Hi Reddit!

I’m Dr. Joseph Glajch and I currently work as the Director of Analytical Development for Momenta Pharmaceuticals. Our company specializes in complex medicines and complex mixtures of different drugs are we are now heavily involved in biosimilars (which are follow-on versions of biological drugs). This is a relatively new area in the United States, since these were just given a path for approval as part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (also known as ObamaCare). Biosimiliars by their very nature are not a single molecule, but a mixture of hundreds or thousands of variants of the same basic protein, which makes them difficult to produce and analyze. Our company has developed a wide range of processes and analytical techniques to make this happen and we hope to develop and gain approval for these biosimilars in order to expand access to these medicines at significantly reduced cost to the consumers and health care system.

I am an analytical chemist by training having received an A.B. in Chemistry at Cornell University and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Georgia. After graduate school, I spent many years in a variety of positions at DuPont and then Bristol-Myers Squibb when they acquired the pharmaceutical division of DuPont in 2001. I have worked in process chemical research, biochemistry, analytical, and pharmaceutical chemistry prior to coming to Momenta in 2008. I also serve as an ACS Expert and am involved with the US Pharmacoepia (USP) on a number of panels and committees. I have also written a number of papers and three books on method development for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Ask me anything about biosimilars or what it’s like for chemists to work in the private sector – including some roles that are “non-traditional” compared to chemistry lab work.

I’ll be back at 12pm ET (9am PT, 5pm UTC) to answer your questions.

I am online now and starting to answer questions. -- JG

I will be dropping off now (13:19 EST) but will come back later today to answer more questions if there are any -- JG

Back online for about 20 mins to see if there are any other questions. -- JG 16:50 EST

ACS AMA

Hi Reddit! I’m Adam Boyd, the Program Director for AACT (https://teachchemistry.org/). I have a background in chemistry and business. I work with our extremely talented staff and teacher leaders throughout the country to help provide resources, networking opportunities, and professional development for K–12 teachers of chemistry.

And I’m Jenn Parsons, Education Resource Specialist for AACT. I spent 9 years teaching high school chemistry and forensic chemistry in northern Virginia. Now I help develop chemistry resources for use in K–12 classrooms and teachers of chemistry. I have led teacher content-writing teams in partnership with the Dow Chemical Company, as well as the Ford Motor Company. I also lead professional development sessions at science education conferences. Additionally I am the editor of our quarterly periodical, Chemistry Solutions (https://teachchemistry.org/periodical/issues). I’m always looking for contributors for our publication—interested? Or do you know someone who is? Let me know!

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about chemistry education or AACT. We’re eager to work with new teachers, as well as help K–8 teachers integrate more chemistry into their science curriculum. Ask us anything about these topics, we’re here to help!

We will be back at 1pm ET (10am PT, 6pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask us anything!

We're here and happy to answer your questions about chemistry education or AACT. We’re eager to work with new teachers, as well as help K–8 teachers integrate more chemistry into their science curriculum. Ask us anything about these topics, we’re here to help!

Thanks so much for all of your questions! We have to get back to work, but we will try to check back later if we can. Thanks again, all!

Hi reddit!

I’m Saiful Islam and I’m Professor of Materials Chemistry at University of Bath in the UK.

I’m a chemist who doesn’t wear a lab coat; my research involves using computer modelling to investigate how energy-related materials behave at the atomic level. This knowledge is used to help design new materials for next generation clean energy devices such as lithium batteries, solar cells and fuel cells. So when people ask me what I do, I sometimes say ‘I model’!

The supply of clean, sustainable energy is one of our greatest challenges. Energy is essential to our modern society, our economy and our way of life. If we want to find new and improved forms of technology to help meet our growing energy needs, then we need to develop better materials first.

In December I had the honour of presenting the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures entitled ‘Supercharged: Fuelling the future’ which were broadcast on BBC4. If you’re in the UK you can watch them back on BBC iPlayer and if you’re outside of the UK keep an eye on the Ri Channel where they’ll be uploaded soon.

Throughout January I and other scientists will be answering questions from the public via I’m A Scientist around how we’re going to fuel the future.

I’m here to answer your questions between 10am-12pm ET (3pm-5pm GMT), Ask Me Anything!

edit: thank you all for the interesting and varied questions. Sorry I couldn't answer them all. I'm afraid I need to get back to my research group on energy materials. Many thanks.