A Day in the Life of an X-ray Scientist
Khay Fong
When I’m not doing beamtime, I enjoy getting lost in the mountains, both with and without snow. Here’s a picture of me giving Mt. Everest a high 5.
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NAME: Khay Fong
CURRENT TITLE: Postdoctoral Research Fellow ORGANISATION: Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences AREA OF EXPERTISE: Physical chemistry, materials science, drug delivery, YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 8 EDUCATION: B. Form Sci (Hons), Grad. Cert. Research Commercialisation & PhD Pharmacy WEBSITE/TWITTER: Monash profile |
What does your job involve?
My research revolves around manipulating lipid droplets on an intermolecular level to control drug release. In other words, I essentially mould nano-sized particles of fat to release drugs at my bidding. This method of on demand release is mooted for treatments of complex diseases where site specific drug release is required. I control these nanostructured particles by shooting them with lasers, or changing the aqueous conditions surrounding the particles to mimic disease states by varying the pH and introducing enzymes. After designing and characterising the systems, we then apply these ‘smart materials’ as on-demand drug delivery vehicles.
My research revolves around manipulating lipid droplets on an intermolecular level to control drug release. In other words, I essentially mould nano-sized particles of fat to release drugs at my bidding. This method of on demand release is mooted for treatments of complex diseases where site specific drug release is required. I control these nanostructured particles by shooting them with lasers, or changing the aqueous conditions surrounding the particles to mimic disease states by varying the pH and introducing enzymes. After designing and characterising the systems, we then apply these ‘smart materials’ as on-demand drug delivery vehicles.
Sample preparation at Monash University, Parkville.
What’s a typical day like?
There’s not really a typical day. At the moment, I’m doing a lot of writing and
data analysis and trying to get my student through his honours year. A lot of my lab
days are spent at the Australian Synchrotron – using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)
to investigate what’s going on in my particles
on a sub-nanometre scale. However, SAXS
is only a fraction of the job – I also spend time using electron microscopy & thermal analysis methods to characterise the particles, and in vitro and in vivo studies to see how biocompatible these materials are. There are other days when I start my mornings at Burwood Heights PS as part of the CSIRO’s Scientist in Schools program and then lecture university students in the afternoon. It’s a varied job and really rewarding at the end of the day.
There’s not really a typical day. At the moment, I’m doing a lot of writing and
data analysis and trying to get my student through his honours year. A lot of my lab
days are spent at the Australian Synchrotron – using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)
to investigate what’s going on in my particles
on a sub-nanometre scale. However, SAXS
is only a fraction of the job – I also spend time using electron microscopy & thermal analysis methods to characterise the particles, and in vitro and in vivo studies to see how biocompatible these materials are. There are other days when I start my mornings at Burwood Heights PS as part of the CSIRO’s Scientist in Schools program and then lecture university students in the afternoon. It’s a varied job and really rewarding at the end of the day.
What do you love about working with X-rays?
That each experiment is never the same. We like to push the SAXS/WAXS beamline to its limit with our experimental setups at the synchrotron. Props to the beamline scientists – they’ve always come through for us at crunch time – and also to the phenomenal facilities at the Australian synchrotron. As our experiments are time dependent, doing our SAXS experiments at the synchrotron allows us to look at our nanomaterials on a sub-nanometer level as well as on a millisecond timescale.
That each experiment is never the same. We like to push the SAXS/WAXS beamline to its limit with our experimental setups at the synchrotron. Props to the beamline scientists – they’ve always come through for us at crunch time – and also to the phenomenal facilities at the Australian synchrotron. As our experiments are time dependent, doing our SAXS experiments at the synchrotron allows us to look at our nanomaterials on a sub-nanometer level as well as on a millisecond timescale.
When the beamline goes down at the 44th hour of your 48 hour shift, there ain’t nothing to do but catch up on sleep in the beamline cabin.
What’s challenging?
Formulating my nanoparticles and building the right experimental set ups! My X-ray scattering data is quite clear cut, especially since we get Bragg peaks with our materials and we have the software to analyse the data appropriately. Working with X-rays actually makes designing the medicines of the future a more realistic task.
Formulating my nanoparticles and building the right experimental set ups! My X-ray scattering data is quite clear cut, especially since we get Bragg peaks with our materials and we have the software to analyse the data appropriately. Working with X-rays actually makes designing the medicines of the future a more realistic task.
Any advice to people looking for a career in X-ray analysis?
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Why is it good to be involved with AXAA ?
To be honest, I don’t know much about the organisation and have only recently been introduced to AXAA. From what I have seen, AXAA provides an excellent forum for X-ray scientists to not only show off their work but also support each other through informed discussions. AXAA also provides support for the younger generation of scientists through student conferences and networking opportunities.
To be honest, I don’t know much about the organisation and have only recently been introduced to AXAA. From what I have seen, AXAA provides an excellent forum for X-ray scientists to not only show off their work but also support each other through informed discussions. AXAA also provides support for the younger generation of scientists through student conferences and networking opportunities.