ÉîÒ¹¸£Àû¹ú²ú¾«Æ·

Biography

Ishan Goshawk joined AstraZeneca as a laboratory scientist degree apprentice in 2022 after completing his A-levels at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School Sixth Form. From school, he knew he wanted to pursue science and chose an apprenticeship so he could gain practical experience working on real-world projects.

Through his time at AstraZeneca, Ishan has developed into an automation specialist, developing workflows that integrate chemistry with robotic platforms to rapidly gather high quality data for drug projects. Alongside his core role, Ishan has undertaken multiple rotations within drug development and drug discovery to strengthen his synthetic chemistry skills. In the past year, he has also started mentoring apprentices who are at the start of their journey, helping them develop into well-rounded scientists and industry professionals.

Additionally, Ishan has been an ambassador for AstraZeneca and apprenticeships at various public events, speaking to prospective apprentices at careers fairs, schools, and outreach events. A particular highlight was attending the One Young World summit in 2023, an event that brought young leaders together from over 190 countries to accelerate social impact, drive youth empowerment, and champion innovation for a better tomorrow.

Outside of work, Ishan has a passion for fitness, nature, and entrepreneurship. He is a regular gym-goer, loves seeing new places, and completed a half-marathon during his apprenticeship. He has combined these interests by launching his own natural wellness brand with a friend he met at university.

Mistakes and problems can also seem like the end of the world at the time. However, mistakes lead to learnings, and these can often be more beneficial than things going right first time.

Ishan Goshawk

Q&A

Can you tell us more about your work?

I work within chemical development at AstraZeneca, a department that optimises the manufacturing process of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The department optimises the time, cost, and environmental impact of manufacturing processes to ultimately deliver life-saving medicines to patients quickly and sustainably. I work with automation to produce physical properties data for drug projects, using high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to convert historically time, resource, and material-intensive workflows into efficient processes that can provide drug projects with essential data quickly and sustainably. My work can identify greener solvents for drug projects to use, efficient purification methods, and enables experiments to be performed on a smaller scale, significantly reducing the amount of waste a drug manufacturing process can produce and decreasing the impact of these processes on the environment.

Who or what first sparked your interest in chemistry, and how has that interest evolved over time? 

My Dad! He has worked as a software developer at Waters Corporation for my whole life. Our school did not offer work experience, but in year 10 he found an opportunity for me to go to Waters for a week and gain an insight into how they make and test their analytical instruments. I was already interested in science, but being in this environment – surrounded by brilliant minds making a proper change in the world – was the catalyst that led me to choose chemistry as an A-level and ultimately end up working as a chemist (who now uses Waters instruments daily)!

What has been the most rewarding or memorable highlight of your career so far? 

I have been lucky to be involved in many amazing things throughout my apprenticeship. I got to listen to world leaders, company executives, and professional sports players at the One Young World summit, and this was absolutely awe inspiring. However, the things I look back on most fondly are when I have been able to help others earlier along their career journeys. Talking to students at careers fairs who are deciding if an apprenticeship is right for them, helping younger apprentices write their first poster submission or piece of coursework – these are the moments I feel I have (hopefully) had the biggest impact. 

Thinking back to earlier in your career, are there any words of wisdom that you wish someone had told you? 

I would tell someone to be their true self and not take things too seriously! The corporate world can be a big scary place, and you may feel like you have to act in a certain way. Be professional and formal, but have a laugh, get involved in extra activities and smile at people – it goes further than you think. Mistakes and problems can also seem like the end of the world at the time. However, mistakes lead to learnings, and these can often be more beneficial than things going right first time.

How can scientists try to improve the environmental sustainability of research? Can you give us any examples from your own experience or context? 

I think being aware of green solvents that you can use for your syntheses, purifications, and even washing glassware can have a massive impact on the environmental sustainability of research. As someone who has worked on a solubility screening platform, I have seen projects using 'dirtier' solvents for their processes because it has been the status quo. (i.e. DCM), however, after running a screen, we have found alternative green solvents that can perform just as well. If this solvent selection is considered a lot earlier in research and development, it can greatly reduce the environmental impact of research projects.