Congratulations to Dr Philip Norcott for securing an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) fellowship.

Phil has been a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Coote group since 2018, after a PhD at the University of Sydney and postdoctoral position at the University of York, UK. Phil's DECRA will commence in 2021, researching and designing Organocatalysts to Achieve Hyperpolarised Magnetic Resonance. His DECRA topic is as follows "Magnetic resonance techniques (such as MRI scans) suffer from an inherent insensitivity problem. In medical imaging, this can hamper diagnosis and mean long scan times for patients. This project aims to chemically develop catalysts which dramatically increase sensitivity, producing a signal that is thousands of times more visible. This project is significant as these catalysts can turn common, harmless molecules in the body - even water - into visible tracers. The expected outcomes of this project include the synthesis and understanding of these catalysts which will be chemically fine-tuned to maximise their effectiveness. Potential benefits include translation to MRI applications to improve diagnosis and treatment, or chemical monitoring."

Well done Phil on this great achievement

Further details on the 2021 DECRA fellowships can be found on the ARC Website.