Soon to do research at Yale

Young chemist (23) from Baden conquers elite university

Lena Wadsak with her acceptance letter from Yale. The chemist will be conducting research here for a year.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/mediamind.us)

Super-smart Lower Austrian supports the radiochemistry team at Yale University's Faculty of Medicine in the USA from November - The 23-year-old chemist wants to improve cancer therapies.

Austria has so much talent! And a talent is all the better when you want to use it to save people's lives. As in the case of 23-year-old Lena Wadsak from Lower Austria. The young woman's biography is remarkable: she completed her Master's degree in Chemistry at the University of Vienna with an average grade of 1.0. The Baden native has received several prizes and scholarships, including the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Marie Curie Fellowship, which is advertised worldwide. Her area of expertise is radiochemistry and radiopharmacy. 

I am curious and am constantly looking for ways to expand my knowledge.

Lena Wadsak über ihre Motivation.

My uncle sparked my interest
"It's a small field in which there is still great potential to develop further and make a difference," says Lena to the Krone. Especially in the field of cancer diagnostics and cancer therapy. The eldest of four siblings was inspired by her university professor Verena Pichler and her uncle Wolfgang Wadsak, a top specialist in the field of radio cancer therapy.

"My interest was sparked when my uncle told me about it when I was 13." Since then, Lena has been soaking up specialist literature and reading all publications on the subject online: "I'm curious and constantly looking for ways to expand my knowledge," she says, and will have a particularly prestigious opportunity to do so from November. The chemist, who plays the cello and dances ballet in her spare time, has been hired by the elite US university Yale.

My aim is to produce new radio-pharmaceuticals to better combat diseases such as cancer.

Die Chemikerin über ihre Vision.

Future at Vienna General Hospital?
After a video conference with the professor at the School of Medicine there, he was so interested in the Lower Austrian that he even created a separate position for Lena Wadsak in the radiopharmaceutical research team there. She will be working in New Haven, Connecticut, for a year: "My aim is to produce new radio-pharmaceuticals to better understand and combat diseases such as cancer."

Radioactivity is associated with negative properties, but: "It also has positive benefits, especially in medicine." In order to be successful in this field, Lena wants to do additional pharmaceutical training at ETH Zurich after Yale and then - if possible - continue her research at MedUni Vienna in Vienna General Hospital.