Profile
Gemma Chew
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About Me:
I am a Research Chemist at a company called Apex Molecular in the North West. I spend my day working in a lab carrying out experiments to make new molecules.
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I live in Cheshire with my husband and my three children, Lucy who is 13, Harry who is 9 and Emily who is 5. I love going on days out with my family to theme parks and zoo’s. In my spare time I love baking 🎂🍰, reading 📚 and watching movies 🎬. I also like Pilates and I recently got a new mountain bike 🚲 which I have been having fun riding at the weekends.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I’m a Research Chemist 👩🔬. I work in a lab carrying out experiments 🧪 (we call them reactions) to make new molecules. One day, one of the molecules I make might become a new medicine 💊
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I am a Research Chemist at a company called Apex Molecular. I spend most of my day in the lab, at my fumehood, carrying out experiments to make new molecules. 👩🔬😃
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My Typical Day:
I am normally woken up very early by my children. We all eat breakfast together before I take them to school.
I get to work around 8am and I spend most of my day in the lab working at my fumehood. When I am not in the lab I can be found writing up my work in my electronic lab book.
I finish work around 4.30pm, I pick up my children, cook tea then put them to bed and usually fall asleep with them 😴 -
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The first thing I do when I get into the lab is to carry out some analysis of my experiments to see if they have worked or not. We use analytical techniques like LCMS, TLC and NMR. They can tell us if our experiments have worked and if they haven’t worked we use them to work out what has happened.
If an experiment has worked then the product has to be isolated and purified. We have a few different techniques available to purify our molecules. Once a molecule is purified we carry out some final analysis (LCMS, NMR) then we can use it in the next step.
Everything I do in the lab has to be written up in my lab book. Nowadays we mostly do this on a computer. Keeping accurate records of our experiments is really important for us and our customers.
Because I work with chemicals that are sometimes very toxic, health and safety is very important. All my experiments are carried out in a fume hood. I wear safety glasses, a lab coat and thick nitrile gloves to keep me and my colleagues safe. If we are working with a very toxic chemical we write out a risk assessment to make sure that we are going to handle the toxic chemical in the safest way.
I am really interested in green and sustainable chemistry.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would use the prize money to buy some STEM materials for my childrens primary school and organise and run a fun chemistry workshop.
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Education:
I went to Tytherington High School in Macclesfield. I studied Chemistry, Physics and Maths at A Level.
I did my degree at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) which later merged with Manchester University to become the University of Manchester.
I stayed on at the University of Manchester to do my PhD which was sponsored by AstraZeneca. -
Qualifications:
GCSE’s: Combined Science A*A*, Geography A*, Food Technology A*, IT A, Maths A, Business Studies A, German B, English Literature B, English Language C.
A Levels: Chemistry (B), Mathematics (B), Physics (D) and General Studies (D)
Degree: MChem First Class with honours.
PhD: Synthesis of Novel Dendritic Architectures for Drug Solubilisation -
Work History:
During my A levels I worked at Sainsbury’s as a cashier (so that I could earn money to buy a car 🚗).
I had several summer jobs during my degree, at different chemical and pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca. These summer jobs really helped me decide what I wanted to do once I finished my PhD. -
Current Job:
My current job, is Team Leader at Apex Molecular, I line manage 3 people and help manage a project but I still spend most of my time in the lab making chemicals!
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Employer:
Apex Molecular
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Inquisitive, determined and hard-working
What did you want to be after you left school?
An Astronaut 👩🚀or a F1 driver 🏎!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Never 😁
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Baker 🎂🍰
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Justin Timberlake
What's your favourite food?
Ice cream 🍦
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. To travel the world with my family 2. To have my own lab where I could create whatever I wanted 3. To own an Aston Martin
Tell us a joke.
Why should you never trust an atom? Because they make everything up 🤣
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