Green Chemistry Symposium

Dr Gary Noonan

AstraZeneca

Gary Noonan grew up in Cork, Ireland. He did a BSc (Chemistry) at University College Cork, before moving to bonnie Scotland to the University of St Andrews, to work under the supervision of Prof. Matt Clarke. His PhD research applied asymmetric hydroformylation to the synthesis of potential pharmaceutical intermediates. A postdoc at AstraZeneca (AZ), working as part of the ‘synthesis tractability improvement group’ (STIG), was followed by three years working as a medicinal chemist at RedX Pharma; working on developing novel antibiotics. He then returned to AZ to work in process development at the Macclesfield site. Currently, he is a secondee to AZ Global Sustainability.

Dr Rebecca Ruck

MSD

Rebecca Ruck is Executive Director, Merck Process Research & Development, previously obtaining her PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University. She leads the Enabling Technologies group, a role she proposed that has created an innovation incubator of biologists, chemists and engineers. Her team is making impressive contributions across all pipeline projects, including the application of an unprecedented biocatalytic cascade sequence to the manufacturing route of islatravir, a pioneering photochemical flow process for belzutifan and an immobilized enzymatic flow reaction for a late-stage oncology asset.

Prof Ross Denton

University of Nottingham

Ross Denton began his research career at University of Nottingham, carrying out his PhD studies with Prof Jim Anderson. Following completion of doctoral research, he moved to The Scripps Research Institute in California as postdoctoral fellow (Prof K C Nicolaou’s group). Returning to UK, he carried out further postdoctoral studies with Prof Steven Ley, CBE, FRS at Cambridge University. Ross returned to Nottingham to begin an independent research career in 2008 as fixed term Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. In 2009 he was appointed to Lectureship in Organic Chemistry, then promoted to Associate Professor in 2016 and to Professor 2020.