part II project with Prof Jeremy Robertson, he worked on a number of synthetic routes towards indane fragments utilising Diels–Alder reactivity, contributing towards an investigation into enzyme-based methodologies. He has a broad interest in organic synthesis, focusing especially on total synthesis and its application in medicinal chemistry. Outside of the lab, Morgan enjoys hanging out with friends, watching films and reading.
Nicoleta Lazar
Lincoln College
Nicoleta is the recipient of a Lincoln-Kingsgate SBM CDT Graduate Scholarship. Originally from Iasi, Romania, Nicoleta moved to Oxford for her undergraduate studies. There, she completed her Part II Project under the supervision of Prof Michael Willis, working on the development of new synthetic routes to α-keto-sulfonyl fluorides. Previously, Nicoleta had undertaken a summer industrial internship at Procter & Gamble, as well as a research one in the Oxford Chemistry working under the supervision of Dr Emily Flashman, on the expression, kinetic characterisation and development of potential inhibition pathways of a biologically active maize PCO enzyme. Nicoleta's academic interests are centred on developing new synthetic methods. Outside the lab, she enjoys travelling, reading, cooking and dancing.
Bernadette Lee
Keble College
Bernadette is the recipient of an A*STAR National Science Scholarship (PhD). Originally from Singapore, Bernie obtained her MSci in Natural Sciences at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge in 2018, where she completed her final year project on the ion-pair directed regioselective borylation of phosphonium salts under the supervision of Dr Robert Phipps. She also undertook a research placement with Dr Gonçalo Bernardes on site-selective protein modification techniques. After her undergraduate studies, Bernie returned to Singapore for a year-long research attachment at A*STAR, where she worked on the phage display of macrocyclic peptide libraries. Bernie’s main research interests lie in chemical biology, and in her free time, she enjoys playing the guitar, reading, cooking, and baking.
Zhong Hui Lim
Wadham College
Zhong Hui is the recipient of the Oxford-Richards Graduate Scholarship 2019. Hailing from Singapore, Zhong Hui completed his MChem degree in Merton College, Oxford in 2019. In his master's project, he worked in Prof. Ed Anderson's group, investigating Rh-catalysed atropselective cycloisomerisations. During the summers of his degree, Zhong Hui had the opportunity to work under Prof. Angela Russell (Oxford) and Prof. Max von Delius (Ulm University). While his current interests lie in synthetic chemistry and their applications in various fields of science, he hopes to pick up computational modelling. Outside the lab, Zhong Hui enjoys powerlifting, trekking, music and napping.
Charmaine Poh
Keble College
Charmaine is the recipient of an A*STAR National Science Scholarship (PhD) from Singapore, where she is originally from. Charmaine competed her Bachelor's degree at Imperial College London, where she spent her final year working with Professor Anthony Barrett on the investigation of a synthetic route to nucleosides from isonitriles and Meldrum's acid. She subsequently spent a year working on peptide synthesis at A*STAR. Charmaine's academic interests lie mainly in the total synthesis of natural products with a medicinal application. Outside of chemistry, Charmaine enjoys reading, playing the piano and the harp, and being involved in church.
Benjamin Shennan
Magdalen College
Ben is the recipient of the Oxford-Leon E & Iris L Beghian Graduate Scholarship 2019. He grew up in Saffron Walden, Essex before completing his MChem degree at the University of Oxford (University College). For his Master's project, he worked with Prof. Darren Dixon on developing a multi-step methodology for the synthesis of spirocyclic amines and investigated the application of this route in total synthesis. Alongside chemistry, Ben has a great interest in both music and travel. He stays active, playing football and squash and particularly enjoys hiking.
