Kai Sands

Kai Sands has always been drawn to the intersection of discovery and impact. Now, as a recipient of the prestigious Provost’s Program for Black & Indigenous Scholars, he's deepening his exploration into a powerful area of chemistry with far-reaching implications for human health. 

Sands is working on improving how certain types of chemicals are made, with the goal of helping doctors diagnose and treat diseases like cancer and fibrosis. His focus is on developing new tools and techniques to add fluorine atoms to drug-like molecules in a process known as fluorination. This step is essential for creating PET tracers, which are compounds that allow doctors to capture detailed images of the body during medical scans.

“While electron-neutral and -rich (hetero)aromatic rings are commonly found motifs in many biologically active compounds, they are not very suitable for current fluorination techniques,” Sands explains.

During his PhD, Sands studied a molecule called ebselen, which has been tested as a possible treatment to protect the brain and heart. That research helped scientists better understand how ebselen works and how to improve similar medicines.

Now at Waterloo, Sands is testing how different versions of fluorination tools behave and whether they can be used to create new PET tracers. “By developing HVI reagents containing drug-like motifs I will explore the possibility of this methodology’s application in radiolabeling studies for the development of new PET tracers.”

Beyond the lab, Sands is equally committed to mentorship and community.

“In addition to these academic pursuits, the sharing of experiential knowledge is of crucial importance to me and my community values,” he says. “So I wish to position myself such that I can teach and support junior researchers, especially in laboratory techniques and experimental design.”

He also hopes to connect with Indigenous students on campus. “I plan to connect with the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre to act as a visible mentor to Indigenous students in the sciences and build upon the existing connections between Indigenous pedagogies and the Faculty of Science and broader University of Waterloo community.”

Sands completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Waterloo before moving to the University of Calgary for his PhD. Returning to Waterloo now feels like coming full circle.

“[The University of Waterloo] has a proven record as a world-class research institution that promotes collaborations both internally and externally, as well as a strong reputation for teaching excellence and opportunities for real world experience,” he says. “Specific efforts like this postdoctoral funding opportunity highlight the university's efforts to promote the work and careers of underrepresented populations and I look forward to the opportunity for collaboration and networking with other scholars and continuing to develop my career.”

With strong roots in the Waterloo community and a clear passion for both research and mentorship, Sands is excited to continue building knowledge and connections on campus.