Evgenia is a PhD student in Prof Martin Scanlon’s group at the Monash University node.

“It was after my master’s internship that the idea of a PhD struck me. A rewarding year full of personal and academic development motivated me to expand my knowledge and reach my full potential through a PhD in medicinal chemistry”, Evgenia comments on her decision for a PhD.

Research Overview
Evgenia’s project focus is on the development of inhibitors against FABP5, a protein associated with pain, inflammation, and various cancers. The approach she will be using is REFil- Rapid Elaboration of Fragments into Lead compounds, which involves microscale parallel synthesis and Off-Rate screening by SPR.

Education
Originally from Greece, Evgenia completed her undergraduate studies in Chemistry and majored in Organic Chemistry at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Herr innate curiosity led her to explore other fields of chemistry as well, through internships. She did an Erasmus placement in Electrochemistry at the University of Florence, which was her first experience abroad, and an industrial internship in Quality Control. These experiences allowed Evgenia to gain a clear idea of what she wanted to do next. “Organic Chemistry has remained my focus as it gives me the opportunity to explore, create and make an impact”, Evgenia says. Her interest to delve into the field of medicines and her excitement about an international career led her to the Netherlands where she did her Master’s in Drug Design and Synthesis.

“Having had several jobs unrelated to my studies I figured there is nothing more fun than working over-hours in the lab.”