IMU’s Pharmaceutical Chemistry Lecturer Won Best Oral Presenter Award in Seoul Conference

May 12-14, 2016 – A/Prof Ng Chew Hee, a lecturer from the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, IMU won the Best Oral Presenter Award at the International Conference on Materials Science and Nanotechnology Conference (ISMST) in Seoul, South Korea. At this conference, latest findings from research related to glasses, thin films, composites, iron and steel, aerospace materials, micro- and nano-materials were presented. The title of the winning paper of A/Prof Ng was Zinc(II) Complexes and Their Nanogold Conjugates: Cellular Imaging, Anticancer, and Other Biological Applications. The main research interest of A/Prof Ng is in the synthesis, characterisation, and factors affecting the properties of AuNP-{linker-[Zn(II)(FL-ligand)(aa)x](NO3)m}n conjugates. The primary objective of his study is to investigate the anticancer properties of AuNPs when combined with zinc metal. How do these two components (AuNP and Zn(II)-complex) affect each other’s light absorption and fluorescence (FL) emission upon conjugation is unknown. The project was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) under the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). Nanoparticles (NPs) are particles with the size in the range of units to hundreds of nanometres and have attracted extensive attention in different fields of physics, chemistry, material science, medicine, and biology as a result of their unique electronic, magnetic, optical, mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. Nanogold particles (AuNPs) are one of the most useful nanoparticles in terms of applications in industry and medicine. AuNPs and their conjugates have potential uses as contrast agents, fluorescence imaging, nanosensors, drug-carriers and targeted delivery, as well as anticancer-nanomedicinal therapy.