Dr Rebeca Santamaria-Fernandez, 31, senior researcher, LGC

“Mass spectrometry sounds very complex but it’s easy to explain what I do because my research, which takes place in a laboratory, is actually all about solving problems out there in the real world. For example, there are all sorts of people making counterfeits of genuine, often expensive drugs developed and sold to treat HIV and other [conditions]. The fakes look exactly the same as the real drugs, and have very similar chemical properties. However, the isotopic fingerprint is different.

“I use mass spectrometry, a technique that measures different isotopes of an element, to detect those counterfeits. The team in which I work develops new analytical techniques for detecting the fakes, then analyses samples and validates these methodologies.

“We are also looking at whether hair can be analysed to detect where a person has been over the past three months. This could potentially be used in to determine the movement of those suspected of terrorism.

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“We are encouraged to publish our research so that the police, pharmaceutical companies and other agencies can benefit. If the technique is to be used as part of forensic evidence in court, it has to have gone through a validation process to give it credibility.

“I studied analytical and organic chemistry at the University of Oviedo in Spain. When we started working hands-on in the lab I realised that I wanted to become a researcher. Of the different techniques that I studied, mass spectrometry attracted me because you can see that what you are doing helps people.

“I spend up to 15 per cent of my time at meetings, making organisations such as the police, forensic scientists and drugs companies aware of what we are doing. I also attend conferences in the UK and abroad. Each project lasts for three to five years, but you plan them in stages known as milestones so every few months you meet a milestone and know that you’re making progress.

“It can be tiring. There are times when you are working late in the lab and you really want something to work and it doesn’t; that is what research is all about. Then, there are days when things work fantastically well and you produce a scientific publication or you go to a conference and you get to talk to other people and that definitely compensates. You get to meet so many people in this job and you get to do real science. What else could you ask for?”

A second opinion

Sarah Priestley, 23, process chemist, AstraZeneca

“I usually get to work by about 8.30am and go straight into the laboratory to set up chemical reactions. As a process chemist, I work as part of a team to develop new drug candidates – a chemical compound that has been screened and found to be effective against a disease.

“I studied natural sciences at Cambridge university which gave me a very sound knowledge of chemistry, but it was the time I spent in the lab in my fourth year when I had the opportunity to pursue my own ideas, solve problems and experiment, that proved really useful for this role.

“I spend most of my time in our state-of-the-art lab, running relatively small-scale chemical reactions. The idea is to test these reactions to see if they are stable, safe and cost-effective enough to run on a much larger scale in a manufacturing plant and, ultimately, to make new drugs to supply the drug market. Each reaction can take two to three months to develop and test.

“When I am not wearing my lab coat, I attend seminars to keep up to date with the latest breakthroughs in research elsewhere – at universities, for example – or about what other teams here are working on to contribute ideas and learn something relevant to the reactions that my team is carrying out. I also regularly meet other analysts and process engineers and chemists from the large-scale lab to discuss how reactions are progressing. It’s great to be able to take advice from people with different expertise, especially if you are working on something really challenging. For example, when a reaction that is said to work well on paper does not work at all in the lab environment.

“As well as the technical expertise and knowledge, you have to be flexible: every day brings something new and surprising to keep you on your toes. It’s very rewarding when you have worked through the process and see something that you have initiated running on a much larger scale.”

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