Analytical Chemistry · Pharmaceutical Quality
Minal Patel
Analytical chemist in pharmaceutical quality control — developing and validating methods, running large-scale batch testing, and coordinating schedules across teams so client programs stay on track.
- Currently
- Scientist I, Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Education
- B.Sc. Honours Chemistry, University of Waterloo
- Based in
- Ontario, Canada
01
About
I'm an analytical chemist based in Ontario, currently a Scientist I at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where I test clinical-trial material, stability control, and commercial pharmaceutical batches against the specifications that decide whether they move forward.
A lot of what I like about this work happens at the edges of the bench. At Bio Agri Mix I took an FTIR identification method from development through validation on my own, designing the reference standard in full alignment with Health Canada's Schedule B USP monograph requirements — the step that enabled regulatory approval for a veterinary product's Canadian launch. At Thermo Fisher I manage testing schedules across six chemists for client programs including Gilead, Cytokinetics, and Blueprint, and introduced a shared test tracker so chemists working the same project can work from the same picture of status.
That pattern repeats across everything I've done: work out what actually needs to happen, get the people involved pointed the same direction, and write it up clearly enough that someone else can make a decision on it — whether that's a GMP compliance report, a 15-person restaurant floor, or a competitive team I'm calling for mid-round.
02
Experience
-
Scientist I
Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Run large-scale analytical testing across Clinical Trial Material, stability control, and commercial pharmaceutical products — assay, dissolution, water content, and bulk physical testing on multiple batches.
- Manage testing schedules for pharmaceutical client programs including Gilead, Cytokinetics, and Blueprint, coordinating work across a team of six chemists.
- Introduced a combined test tracker so that chemists collaborating on the same project or test work from one shared record rather than separate ones.
-
Assistant Manager
BBQ Village
- Generated the highest sales and tips on a front-of-house team of 15+ at a new, high-traffic Korean restaurant, lifting revenue and the standard of service across the floor — and was promoted to Assistant Manager within two months.
- Trained and mentored new team members on every service procedure and standard, improving performance across the team.
- Handled POS transactions accurately and owned end-of-day cash reconciliation alongside closing procedures.
- Prepared and served alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to a consistent standard under time pressure.
-
Quality Control Chemist
Bio Agri Mix
- Pioneered and independently led method development and validation of an FTIR identification method for piperazine dihydrochloride, designing the company reference standard in full alignment with Health Canada's Schedule B USP monograph requirements — directly enabling regulatory approval for the Canadian market launch of a veterinary anthelmintic product.
- Conducted HPLC assays in Empower 3 to determine and report potency and impurity profiles of active pharmaceutical ingredients, working sample sets exceeding 50 across customer feeds, raw materials, and finished products under several validated methods.
- Owned out-of-specification and stability testing: analytically retested product, analyzed root causes of failure, and drafted GMP-standard compliance reports used to guide decision-making.
- Performed the standard chemical and physical test panel on raw materials, finished products, soluble powders, and premixes — appearance, pH, particle size, density, melting point, loss-on-drying, IR spectroscopy, UV-vis, microtracer analysis, and Karl Fischer titration.
03
Leadership
Applied strategy outside the lab.
-
Team Captain & In-Game Leader
Valorant Draft Circuit
- Captain competitive teams in a free-to-play North American draft league open to all skill levels — developing, practising, and executing strategy, then making real-time adjustments and shot-calls against how opponents actually play.
- Coordinate team communication, run practices, and coach players — drafting executions, team compositions, and counters while keeping a positive, goal-oriented environment among players who start out as complete strangers.
- Reached the playoffs with every team led as in-game leader, finishing 1st in the regular season multiple times and taking 2nd in playoffs in the strongest season, at a 72% win rate (26 of 36).
04
Education
Bachelor of Science, Honours Chemistry
University of Waterloo
Senior research project
Investigated the specific and non-specific binding properties of streptavidin and green fluorescent proteins using fluorescence polarization — an eight-month independent project under Professor Juewen Liu.
Relevant coursework
- Analytical Instrumentation
- Miniaturization & Nanotechnology, incl. AI in Analytical Chemistry
- Introduction to Computer Science 1
- Statistics & Analytics in Sciences
05
Skills & Recognition
Instrumentation & analysis
- HPLC (Empower 3)
- GC / GC-MS
- UV-Vis
- IR / NMR spectroscopy
- Karl Fischer titration
- Dissolution & assay testing
- Calibration
Quality & compliance
- GMP / GLP
- Method development & validation
- USP monograph alignment
- Out-of-specification investigation
- Stability testing
- Compliance reporting
Coordination & tools
- Testing schedule management
- Cross-team collaboration
- Client program support
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office
Recognition
Placed 4th overall in Sports & Entertainment Team Decision Making at DECA Ontario, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference.
Outside work
Content creation, competitive gaming, PC building, coding, photography, reading, and DJ / live music mixing.
06
Let's talk
Open to analytical chemistry and pharmaceutical quality roles across Ontario. The fastest way to reach me is email.