麻豆社

So, what do you do?

I work at the early stage of drug discovery. I work closely with biologists to identify a molecular target and then I design compounds that will interfere or interact with the target or disease mechanism. For example, if the disease is due to something overworking, we will design an inhibitor to block it. If something is not working, we will design an agonist to stimulate it. My work involves researching into work that has already been done in this area, and then look at compounds that already exist and work out how I can make new compounds that may interact.

I thought medical research was really interesting, so applied for a Nuffield Bursary placement which involved carrying out a 6 week project during the summer holidays between the lower and upper 6th. The experience of working with experts, carrying out cutting edge science and using different technical equipment really excited and appealed to me, and it was then that I decided to go for a career in this industry.

What qualifications do you have?

I studied A-levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and German. The Nuffield Bursary experience encouraged me to do a MChem degree at Warwick University. It was a 5 year course which involved a year in industry and a year to do my masters.

What does your typical day involve?

Generally I start work at about 9 and check any outstanding emails and deal with those. Then I go into the lab for about an hour, then we all go for a half hour tea break, then back in the lab. After lunch I鈥檓 back in the lab again for the afternoon till about 6, with another tea break squeezed in! So my day is predominantly in the lab, but some days I might have a presentation to write, or meetings, or research to do, so it does vary, but at my level it鈥檚 mostly in the lab making compounds.

Do you work mostly on your own or as part of team?

Working in the lab, I generally work on my own, but I work very closely with the other members of my team. We constantly discuss what we鈥檙e doing and offer each other advice. There are quite a few of us who work in the lab, so there鈥檚 lots of chat about what we鈥檙e all doing.

What is it like socially where you work?

I love the atmosphere of where I work. We鈥檙e quite a young group so that means we鈥檙e very sociable. As well as colleagues we鈥檙e also friends, which makes it a pleasure to go to work in the mornings.

What are you most proud of in your career?

At first, you come in at the graduate level, and you鈥檙e really in awe of other people as you鈥檙e not very good and don鈥檛 have much experience, but it鈥檚 surprising how quickly you learn. I get a real buzz when someone asks me how to do something and I鈥檓 able to show them and help using my experience, it makes me very proud.

What possibilities are there for your career in the future?

I would like to take on more of a supervisor鈥檚 role. I鈥檝e already started helping out with industrial placement students in the lab. As I鈥檓 getting more experience, I think I鈥檒l be able to take full responsibility for another person, showing them what to do and mentoring them.

What do you think are the most important skills for someone in your role to have?

Apart from the obvious technical skills, I think it鈥檚 vital that you鈥檙e able to work as part of a team and are able to communicate effectively. It鈥檚 no good if you鈥檙e good at what you do but you can鈥檛 tell people about it or share the information with other people. It鈥檚 also important that you鈥檙e able to show other people the ropes, we get a lot of students who come in and a big part of our job is guiding them and sharing our experience with them.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone seeking a career in the pharmaceutical industry?

I鈥檇 advise them to get as much experience as possible. It is possible, I know it seems hard if you鈥檙e at school and you鈥檙e not sure how to go about it, but there are links, especially with large pharmaceutical companies. Even if it鈥檚 just speaking to someone who works as a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, by speaking to them it will give you an idea if it鈥檚 something you鈥檇 be interested in.

There are so many different fields and aspects to research chemistry that you need to get out there and try as many different things so you can find out what suits you and what doesn鈥檛.