Oh dear

For me, it's hard to read this Reddit post without both a bit of recognition from my past, as well as the desire to tell OP to run away quickly...: 

I've just taken over a 'lab', AKA the filthy garage that makes numbers, and want to turn it into a Lab. Halp!

I've just got a job at a waste oil processing plant. It's tiny. 6 people work here in total, with only myself (the new Site Chemist) and one other using the lab. 

Currently, the lab is a tiny cupboard containing an old XRF, KF, balance and a couple of spectrometers. Everything is coated in oil. The 'test methods' are stored in the plant guy's head, and there is basically nothing written down regarding SOPs, methods, calibrations, safety etc. 

As the site chemist, I've been given this cupboard and also the garage that contains the cupboard to turn into a fully functional, legitimate lab. Naturally, the first thing I did was think about safety and, accordingly, I asked the plant guy to stop washing sample jars out using chloroform and disposable nitrile gloves (no, we don't have a fume hood). 

What next? Of course, this is now my job and I do in fact have a plan, but do any of you guys have any tips on setting up a 'new' lab? Any resources I will find useful? I'd just like to make sure I don't miss anything out regarding safety, good practice etc. 

e: For info, I'm also responsible for health and safety for the whole site as well as environmental monitoring of everything we dump. Just trying to get a handle on the lab, which is what I know best, before I start making sweeping changes to everyone else's work areas. The lab is a mess because there was no chemist here before now.

 Yikes, this would not be a good situation to be in...

Warning Letter of the Week: busted gaskets edition

A friendly missive to the CEO of Alchymars ICM SM Private Limited in Chennai, India from the good folks at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research:  

2. Failure to properly maintain equipment and to keep complete records of major equipment maintenance.
Our investigator found damaged product-contact surfaces on your multi-product equipment. For example, the manhole gasket of [redacted]111 was deteriorating and wrapped in peeling tape. A gasket on the [redacted]102 was also cracked in one area and wrapped in peeling tape.

Your SOP/ENG/39-1, Gasket Management for Equipments and Pipelines which are in Direct Contact with the Product, section 4.18, requires you to replace gaskets in critical areas, including gaskets for [redacted]111 and [redacted]102, [redacted]. Your firm was unable to provide gasket replacement records for this equipment during the inspection.

Furthermore, the most recent records of your firm checking the condition of the gaskets for [redacted]102 were from January 2017, more than [redacted] before our inspection.

This is a repeat observation from our February 2015 inspection. We also note that you have found deteriorating gaskets to be the root cause for finished API particle complaints.

Your response is inadequate. You stated that the “involved gasket was immediately substituted” but did not evaluate all other gaskets on your manufacturing equipment. You indicated that you will update your procedure to require a supervisor walk-through to assess product contact surfaces, but did not include sufficient detail (e.g., frequency of equipment inspection). You also failed to address the lack of gasket maintenance records.

Gaskets are cheap, aren't they? Better a couple of bucks for gasket than particles in your API... 

2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 521 positions

The 2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 521 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On February 26, 2017, the 2017 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 566 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Try the open thread.

Want to talk about starting your new group? That open discussion is here.

Otherwise, all discussions are on the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List webforum.

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 20 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 20 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

What to do about Nick Kristof?

Over the weekend, a rather bizarre column (calmly titled "What Poisons Are In Your Body?") from the New York Times' Nick Kristof where he tests his urine for endocrine disruptors: 

Finally, I heard back from Silent Spring Institute. I figured this was a report card I had aced. I avoid all that harmful stuff. In my columns, I had advised readers how to avoid it. 

Sure enough, I had a low level of BPA, best known because plastic bottles now often boast “BPA Free.” 

But even a diligent student like me failed the test. Badly. I had high levels of a BPA substitute called BPF. Ruthann Rudel, a toxicologist who is the head of research at Silent Spring, explained that companies were switching to BPF even though it may actually be yet more harmful (it takes longer for the body to break it down). BPF is similar to that substance that made those mice do back flips.

I am a little at wit's end to understand how to help intelligent people like Mr. Kristof see past their clear fear of chemicals, the distrust they have of chemical companies and their seeming dismissal of regulatory agencies. It seems to me that he is all too credulous to the claims of organizations like the Silent Spring Institute that are incentivized to generate as much fear and doubt around chemicals as possible.

Readers, what do you think? 

This week's C&EN

A few of the articles from this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• Cover: "Harnessing the power of shape-shifting polymersHarnessing the power of shape-shifting polymers" (article by Manny I. Fox Morone)
• Jessica Marshall, on the dyes behind the Indian festival Holi
• 3M, paying $850 million to Minnesota, regarding fluoropolymers (article by Marc Reisch)
• Pretty cool fluorination chemistry from the Ritter group (article by Bethany Halford)
• Less neodymium in Toyota magnets is pretty cool to see (article by Melody M. Bomgardner)
• Interesting data from the Council on Graduate Schools regarding graduate degrees in chemistry (article by Andrea Widener)

GC vials

A list of small, useful things (links):

• The latest from Stellen für Chemiker
• Ash, on "Why the world needs more Leo Szilards"
• Jyllian, on the latest science-oriented emojis
• Kat Day, on "How bad is BPA, really?"
• Sustainable Nano on "Can gold melt at room temperature?"
• Mark Lorch on chemistry on Minecraft
• Beth Haas on teaching on her feet
• The latest from All Things Metathesis

An open invitation to all interested in writing a blog, a hobby that will bring you millions thousands hundreds tens of dollars joy and happiness. Send me a link to your post, and I'd be happy to put it up.

Have a good weekend!

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 115 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list has 115 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

22 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there's 14 new positions posted for February 18 and 8 positions for February 20.

The Process Chemistry Jobs List: 102 positions

The Process Chemistry Jobs List has 102 positions.

Want to help? Here's a form to fill out.

Want to chat process jobs? Try the open thread. 

"The University of Alberta, Southern California"

Courtesy of someone at In the Pipeline, the absolute weirdest article about a fake university you will read today. 

Anyone have a used Dionex ICS 1100?

Got a used Dionex ICS 1100?

If so, contact Deepa Mohan at deepa.shb99@gmail.com

Job posting: staff scientist, Takeda, San Diego

From the inbox:

The Staff Scientist, Medicinal Chemist is responsible for designing and synthesizing small-molecules for drug discovery projects in order to advance those programs into preclinical development. 

POSITION ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• The Staff Scientist, Medicinal Chemist develops novel and efficient synthesis strategies and coordinates research strategies and activities with team members
• Designs synthetic targets for lead discovery and optimization to address issues of target potency, selectivity, animal pharmacokinetics, and in vivo efficacy  
• Utilizes contemporary structure-based methods, structure-activity relationships, and medicinal chemistry principles in the proposal and execution of innovative chemistry strategies...

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry with 0-3 years  of relevant chemistry research experience, OR
• MS in Chemistry with minimum 10  years of relevant chemistry research experience, OR
• BS in Chemistry with minimum 12 years of relevant chemistry research experience

Link here. Best wishes to those interested. 

This week's C&EN

A few of the articles from this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News: 

• Cover: targeted protein degradation (article by Lisa Jarvis) 
• Man, those are some kooky cool molecules.
• Michael Torrice on vaccines for addictive drugs
• Machine learning for organic synthesis from the Doyle group (article by Beth Halford)
• "Cryptocurrency for your genome" (article by Ryan Cross) 
• is there anything the blockchain can't do? 
• (that's a joke)
• Some d00d yapping about leaving your job

2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 514 positions

The 2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 514 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On February 12, 2017, the 2017 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 562 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Try the open thread.

Want to talk about starting your new group? That open discussion is here.

Otherwise, all discussions are on the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List webforum.

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 19 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 19 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

View From Your Hood: French snows edition

Credit: Augustin Peneau

From reader Augustin Peneau: "White all over the trees and roofs, a peaceful morning at Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) in Gif-sur-Yvette (France)"

(got a View from Your Hood submission? Send it in (with a caption and preference for name/anonymity, please) at chemjobber@gmail.com; will run every other Friday.) 

Radio show: Melissa Vaught (aka biochembelle), Saturday, February 17, 11 PM Eastern

Looking forward to talking with Dr. Melissa Vaught (a.k.a. biochembelle, author of the longtime blog "Ever on & on") on Saturday, February 17, at 11 PM Eastern.

What would you like us to cover? Some topics will be pre-chosen (lots of talk about the life sciences and postdoctoral fellows), some are up to you.

Leave suggestions in the comments, or e-mail me: chemjobber@gmail.com

That's some high-grade horse pucky

From my weekly dose of pain known as a Google Alert for this term "skills gap", this gem in an article titled "US economy faces impending skills gap": 

...Pfizer, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, highlights both the demands of the new economy and the shortfalls from the labor force. 

At Pfizer’s 17 manufacturing sites across the country, a low-level technician once followed a set of scripted steps to mix individual batches of medicine. Those batches would be tested in a lab to ensure each dose would meet the company’s standards. 

Today, a technician operates computers that mix and analyze new batches of medicine instantly. The technician who once just needed to follow a recipe now needs to know a little bit about chemistry, biology, data analysis and lab work. 

“The technician role has become much more high tech, in that the operators are monitoring the online data and they are manipulating the control systems and making online decisions based on real-time data,” said Kevin Nepveux, Pfizer’s vice president of global manufacturing services. “That requires a different skill set for the operators.”

Call me a perennial skeptic, but this sounds like baloney.  

Got a career dilemma?

We are hoping to start a "CJ's mailbag" for my column at Chemical and Engineering News. Please feel free to write me (chemjobber@gmail.com) if you have a career-oriented dilemma that you'd like me to write about in the magazine. Also, you can submit your questions with this handy web form. Thanks!

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 109 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list has 109 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

11 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there's 11 new positions posted for February 12.

The Process Chemistry Jobs List: 100 positions

The Process Chemistry Jobs List has 100 positions.

Want to help? Here's a form to fill out.

Want to chat process jobs? Try the open thread. 

Talking with biochembelle (a.k.a. Melissa Vaught)

Looking forward to talking with Melissa Vaught (also known as biochembelle), on Saturday, February 17 at 11 PM Eastern about the life sciences, non-bench careers and postdoctoral issues.

What would you like us to cover? Some topics will be pre-chosen, some are up to you. 

Postdoctoral position: organic photovoltaics, Southampton, Hampshire, UK

From the inbox:

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is currently seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic post-doctoral researcher with an extensive hands-on experience in multistep organic synthesis to join their Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) Chemistry Team in Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom. 

Location: Merck Chemicals Ltd., Chilworth, Southampton, UK 

Your primary role will be to carry out the design, synthesis, purification and analysis of new materials for commercial OPV applications. You will use your ability, experience and knowledge to develop novel materials and an in-depth understanding of the parameters controlling their performance and quality. You will work with a talented multi-disciplinary team of people, contribute to the generation of intellectual property and support product scale-up and introduction to customers.

Job Requisites:

• Degree in chemistry in the field of organic synthesis plus applicable experience, PhD degree preferred
• Hands-on experience in synthesis and purification of aromatic compounds as well as conjugated polymers
• Experience in the field of organic electronics would be an advantage
• Excellent command of common analytical tools, such as NMR, HPLC, GCMS and GPC.

Best wishes to those interested. If you are interested, please contact Dr Agnieszka Pron (Agnieszka.Pron@merckgroup.com)

Job posting: Regulatory Affairs Specialist 1, American Sugar Refining, Inc., Boca Raton, FL

From the inbox:

POSITION SUMMARY 

The Regulatory Affairs Specialist I reports directly to the Manager of Global Regulatory Affairs. This position is responsible for assisting with the overall management of matters involving the company’s regulatory initiatives and regulatory compliance, specifically relating to new product development and existing products. Under the direction of the Manager, Global Regulatory Affairs, the Regulatory Affairs Specialist I will work with multiple relevant stakeholders such as the Legal Team, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Sales, and Research & Development to ensure product compliance.  

The Regulatory Affairs Specialist I researches and provides updates on existing and future key legislation that could affect new and existing product line development to his/her manager for review. Additionally, this individual will be heavily involved in making a positive contribution to implementing key legislative changes including FSMA and SFCA (U.S. and Canadian Regulation Updates). Additionally, this role will be responsible for providing excellent customer service and maintaining positive business relationships with both internal and external customers and/or vendors. 

EDUCATION & WORK REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Regulatory Affairs, Nutrition or Food Science, Chemistry or related field is required plus at least 1-2 years of applicable regulatory work experience
• Knowledge of the Food & Beverage or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry is strongly preferred

Best wishes to those interested. Full link here.

2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 511 positions

The 2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 511 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On February 12, 2017, the 2017 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 560 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Try the open thread.

Want to talk about starting your new group? That open discussion is here.

Otherwise, all discussions are on the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List webforum.

2016 Survey of Earned Doctorates: 11 universities graduated 20% of the Ph.D. chemists

Via the 2016 Survey of Earned Doctorates, a compilation of all the Ph.D. granting schools in chemistry in 2017. Of these, 11 schools generated 19.4% of the 2,704 Ph.D. graduates: 

U. Michigan, Ann Arbor: 59
U. California, Berkeley: 56
Purdue U., West Lafayette: 51
U. Wisconsin-Madison: 51
U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: 50
U. Florida: 49
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 47
Northwestern U.: 41
U. Minnesota, Twin Cities: 41
Princeton U.: 41
U. California, Irvine: 39

Of these, the top 5 schools (by volume) make 9.9% of the graduates. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 22 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 22 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

Fewer F31 grants for chemistry graduate students

Also from this week's C&EN, an article by Andrea Widener: 

The U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) announced last month that it will no longer fund a predoctoral fellowship program that supported select chemistry students. NIGMS decided instead to put all of its predoctoral funding toward training grants, which support departments to provide funding and mentorship to large groups of students. The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship, or F31, was one of few grants that chemistry students could apply for once they had already started their graduate research. 

Most other grants, including NSF predoctoral fellowships, go to students before they enter graduate school. Marilyn Mackiewicz, now a research assistant professor at Portland State University, says she hadn’t known about the NSF fellowships when she applied to graduate school at Texas A&M University. “It’s kind of sad they are deciding to stop funding the grant,” she says. NIGMS started supporting F31 fellowships in 2015. It awarded around 85 fellowships each year; less than 20% went to chemists.

Actually not that consequential to the total number of Ph.D. chemists (~2600 a year.) Still... 

Wanted: fluorochemical standards

In this week's C&EN's cover by Cheryl Hogue, an interesting request for synthetic standards: 

Wanted: Fluorochemical reference standards 

When researchers discover a new chemical in the environment, they need a reference sample of known purity to do further research on the substance. Such reference standards are necessary to calculate concentrations of chemicals in environmental samples, conduct toxicology studies, or carry out environmental fate and transport testing. 

But suppliers of chemical standards sometimes don’t have novel industrial chemicals, in particular those that are unintentional by-products of manufacturing processes. Researchers can measure the concentration of only some of the fluorochemicals in the Cape Fear River because they don’t have standards for comparison, says EPA scientist Mark Strynar. 

Chemours supplied standards for the two Nafion by-products found in the Cape Fear River to Strynar in November. Strynar is seeking standards for perfluoro-3,5,7-trioxaoctanoic acid (PFO3OA), perfluoro-3,5-dioxahexanoic acid (PFO2HxA), and perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA). “Those compounds need to be synthesized,” Strynar says. “Without that, our work is sort of at a standstill.” 

“There’re people out there that can do that synthesis and they can make these available as chemicals for us to purchase,” Strynar says in a pitch to the chemistry community. “It doesn’t have to be 99.9% pure,” he says. 

Strynar can be contacted at strynar.mark@epa.gov.

Gonna guess that Dr. Strynar could engage Apollo or Synquest for $20,000 or so, but what do I know?  

This week's C&EN

A few of the articles in this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• Cover: Why are there fluoropolymers in Wilmington, N.C.'s water? (article by Cheryl Hogue) 
• Wood that's stronger than steel? (article by Stu Borman) 
• Drug companies say "thanks for the tax cut cash!" (article by Ryan Cross) 
• Anyone gotten a bonus recently? 
• NSF addresses sexual harassment by grant recipients (article by Linda Wang and Andrea Widener)
• China cracking down on pollution doesn't mean good things for pharma supply chains... (article by Rick Mullin)
• Funny story by Melody Bomgardner on love and chemists, including Nick Uhlig's excellent cards. 

Scintillation vials

A list of small, useful things (links):

• The latest from Stellen für Chemiker
• "An Exclamation Mark in a Scientific Paper"
• Interesting question from th'Gaussling about Sigma-Aldrich's catalog.
• Also, a hilarious story
• From Ash, "The Ten Commandments of Molecular (and other) Modeling"
• Long thoughts by Philip Ball about whether or not scientists should see drafts of reported articles
• Short answer: yes, but without veto power
• Prof. Yudin on triazines
• The best article you will read this week, and it's about paper jams. Don't miss it.

An open invitation to all interested in writing a blog, a hobby that will bring you millions thousands hundreds tens of dollars joy and happiness. Send me a link to your post, and I'd be happy to put it up.

Have a good weekend!

Chemistry professors and their postdoctoral institutions

Credit: Dan Singleton

Via Twitter, Professor Dan Singleton of Texas A&M does a little sleuthing using the Directory of Graduate Research (tweets 1, 2 and 3): 

1. The top schools do impressively but they are not the only path to get a faculty job. Over half come from places outside of the top 10.
2. The correlation with school reputation is loose.
3. There is an inverse correlation with football quality. 

I expect that if we looked at graduate school institution, the distribution would be / less top heavy by a good margin.  That is, a medium graduate school followed by a good postdoc is a perfectly fine path to a faculty position. This has been studied in the economics literature. It is better to be the best person at a lesser school than third best at Harvard.

This is pretty unsurprising (especially the Pareto distribution of postdoctoral institutions.)

I am very curious to know what this would look like by decade cohorts. I presume that, for our modern times (2008-2018), the gatekeeper institutions have gotten stronger, not weaker. (i.e. the institutions may be different, but the top 5 will have more than those for the top 5 for previous decades.) Readers, what say you? 

The power of Congress

Via Twitter, this news from Nature about NSF and its policy on PI sexual harassment (article written by Alexandra Witze): 

Any institution receiving grant monies from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) must now inform the agency if it finds that anyone funded by the grant proposal has committed sexual harassment. The policy will take effect after a 60-day public-comment period ends. 

Until now, “we haven’t had a requirement on universities to report a [harassment] finding or when they’ve put someone on administrative leave” during a harassment investigation, says France Córdova, the NSF director. “We didn’t have the channel to find out what’s at the end of an investigation.” 

The reporting requirement comes in the wake of numerous sexual-harassment scandals in the sciences. It is a rare move among US federal research agencies, which generally do not require grant recipients or their employers to disclose sexual-harassment allegations or findings.

Why did this happen? Well, surely the current cultural moment has something to do with it. There's also this:

Like other federal agencies, the NSF is under pressure from the US Congress to strengthen its response to sexual harassment. In January, the House of Representatives’ science committee asked the Government Accountability Office to look into sexual harassment involving federally funded researchers at agencies including the NSF, NASA, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. 

I think this is instructive to those who are interested in getting funding agencies to pursue academic lab safety as a priority. While professional societies and universities have their place in suggesting voluntary guidelines for safety practices, there's nothing quite like Congressional pressure to move items from policy proposal to policy. 

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 101 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list has 101 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

20 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there's 7 new positions posted for February 4 and 13 new positions posted for February 7.

The Process Chemistry Jobs List: 98 positions

The Process Chemistry Jobs List has 98 positions.

Want to help? Here's a form to fill out.

Want to chat process jobs? Try the open thread. 

Learn to code?

Also in this week's C&EN, this interesting suggestion from Professor Javier García Martínez: 

...However, for this opportunity to be fully realized, chemists should be able to talk to machines. Unfortunately, few chemists can actually code, let alone program a robot or write an algorithm to design and run a better set of experiments. Robotics or AI are rarely part of the chemistry curriculum, even at graduate school. This is especially worrisome considering that a recent report by Dell Technologies estimates that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030—when our current students will be in their early 30s—have not been invented yet but will definitely require those skills. 

The chemical industry will be profoundly transformed by the convergence of technologies that defines the fourth industrial revolution. According to the World Economic Forum, the digitalization of the chemical industry will create revenues in the $310 billion to $550 billion range, reduce CO2 emissions by 60 million to 100 million metric tons, and avoid 2,000 to 3,000 injuries over the next decade. This will require profound adaptations—and on a very short notice—in the workforce, leadership, and organization of a $5 trillion industry.

Call me skeptical that one more item should be bolted onto graduate training in chemistry, but learning to code or work with AI technologies seems like a reasonably wise thing for a graduate student in the sciences to do. 

Situations Wanted: Paul Humphries

Debuting today, "situations wanted." Our first poster, Paul Humphries: 

My name is Paul Humphries and I am currently looking to use my drug discovery knowledge and skills in a challenging and rewarding position within a Bay Area biotech company (see attached for my resume). I am a passionate and motivated scientist with over sixteen years of experience delivering high quality small molecule clinical candidates.  

For the last seven years I have been working at Reset Therapeutics, where I am currently Chief Scientific Officer and assume full responsibility for all aspects of research and nonclinical development (20 scientists). During this time, I work with the Board of Directors, Scientific Advisory Board and key external opinion leaders to ensure that the organization’s vision and performance meets the needs of the patient population. I was integral in setting up and optimizing the key phenotypic circadian biology platform that yielded the lead Cryptochrome project which progressed from academic hits to First in Human in six years.  

I also successfully obtained NIH and Michael J. Fox Foundation non-dilutive funding for the Orexin project, allowing science to progress to the point where Reset established a lucrative research collaboration with Alkermes. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the rewarding 23andMe collaboration where we are studying circadian clock genes to improve the therapeutic development of diseases associated with circadian dysfunction. Prior to joining Reset, I had eight years of experience at Pfizer as a medicinal chemist. This time included projects at both an early and late stage, culminating in seven IND submissions across four projects and numerous other projects reaching expedient go/no go decisions.

Interested in talking to Paul or knowing more about him? E-mail me at chemjobber@gmail.com for a link to his CV and contact information. 

This week's C&EN

A few of the articles in this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• Cover: "The chemistry-based diet that’s treating irritable bowel syndrome", by Bethany Halford
• Pretty remarkable article, give it a read! 
• 4th quarter chemical company earnings are up (article by Melody Bomgarder)
• Lee Latimer encourages getting involved with ACS.

2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 506 positions

The 2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 506 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On January 24, 2017, the 2017 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 553 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Try the open thread.

Want to talk starting your new group? That open discussion is here.

Otherwise, all discussions are on the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List webforum.

Visiting Assistant Professor: St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St Mary's City, MD

From the inbox:

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry (two-year position) 

St. Mary’s College of Maryland invites applications for a two-year visiting assistant professor of chemistry beginning August 2018.   Responsibilities include:  Teaching Organic Chemistry I and II lectures and labs and other courses as needed in the department such as General Chemistry I and II, a non-majors chemistry course, and courses in the applicant’s area of expertise.  Visiting faculty are encouraged to conduct research with undergraduates.  The department has a variety of research grade instrumentation as well as dedicated research space available. 

Qualifications include: Ph.D. in chemistry or a related field and a commitment to excellence in undergraduate teaching.   Postdoctoral training and/or teaching experience are preferred.  Employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check.

Full ad here. Best wishes for those interested.  

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 20 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 20 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

View From Your Hood: bright morning edition

Credit: @finetraces786

From Safia: "A bright morning on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Georgetown University. The D.C. skyline never gets less beautiful!"

(got a View from Your Hood submission? Send it in (with a caption and preference for name/anonymity, please) at chemjobber@gmail.com; will run every other Friday.) 

The inventor of Rice Dream is a Ph.D. chemist?

Via NPR (article by Kristin Hartke), an unusual path (or perhaps not?): 

For Mitchell, it was a quest that began early in her career in the 1970s and '80s, when she developed Rice Dream rice milk for natural foods company Imagine Foods — an interesting path for the daughter of celebrated food chemist Bill Mitchell, the inventor of Tang, Cool Whip and Pop Rocks. 

"I had just gotten my Ph.D., specializing in carbohydrate chemistry," recalls Mitchell. "I was really interested in metabolism and how our bodies handle carbohydrates, and then got entrenched in looking at food from a natural processing perspective." 

Although proud of her work at Imagine Foods, Mitchell still felt dissatisfied by not being able to maximize the nutrients in raw ingredients, as many nutritional elements were lost during the extraction process. So, in 2001, she ventured out on her own, buying a research facility in California, where she spent the next five years developing a process to create a plant-based milk that had as much protein as its dairy counterpart. 

"We had to make a quantum leap in technology," she says. "Typically, when you make these kinds of milks, you grind everything up and then filter out the liquid. You can get a nice milk with great flavor, but the protein is lost. My goal was to keep that taste, but with all the protein."

It sounds like Dr. Mitchell is fairly successful at making nut milks out of her proprietary process (and wanders into the plant now and again.) I'm going to guess the majority of carbohydrate chemists do not end up in relatively industrial careers. 

Be kind to someone today

Via Bloomberg's Megan McArdle, some really good advice: 

Don’t just pay people compliments; give them living eulogies. Tell them exactly how great they are, in how many ways. Embarrass them. Here’s a funny thing I have learned by being just a little bit internet famous: it doesn’t matter how many times you hear them, the words “You are amazing, and here’s why” never get old. They do not go out of style. You will be wearing them to your 80th birthday party, along with a dazzling smile.

Thanks to this, I've taken a few minutes to write sustained praise for a few of my friends and loved ones and it's been fun. 

(The rest of her advice is quite good as well. I really liked this one: "You should never, ever argue with your spouse about anything that could be solved with a proper application of money or ingenuity.")

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 96 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list has 96 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

37 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there's 16 new positions posted for January 27 and 21 new positions posted for January 31.

The Process Chemistry Jobs List: 94 positions

The Process Chemistry Jobs List has 94 positions.

Want to chat process jobs? Try the open thread.