Nicholas Lease arrived at 化学 by way of biology, his original choice of study when he enrolled in college. Now, after four years at 布鲁克林学院 and many hours in Associate Professor 玛丽亚Contel‘s laboratory, he landed an invitation to discuss his research at the 美国化学学会’s National Meeting and Exposition in San Diego. 他正在研究的金属化合物可能被证明是对抗某些类型癌症的一个有希望的科学突破。 Lease’s change of heart has clearly paid off.

Soon after he discovered his unexpected interest in inorganic 化学, Lease found information online about Contel’s research. “That’s how I found out Professor Contel was doing green 化学,” he says, “and though I had never taken a class with her, I asked her if I could join her lab.” 他做到了，就这么简单。

自2007年以来，Contel一直在研究金化合物，以创造一种比铂基化合物毒性更小的替代癌症治疗方法，如顺铂、卡铂和奥沙利铂，这些化合物自20世纪70年代以来一直在使用。 Contel’s knowledge of metals led her to try gold compounds that wouldn’t compromise healthy cells. All of the lab’s results are also tested with palladium, which has properties similar to gold and platinum.

在他的研究中，莱斯添加了一种叫做二茂铁的铁分子，它改变了所得化合物的物理化学特性，可能有利于它们的抗肿瘤特性。 此外，莱斯决定用两个金+铁，两个钯+铁，而不是各用一个铁和一个金分子。

这是一个突破。

“The new compounds Nicholas has prepared based on iron-gold and iron-palladium are very cytotoxic in vitro against human ovarian and breast cancer cell lines,” confirms Contel. “This includes a cell line that is resistant to cisplatin,” she adds, very hopeful about Lease’s career prospects in the field.

The abstract Lease submitted to the 美国化学学会 was so persuasive that it provided him with a prestigious ACS travel award — an all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego to present his research.

“I was a bit nervous at the beginning,” Lease admits about being in front of a roomful of people from the country’s leading colleges and universities. 虽然他本中欧体育官方网站可以选择更非正式的海报展示，但他认为在人群中演讲中欧体育官方网站可以提供很好的专业经验。 “Once I got over it, things flowed very well,” he adds with confidence.

Lease received a bachelor’s degree at the 2012 毕业典礼 Exercises, but he does not plan to pursue a master’s degree. 相反，他将直接进入罗格斯大学（Rutgers University）攻读化学博士学位，这是他被录取的四所学校之一。 作为第一代大学生，莱斯说他的家人非常自豪。

“My parents realized early on that I knew what I was doing,” says the new alumnus, whose mother, a paraprofessional, and father, a postal worker, gave him all the trust and support he needed.

“Rutgers has a well-established program and various kinds of research that appeal to me,” he says. “I will now have six months to define my area of research and choose a professor I want to work with” — not to mention five more years of study and lab work before he obtains his doctorate.

至于获得博士学位后的职业兴趣，他的道路仍不明朗。 “Academia is not the only option. I might be interested in doing research for the chemical industry,” he speculates. 但现在还没有必要急于做出决定，莱斯仍然专注于手头的任务。 他还需要对金铁化合物的毒性水平进行更多的测试，这些测试将被送到荷兰的一个实验室，在癌细胞系上进行测试。 “We need to know how they interact with proteins and run electro-化学 tests before a paper can be published.”

Once he’s gone, other students will pick up where he left off. It’s the cycle of science.