The Committee

John studied for a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Vibrational Spectroscopy at the University of East Anglia. He worked for Mattson Instruments in sales and marketing of FTIR and FT-Raman spectrometers. When Mattson acquired Pye Unicam he became Business Manager for Infrared Spectroscopy for the combined group. 

In 1995 he founded Clairet Scientific Ltd. Clairet specialises in the application of spectroscopy to on-line, at-line measurements and in process research. The company has pioneered the development of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in the UK and beyond. John works with FTIR, FT-NIR, Diode Array NIR, UV-visible, Raman, Terahertz, Mass and Ion mobility spectroscopy. 

Alex currently works as an analytical chemist in the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis based at the University of Bradford. This wide-ranging role has seen him working in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals, forensics, archaeology and art restoration.

In doing so he has developed an expertise in NMR, IR, MS (particularly GC- and LC-), TGA, DSC, PXRD and Raman spectroscopy. His particular research interest is in the application of Raman spectroscopy in art and archaeology.

He has a BSc in Forensic Science and a PhD in the application of Raman spectroscopy to geo-chemical identification, both from the University of Bradford.

www.linkedin.com/in/alex-surtees

Ben is a Director in the Analytical Development group at GSK in Stevenage where he leads a team which applies solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy to problem solving in drug development and discovery, in small molecule, large molecule and oligonucleotide modalities.  He also leads cross-functional teams in wider aspects of drug development all the way from candidate selection through to marketing and manufacture.  

Ben completed his first degree in Natural Sciences and a PhD in the field of molecular recognition at Christ's College, University of Cambridge. Ben is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, has been a member of the RSC MSG Committee since 2007, was Secretary from 2009-2022 and has been Treasurer since 2022. 

Steve leads the solution state NMR spectroscopy group at AstraZeneca in Macclesfield, supporting analysts and chemists throughout R&D and manufacturing. 

His interests include structure elucidation, reaction monitoring and the development and implementation of software solutions for data processing and management. He previously worked at Pfizer until 2008 working in the Analytical R&D group after completing his degree and PhD at the University of Bradford, studying natural product isolation and synthesis. 

Steve has been on the RSC MSG committee since 2006 and was Chairman from 2010 - 2018.

Prof. C. L. Paul Thomas gained his PhD at UMIST, in 1988. He was an endowed lecturer at UMIST and developed the VOC group within the Department of Instrumentation and Analytical Science. 

He is also a past president of the International Society of Ion Mobility Spectrometry, and has served on the editorial boards of the RSC’s Analyst and Springer’s International Journal of Ion mobility Spectrometry. 

His research has been dedicated to the study of VOC measurement in all its forms and in particular to biogenic VOC in humans, and he is currently the Head of the Department of Chemistry at Loughborough University, UK

Natalie Belsey is a Senior Lecturer in Chemical & Process Engineering at the University of Surrey, and a Senior Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the Surface Technology Group. Natalie’s research is focused on the application of optical spectroscopies, in particular stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy to study formulated products and their fate post-application to the skin.

Natalie obtained her MChem in 2005 from the University of Oxford, where she remained for her doctorate. In 2013 she joined the University of Bath to undertake postdoctoral research before joining NPL in 2013, and in addition, Surrey in 2020.  She is a Chartered Chemist, and a Fellow of the Community for Analytical Measurement Science (CAMS). 

Peter joined the RSC MSG committee in April 2015. He studied for an MSci in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry before a PhD focused on the application of spectroscopic process analytical technology to improve understanding in Pharmaceutical drying processes – both at The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. 

He then completed a collaborative post-doctoral research position with Strathclyde and GSK in the USA before joining GSK on a full time basis in the UK. Subsequently, he joined AstraZeneca.  He has experience in the use of Raman, NIR, MIR, and UV-Vis spectroscopies and their applications for process analysis in both drug substance and drug product pharmaceutical production.  

Sulaf is a senior lecturer in analytical forensic chemistry at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular science in Liverpool John Moores University. Her research interests spread across multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary areas related to medication safety; patient safety; counterfeit medicines, drugs and lifestyle products; spectroscopy; mixed-method research and machine learning. She has published 100+ peer-reviewed international scientific publications including: 50+ peer reviewed articles; 60+ abstracts and conference proceedings and three book chapters in these areas.

Sulaf has a Bachelor in Pharmacy from Beirut Arab University (Lebanon), Masters in Pharmaceutical Analysis from Beirut Arab University (Lebanon) and PhD in Pharmaceutical Analysis from the School of Pharmacy (London, UK). 

Jo’s scientific career spans over 20 years working in multidisciplinary environments in both industry and academia. After graduating with an MChem in Analytical Chemistry, Jo entered the pharmaceutical industry as an Analytical Chemist and then moved into more technical and training roles as an Applications Scientist and Trainer.

Having discovered a passion for research and teaching, Jo completed a PhD in Biological Chemistry at the University of Manchester followed by a Cancer Research UK funded Post-Doc at the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre in Manchester. Jo joined the University of Salford as Lecturer in Pharmacology in 2016 where her research focused on biomedical and pharmaceutical applications employing spectroscopy (FTIR, ATR, Synchrotron-FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy) and mass spectrometry (LC-MS, GC-MS, SIMS, MALDI and DESI).

Jo now supports academics in the commercialisation of life science products and technologies in her current role as Senior Project Manager at the University of Manchester Innovation Factory.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannadenbigh/