NSW Newsletter, March 2024
Presidents Note
A little late…..but better late than never!
Hello, my fellow NSW Chemists!
It’s been a relatively quiet start to 2024, at least to the outside world. But on the inside, we’ve all been planning for what will be an engaging and fun filled new year!
As some of you might have noticed from National Office communications, we no longer have a designated Branch Coordinator. There are instead functional roles supporting us in our interactions with RACI. Please take a look at the section on contacts below so you know how to get in touch with the right people.
We already have some terrific events lined up for March and April. We kick off the year on 22 March with the fantastic Frontiers in Science Forum, co-hosted by RACI, AIP, NSW Teachers’ Guild of NSW and the Royal Society of NSW. Our very own Prof Kate Jolliffe is one of the speakers at this always excellent event. As always, our Pharmaceutical Science Group has a great event on 3 April on updates to the PIC/S Code of GMP. Plus, we will soon be announcing the details of our Fellows and Honorary Life Members Lunch, scheduled for May. The Upcoming Events section has all the details for these events. Thanks to all the volunteers who work behind the scenes to bring these to us!
The NSW Branch Committee also has some exciting plans for an Innovation Summit later this year. Innovations don't have to be major breakthroughs in technology or new business models; they can be as simple as upgrades to a method or features added to an existing product. I am very excited about our plans and hope you are too!
Our next Branch Committee meeting is a short, online meeting on Tuesday 26 March at 12:00 pm. Any NSW member is welcome to attend and if you are interested in being involved, please get in contact with me at raci-nswcmt@raci.org.au.
Have a Magnificent March!
-Maree Stuart
NSW Branch’s Happenings
NSW Nascent Chemist Prize
This month’s entry into the NSW Nascent Chemist Prize comes to us from the intrepid Dave Sammut. We sat down with Dave and asked him about his most recent earth-shattering discovery in Chemistry! It’s a short tale of that nexus between “Hmm, interesting”, “What just happened?” and “Did I just make a breakthrough?”:
“So Mr Sammut”, says the interviewer, with just a little too strong an emphasis on the “mister” part of the sentence. “You might have made a breakthrough.”
“Happy to say that I’m excited.”
“Has it worked?”
“Sort of. Maybe. So far. Hard to say. Something happened.”
“….something happened?”
“In this case, the fact that anything happened at all is interesting. And I made a whole lot of shiny, spiky metal crystals. Very pretty.”
“Which means?”
“Any shiny metal but iron equals major breakthrough.”
“And?”
“It went rusty overnight.”
“Keep trying, Mister Sammut”
Have you got a similar Nascent Chemistry experience? Let us know at raci-nswcmt@raci.org.au!
NSW Chemist of the Month
Dr Anwen Krause-Heuer
Anwen Krause-Heuer is Chemist of the Month for March 2024. Anwen continues the family tradition of working as a scientist in a government institution, with inspiration from her grandfather, also an ANSTO chemist, as well as from her high school science teachers. She always had her sights on ANSTO, firstly as an AINSE Winter School participant, then summer work experience, followed by its graduate program upon completion of her PhD at WSU, and has stayed at ANSTO to this day, currently a synthetic organic chemist at the National Deuteration Facility, producing deuterated compounds for research use around the world. Anwen balances work with parenthood and the gym.
Interview conducted by William Li.
WL: Pleasure to meet you at the 2023 Branch Awards Evening at Surry Hills, and as another ANSTO employee! Firstly, how long have you been a RACI Member for?
AK: I went and looked this up! I have been a member since February 2007, which is when I started my PhD. It was the first thing I did since starting my PhD! Back then, the membership was offered on a “half-price special for PhD students”! I signed up because it made me feel I’m a legitimate chemist who’s doing a PhD!
WL: That’s a good length of time being with RACI. Where did you do your PhD and on what topic?
AK: I did it at what’s now Western Sydney University (WSU). It was a PhD on an inorganic chemistry topic, looking at platinum anti-cancer complexes, which has nothing at all to do with the area I now work in.
WL: Another case where the work one ends up getting into has nothing to do with their PhD topic!
AK: Most certainly! But a lot of the fundamental skills learnt during the time as a student are very applicable to any sort of chemistry research or work that you get into after graduating from uni. A lot of characterisation and instrumentation techniques I used during my PhD are very applicable between inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry, thereby transferrable. For example, NMR is something you need to know solidly, knowing what chemistry to do with an NMR instrument and how to interpret results that’s relevant to the work at hand, which in this case is synthetic chemistry.
WL: And this to your current role as a synthetic chemist here at ANSTO!
AK: My title is primarily “organic synthetic chemist” however my main responsibilities are looking after our labs in terms of safety, quality and operations of our organic chemistry laboratories and key infrastructure in terms of equipment that’s used to do the deuteration reactions. I don’t do as much synthesis now, but my job is to support and enable other chemists who are at the bench most of their time.
WL: Deuteration! That’s something most chemistry grads won’t have any idea of!
AK: It’s definitely a pretty niche area of chemistry that’s for sure.
WL: What exactly does research in that area involve?
AK: National Deuteration Facility is a user-based facility, where we’ll make deuterated molecules for either external organisations to ANSTO or other research groups within ANSTO. Deuteration is about replacing hydrogen atoms within a molecule with deuterium. For example, Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, a primary user, conducts experiments where deuteration is important because hydrogen and deuterium interact with neutrons in very different ways. A deuterated molecule enables more detailed structural investigations using neutrons compared to if it just contains hydrogen. Our work is different to the rest of ANSTO because deuterium is a stable isotope, not radioactive, so we’re considered “stable isotope chemists”.
WL: Being user-based, you’d be having a lot of interactions with other chemists across Australia.
AK: Yes! Even internationally as well. Some people come from overseas to request deuterated molecules from our team because they know the high quality of what we produce. There’s also interactions with people who are not necessarily chemists; they may want to use a chemical product in their system, but may be say, a physicist or structural biologist. There’s a lot of bridging of the gap in using a common language and understanding so everyone gets to the desired outcome.
WL: Helps a lot to have some sort of common wavelength that converges different areas of science to solve similar problems. What do you like most about your work?
AK: The core focus of our work is deuteration, so anything with hydrogen can be potentially deuterated, leaving a very large suite of molecules open to deuteration chemistry. I would be working with people who could be doing different research areas, say light-emitting diodes, or nanoparticles for mRNA vaccines. The theme is deuteration but the research we’re enabling is incredibly wide and with a broad variety, so there’s always a new challenge.
WL: Sounds quite fulfilling having so much possibilities in your work that you’re never bored! What else do you like working in a research facility such as ANSTO?
AK: More job security than in the academic world! Lucky that I’ve been ANSTO for 12 years now, though not necessarily in the same area. I started in the radiotracer development section, so there are opportunities within ANSTO to move around and do different things. We are such a specialised organization, there isn’t as much of an expectation to come in as an expert in what you’re doing. But there’s the expectation to learn and grow and build up into the skills you’re working towards and these skills aren’t necessarily taught in a uni course.
WL: Rightly so. Helps a lot having the time and patience to take things one step at a time. If there’s one piece of advice you would like to give to someone who wants to be like you, what would it be?
AK: My path to ANSTO probably started because I took up a few opportunities during uni. There’s the AINSE Winter School that each uni sends a student to, so I attended it as an undergraduate. Also back then, I applied for an ANSTO vacation internship involving a few months of work experience over summer. Then I came through ANSTO as part of the Graduate Program, which I landed just when I finished my PhD. My grandfather was already working at ANSTO as a chemist when I was a very small child, so I already had some familiarity of the site. So it helps picking places where you might want to work and taking opportunities to get to know more about the organisation and meeting people there – meeting people who would get to know you and are prepared to give you some insights into how the organization works and perhaps direct you towards certain opportunities.
WL: Seems like there’s some family tradition working at ANSTO.
AK: He retired when I was still very young. When I first started, there’s all those older generation staff who saw my name, and quickly connected me to my grandfather. It’s nice to see that connection being made! Today, some of them are still here; they’ve started their careers when they’re younger and still remember him, which is very nice.
WL: It’s clear you’ve got some inspiration working as a scientist and at ANSTO from your grandfather. Is there anything else that inspired you to take up a career in science?
AK: My father was a physicist by training and he worked at CSIRO for quite a long time. So we have a science inquiry mindset throughout the family. It’s also something I gravitated to during high school where I had a great female science teacher during year 8 or 9, which was uncommon back then, and really connected with her. She helped light the spark in science. I then some good physics and chemistry teachers in high school who made science interesting and enjoyable, and felt naturally gravitated towards that area. I was also good at it as well!
WL: Another case where having good high school teachers really shape up one’s perception of science and whether one is willing to take up a career in that area. Most important question of all, what do you like to do in your spare time, if you have any?
AK: I have a 7-year old daughter. Spare time is monopolised by here most of the time, doing things she enjoys and doing it as a family. I like to stay active by working out at the local gym a couple times a week and trying to be outdoors; I find it really important to stay active, after being stuck at the desk for long periods at a time during the day.
WL: Last question. What’s it like to juggle parenthood with your work?
AK: After maternity leave, I came back to work 3 times a week. However, lab work doesn’t necessarily to fit into a 3-day “box”, and I found it really challenging to balance and schedule. I often work with others to help do some labwork, for example, having a reaction started by others, and then asking someone: “would you mind taking it off?” when the expected finish time didn’t line up with my workdays. So over time, my work became more to do with operational support the lab, which is something I excel anyway, where it involves organising work, keeping people in check and ensuring things run smoothly. It was challenging, still a bit sometimes, getting a phone call from school to pick up my daughter and telling everyone I’ve got to go. Really fortunate to have a great team to work with, who completely understand and can step in and share the load. We don’t work in isolation; we work towards a team goal. Someone will always be willing to jump in and help.
Upcoming Events
Frontiers of Science – 22 March 2024
Exploring major discoveries and theories in physics, mathematics, biology and chemistry at this year’s combined AIP, TGNSW, RSNSW and RACI meeting.
Event Details:
Event Date: 22 March 2024
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Venue: Concord Golf Club
Cost: $25.00
RSVP: 21 March 2024
Click here to register
Pharmaceutical Science Group NSW - cGMP Hybrid Seminar – 3 April 2024
In line with international harmonisation of regulatory compliance initiatives, and also being a PIC/S member, Australia has adopted the PIC/S Code of GMP (PIC/S document PE 009) as the ‘manufacturing principle’ specified in the Therapeutic Goods Act.
This hybrid seminar/webinar will hear presentations from TGA, APVMA and industry based speakers. These presentations include descriptions of forthcoming changes and requirements with particular reference to Release for Supply and the Authorised Person, supply for clinical trials and impact on veterinary medicine manufacturers who export and therefore who are inspected by TGA inspectors.
Event Date: Wednesday 3 April 2024
Time: 12:30 pm – 6 pm
Venue: Pharmacy Lecture Theatre, Pharmacy School, University of Sydney or by remote attendance
Cost: RACI Members $100
Non-Members $130
RACI Student Members $10
Student Non-Members $30
Webinar Only - Organisations $150
RSVP: 1 April 2024
Click here to register
Save the Dates
Fellows and Honorary Life Members Lunch – 17 May 2024
Join us for our annual celebration of our NSW Branch Fellows and Honorary Life Members on Friday 17 May 2024. Make sure you mark it in your diary and look for details coming soon!
RACI National Office Contacts
• Education & Outreach – responsible for all international and national school competitions and resources. Staffed by Hannah McCarthy and Claire Salmon. Reach them via education@raci.org.au
• Events & Awards – responsible for all events and awards. Staffed by Melissa Johnson, Sian Kerr-Pilling, and Robyn Lewis. Reach them via events@raci.org.au or for awards awards@raci.org.au
• Careers – responsible for all careers initiatives, including the mentoring program. Staffed by Franca Dimoulas, supported by Peter Gostelow. Reach this unit via careers@raci.org.au
• Corporate Services – responsible for finance and marketing. Staffed by Samantha Telepe and Jenny Pham. Reach them via finance@raci.org.au and communications@raci.org.au
• Membership – responsible for all membership and fellowship matters. Staffed by Peter Gostelow. Reach Peter via member@raci.org.au
Branch Committee Meeting
The next branch meeting will be held online on Tuesday 26 March at 12:00 pm. For information on how to participate please contact raci-nswcmt@raci.org.au