Next summer, Prof. Eszter Boros will bring her research group, focusing on medicinal inorganic chemistry, to UW-Madison from its current home at SUNY-Stony Brook.
What’s the focus of your planned research?
My lab works at the interface of inorganic chemistry and biology and medicine – we consider ourselves “Medicinal Inorganic Chemists”. We develop radioactive and stable transition metal, metalloid and lanthanide complexes for applications in biological imaging, drug discovery and nuclear medicine.
What most excites you about coming to UW-Madison?
My lab is excited to join a department where creative, innovative and cutting-edge chemistry can inspire us and take our work to the next level! As our research is highly cross-disciplinary, we look forward to collaborations across campus, including groups in the School of Medicine and Public Health (Medical Physics, Radiology).
What can students expect from you in class or in the lab?
Boundless enthusiasm, dedication, tenacity and terrible puns.
What research groups are you likely to collaborate with, both in the department and across campus?
Hard to only name a few… We are interested in initiating collaborations with groups at the inorganic and chemical biology interface, such as the Martell, Berry, Brunold and Blackwell groups. We actually already have a small collaboration with the Gellman lab and have multiple collaborative grants funded with the Engle lab in Medical Physics (active collaboration since 2018)!
Who is a scientist who has played a role in inspiring your work?
This changes all the time… But I’ve been a fan of Rebecca Abergel’s work (UC Berkeley) for a while, and I also really like the work of Marinella Mazzanti (EPFL) and Gonçalo Bernardes (University of Cambridge).
What unique strength do you hope to bring to the department?
We think about fundamental coordination chemistry in a very applied context, specifically for the development of radiopharmaceuticals and metallodrugs. Members of my lab are exposed to everything from molecular design, chemical synthesis, physical/analytical characterization and spectroscopy, radiochemistry, mammalian cell or bacterial culture to compound testing/proof-of-concept in preclinical animal models of disease.
What do you enjoy doing outside of your work?
Besides spending time with my family (I have two small children under 3), I like to lift weights and go roller or ice skating.