Sarah Lennon

What does your job entail?

Waters employs 5400 people worldwide, 500 of whom are in Manchester, where I work. In the protein analysis team, I show customers the capabilities and possibilities of the mass spectrometers we make. Our customers are university research laboratories, companies and pharmaceutical groups. They send us samples that we analyze to obtain the best results and convince them. Besides that, I also train the customers in the use of the instruments. The mass spectrometer allows the detection and identification of molecules, for example, biomarkers in medicine or pesticides in water samples.

What is your academic background?

After high school, I chose chemistry because I wanted to synthesize medication. I studied at the ECPM from 2006 to 2010. In the last year, I followed in parallel the master of analytical chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry. I did my internship at the Laboratory of Bio-Organic Mass Spectrometry (LSMBO) of the IPHC in Strasbourg. This is what made me want to pursue my thesis in this same laboratory. My work consisted in searching for biomarkers characteristic of different cancers. I spent four years working on the machines that I am demonstrating today. My thesis advisor, Sarah Cianferani, told me about this position. I started in June 2014 and defended my thesis in September.

What do you remember about your studies at the University?

The ECPM gave me a good general culture in chemistry, it is a school very open to the international scene. We had English and German classes and we had to do one of our internships abroad. These are the internships that have marked me the most. They give you an open mind and the opportunity to apply what you have learned. Abroad, we had to learn to manage on our own.

Read Sarah's full interview on the Unistra Alumni website

Interview by Stéphanie Robert