Professionals in a wide-variety of STEM careers are working during the COVID-19 outbreak to continue essential services in our community. The Lancaster Science Factory is pleased to present profiles of these individuals and how they're putting STEM in Action right now.
Kimberley Rhoades, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories.
What is your role at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories?
I’m the Director of Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials and have the privilege of leading the best raw materials team on the globe, servicing the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies by providing analytical testing services for excipients, APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients), reagents, resins, serums—basically any component that is used in a drug formulation or used in the production of a drug product.
How has it changed during the COVID-19 outbreak?
My role has not really changed other than dealing with the challenges in how I communicate virtually with staff. Maintaining shift segregation and social distancing has created new ways of how we can interact and offer guidance during these challenging times. I work remotely 50% of the time in order to reduce the amount of people in the laboratory. We need to keep our analysts safe and healthy so they can focus on their essential job responsibility of providing raw materials for the medicine pipeline. Communication is the key during these stressful times; my goal is to be available to anyone that needs me. They can email, text, call, Skype me at any time.
In addition to your increased job responsibilities and long hours, you’ve been highly involved on our Board in helping the Science Factory navigate this crisis. How have you managed to make time for other causes, and why is that important to you now?
Given the gravity of this pandemic and my role in helping biopharmaceutical companies bring timely life-saving therapies to patients and since we are still operating 100% at the laboratory, this is my and my team’s main focus. That said, I believe for the future health and safety of all it’s vital that we nurture the next generation of scientists and thus my ongoing commitment to help LSF in any capacity that they would need.
As we look to scientists to provide us with the facts about this outbreak, we are reminded of just how essential STEM education is to our community. Could you share any reflections you’ve had on this topic recently?
The pandemic has really reinforced my decision to become a scientist. Being able to support the efforts as biopharmaceutical companies work tirelessly to find a vaccine, therapy, treatment is definitely rewarding. I also find my non-scientist friends and family looking for a calm, reasoning voice to explain what is happening and why do we have to maintain social distancing.
We will look back years from now and remember this time; it will be a defining point in a young future scientist’s life as to what they want to be when they grow up. A great STEM education will help foster the path for our future Doctors, Nurses, Scientists and Teachers.
What have you been doing to stay sane during this time? Any media recommendations?
I’m one of the fortunate that works for an essential company. I’m able to keep busy and sane through work. However during downtime we have been having “happy hour” events with friends through Zoom. I’ve tried to not listen to all the media coverage on the pandemic; it gets overwhelming, and people do need be able to shut it down. Exercise is the best remedy; we take off at 5am for our 3 mile walk through our neighborhood. Read, exercise, listen to podcasts whatever it takes to escape and de-stress during the pandemic.
