George+Nikolakopoulos

George Nikolakopoulos

﻿ Medicinal chemist A brief job description: My job predominately involves the preparation of molecules for use as medicines against diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and others. The molecules I synthesise are organic (carbon based) molecules, which are small in size (no more than 1000 Da). They are sometimes based on molecules found in nature but other times very unique in structure. Who I work with: I work in the Medicinal chemistry group, which is made up of 15 chemists. We range slightly in our expertise with most of us being synthetic chemists while others one of us is a dedicated analytical chemist. We all work on related projects but each one of us focuses on individual target molecules. So we have both a team and an individual aspect to our work. 


 * A description or picture of the place where I do my work: **
 * I ﻿work in a laboratory, which contains many specialised pieces of equipment. Here is a picture of part of the lab.**


 * How I came to this job – my career path **


 * I loved science in school. I studied physics and chemistry in senior high school and then went on to study Applied Science at university. Initially, I began studying microbiology, but soon realised I really enjoyed learning about the chemical properties of molecules and how these properties can be taken advantage of to perform chemical reactions. So I took up more chemistry subjects and graduated with a major in chemistry. Subsequently I undertook an Honours degree in chemistry which latter lead into a PhD in chemistry. A very strong attraction was also the fact that I can work in a field that can help our communities by offer solutions to various diseases.**


 * About my workplace **
 * Name of company or organisation ** **The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute**
 * A brief description of the organisation – what it does, where it’s located, its size etc **
 * The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) is a large institute that consists of many scientists (over 500). The scientists that work here range in expertise but we are all involved in the development of potential pharmaceuticals. My workplace is located in Bundoora, adjacent to LaTrobe university.**


 * The areas of science that the organisation is involved in **


 * The institute is involved in medical research and in particular drug and vaccine discovery. The diseases areas investigated are cancer and infectious diseases such as malaria. There are a number of disciplines practised at WEHI. The institute is divided into divisions according to the disciplines of focus. These divisions range from molecular genetics to immunology.**
 * Other organisations that I collaborate with **
 * The institute recognises that research is best performed when people team up. So setting up collaborations between people is a fundamental practice of our work. We collaborate with many other research institutes. Some of these organisations include the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and CSIRO.**