Chief Editor, Chemistry & Biotechnology, Nature Communication
March 2020–present Chief Editor, Chemistry and Biotechnology
Responsible for the all chemistry and biotech content and teams Nature Communications, comprising of 30 editors.
May 2017–March 2020 Chief Editor
Chief Editor for the launch of Nature Catalysis. I brought the journal from concept to launch (Issue 1 went live in January 2018). Additionally, I recruited and managed a team of editors.
July 2013–May 2017 Assistant/Associate/Senior Editor & Team Manager
Having started as an Assistant Editor, I proceeded to manage the Organic Chemistry/Chemical Biology content for Nature Communications. I managed a team of 5 editors across organic chemistry, catalysis, chemical biology, nanotechnology, polymers and biomaterials.
January 2013–July 2013 Publishing Editor
Worked on the journals Dalton Transactions, Catalysis Science and Technology, and CrystEngComm. This involved running the peer-review process plus proofreading and editing accepted articles. I was the first point of contact for 4 editorial board members.
January 2009–January 2013 Assistant Professor in Chemistry
Ran a research group in organic synthesis/catalysis. Supervised PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. I wrote a number of papers/reviews/book chapters, wrote successful grant applications and presented research results at international conferences. Furthermore, I lectured to undergraduate classes, and coordinated all Health Sciences chemistry teaching.
2008–2009 Senior Research Associate
Worked with Dr. Christopher Richards in the synthesis/catalysis. In addition to my research I was directly responsible for two research students.
2006–2008 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow
Worked with Dr. Sijbren Otto in the area of dynamic combinatorial chemistry and self-selecting catalysts. Also worked closely with the group of Prof. Jeremy Sanders. Supervised one Masters Student.
2004–2005 Research Chemist
Laboratory chemist in a start-up campus company. I achieved results that helped ensure the future viability and funding of the company, and got accustomed to meeting with pharmaceutical companies and dealing with IP (ligands I developed are commercially available through Sigma Aldrich). A process I developed (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129, 9566, Int. Patent WO/2005/118603) is now performed on an industrial scale. This process is also used to supply Sigma Aldrich with DiPAMP ligands for resale.
Sept 2003–Mar 2004 Visiting Researcher
Worked with Prof. Gregory Fu in the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of families of β-lactams using planar-chiral metallocenes. This involved a great deal of time spent working with highly sensitive materials.
Summer 2000 Research Chemist
Internship in a research and development lab in Schering-Plough (now MSD). Supporting plant production by synthesising intermediates from multi-step processes and analysing and identifying side-products.
Professor of Chemistry and Chair of Chemistry program
Professor of Chemistry, Materials science and Engineering at Northwestern University
Professor of Organic Chemistry, Editor in Chief of JACS
Editor at Wiley
Associate Editor Nature Materials
Scientific editor, KAUST Insight research communication
Chief Editor, Chemistry & Biotechnology, Nature Communication
Professor CIC biomaGUNE (BRTA), Spain