Meet our Team: Chua Ewe Li (Eunice)
In this month's edition of our "Meet Our Team" series, we are delighted to introduce a key member of the CMAC National Facility Team, Chua Ewe Li (also known as Eunice).
Chua Ewe Li (Eunice), Secondary Processing Instrument Scientist at CMAC
As a Secondary Processing Instrument Scientist at CMAC, Eunice brings her expertise and passion for pharmaceutical research to our team.
Originally from Malaysia, Eunice has been on an exciting career journey in the field of pharmaceuticals and drug formulation. She relocated to Glasgow in 2013 to pursue a BSc Hons in Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Strathclyde, and subsequently pursued an MSc in Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.
Following university, Eunice’s career journey began in 2016 with an internship at Marine Biopolymers Limited, where she discovered her passion for pharmaceutical formulation research. In this role, she studied basic microbiology of the desired bacterium, identified suitable media growth, conducted practical work in bacterial media design and the extraction of shake flask scale cultures, and evaluated products based on yield, NMR and MS data post experimentation.
In continuation of her career progression in drug formulation and analysis, Eunice moved on to work in roles such as Quality Control Lab Analyst in the Product Stability Division at GSK and Drug Product Stability Analyst at Duopharma Biotech Berhad. She said:
"What ultimately led me to commit to advancing in drug formulation was my recent role as Drug Formation Development Scientist at Duopharma Innovation in Malaysia.
“In this position, I oversaw projects involving the development of new products in accordance with the new product development pipeline. I was responsible for formulating various oral solid dosage forms, including effervescent tablets, chewable tablets, softgels, tablet capsules, hard capsules, and gels.
“My role also involved conducting research and development trials, scaling up pilot batches, managing commercial batch manufacturing, and overseeing technology transfer.”
Eunice began her current position at CMAC in September 2022, where her role focuses on studying bulk flow properties and compressibility of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to design potential formulations. Her work involves blending, compressing, analysing various formulations to ensure product quality of the tablets and capsules , and some analysis execution such as HPLC. She is also responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the secondary processing area, providing student training, and contributing to case studies to enhance CMAC's global research profile. She said:
“The people at CMAC have a very brilliant sense of camaraderie and teamwork. It is incredible to learn from the many skillsets and knowledge of everyone working here. It is safe to say I have made some really great friends in CMAC.”
Eunice has set her sights on the long-term future of drug formulation research. She is particularly interested in incorporating novel drug crystallisation into the secondary processing of pharmaceuticals, with the aim of contributing to cutting-edge advancements in the field.
Her most significant professional achievement is her years of commitment since leaving university, during which she secured a role in R&D drug formation in the UK. She said:
“It was not an easy journey as there were a lot of setbacks throughout it all, but I am glad I pushed through to be where I am today.”
When she is not busy in the lab, Eunice takes part in a wide range of exciting hobbies, such as rock climbing, traveling, and reading. She rock climbs at least three times a week and is currently learning rope climbing. During the weekends, she actively seeks out activities that provide an adrenaline rush, such as go-karting, zip-lining, base jumping, bungee swinging, skiing, and kayaking. She aspires to continue pursuing these activities and also plans to try skydiving and bungee jumping.
