Reflection on first months at Peak Proteins

One of our newest members of staff, Rahaf Madi, gives her reflections on her first month here with us at Peak Proteins, including the training received and scientific challenges she encountered and how they were solved….teamwork was key to her successful start.

I joined Peak Proteins a month after finishing my MSc at the University of Nottingham. Although my research project had given me a good understanding of the basics of protein expression, purification, and analysis techniques, I still had so much to learn about proteins and working efficiently in a lab. On my first day, I started learning how to work at Peak Proteins’ labs safely, and how to access the resources that I need to establish a good understanding of protein science and peak proteins’ protocols. I spent my first month shadowing an experienced member of the team, Juli (Warwicker). My first few weeks were a bit overwhelming, but Juli was extremely helpful in helping me settle into Peak Proteins, taking time to explain the workflow at Peak Proteins; the collaboration between the cell and protein teams, how to plan out experiments before carrying them out in the lab, and how to represent data in reports and QC documents. Working alongside someone who has decades of experience in the industry has been very advantageous as I now have a good understanding of protein purification techniques, protein analysis using SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry and how to prepare shipments for local and overseas clients.

At Peak Proteins, protein purifications are carried out using AKTAs. While I was familiar with them, I had no experience in using them to write methods and carry out the purifications independently, so on my fifth week, I attended an AKTA Training course run by Cytiva. This course gave me the opportunity to practice multiple methods of purification, including Ion Exchange Chromatography and Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography. After this course, I developed a better understanding of the different protein purification techniques and how to operate the AKTA pump, which made me a lot more confident using the AKTA and writing methods.

The following week, I started my first protein purification. This protein was a mutant of a scFv requested by a client, and initially it did not express well in HEK cells. It was very exciting to see how creatively Peak Proteins solved this issue, through the introduction of three amino acids, which took the expression levels from hardly any protein produced, to an extremely well expressed protein! (Read our case study here).

I spent the month of December preparing scFvs for an overseas client, and whenever I hit a challenge I could not solve on my own, I asked my more experienced co-workers for help. It was interesting to see how different people tackle issues from a different perspective, but Peak Proteins scientists have at least one thing in common; they always lend a helping hand. By January, Juli and I shipped these proteins to the client who was very happy with the results.

In the new year, I started taking on more challenging purifications, both small and large scale, for proteins expressed from different cell types including bacterial (E. coli) and insect cells. I became experienced with different techniques of cell lysis and sonication and I also carried out my first nickel resin regeneration with the help of my colleague Toby (Allen). Day after day, I am learning how to work in the lab responsibly and independently.

When I first started this job, I had just moved to Manchester with my family and starting a new job in a new city was quite overwhelming. I also felt nervous about working alongside more experienced people, but having the support and encouragement of my amazing colleagues has been a great comfort; I am very thankful to have the opportunity to work with incredible scientists and look forward to my future here.