ACS Regional MEA Conference 2024

Dr. Shabana Khan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune and Topic Editor for Organometallics. Her research deals with the synthesis and application of low-valent compounds with main group elements. Her goal is to develop an economical, environmentally-friendly catalyst that can replace traditional transition metal catalysts, such as rhodium, platinum, and iridium, which are used for several organic transformations. “The day it can convert CO2 to methanol without using transition metal at industrial scale would be great for the chemists,” she said. After getting her undergraduate degree and qualifying the CSIR exam, she received her Ph.D. admission to IIT Delhi. “That was the turning point. I was exposed to the real education system and environment.” After her Ph.D., she got a job in industry as a research scientist. “I did not find that work interesting because I was more inclined to go for the more fundamental research.” She left that job for a post-doc position at Goettingen University. After three years, she received a faculty offer from IISER Pune. As an EAB member, she has gained a lot of insight into how a journal functions, as well as an understanding of how to measure her work against other research. She also learned how to analyze papers and gives advice to other researchers. She tries to educate and spread awareness among scientists in India about her field, serving as an ambassador for Organometallics and helping authors understand what to expect from the journal.

Wesam AbuSaif graduated from the university of Jordan with B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1998. For the next 8 years, until 2006, Wesam worked in several pharmaceutical and bio-equivalence companies in Jordan and Dubai as a senior researcher in R&D departments. In 2007, he worked as sales manager with the exclusive agent of CAS and ACS in the Middle East. In 2013, he accepted a job offer from the Royal Society of Chemistry RSC to be the Regional Manager in the Middle East and Africa and in In June 2016, he accepted an offer to be the Regional Marketing Manager with ACSi in the Middle East. Wesam has an MBA from the University of Bradford (UK).

Christina I. McCoy is the Portfolio Manager for Global Engagement at ACS. She oversees the global professional and student chapter program and works to internationalize our programs, products and services. She comes to ACS with more than a decade in international education and global relations. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.