A day with Marco Mazzorana - Industrial Liaison Scientist MX

When the synchrotron is in operational mode I spend most of my time on the MX beamlines assisting our Industrial Users with their research or handling mailed in research samples. When I am dealing with 'service work' (where we collect the data on behalf of our client), I am responsible for the outcome of the experiment and I am often screening large volumes of samples.

When I'm not at the beamline I am providing industrial users with experimental advice, helping them to design their experiments to get the most out of their time here at Diamond. There is a great deal of paperwork involved from my side so I need to ensure everything is in hand. I also have a lot of meetings in house regarding operational planning and software development. 

Working in the field of structural biology, most of the clients we support are from the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. They use the facilities available here at Diamond for linking structure with function for rational drug design, for investigating protein folding and for relating other structural information, such as evolutionary relationships, from biological molecules. 

In the race to secure drug patents, our clients need to get the absolute most out of their datasets and it is the outstanding design of the MX beamlines that combines the provision of cutting edge technical instruments with the latest developments in automation required to accelerate lead identification and ligand screening processes that allows them to be key players in this highly competitive field.

I have been both a User and a local contact here at Diamond for a number of years now so I am able able to understand the pressures on both sides and this really helps me to assist our clients with their entire spectrum of research.

If they are experienced synchrotron users I am on hand if they have any technical issues but for those users who are new to beamlines at Diamond or even new to synchrotron research my involvement can span from being at the end of a phone for any questions before and during the experiment, assisting them with experimental design and data collection right through to performing data analysis and, where required, sending out clear and accessible reports explaining the results upon completion. 

With the variety of service options available, we are able to ensure our clients always benefit from the expertise of the Industrial Liaison team by providing a solution that is tailored specifically to them. 

I really enjoy the User contact and feel I benefit from every interaction. Each client brings a different level of experience and a variety of approach and I often learn how to do things in a different way. It also means I get to do what I love and be part of exciting new developments in science; coupled with the fact I work in a pretty cool place!

One of the most demanding aspects of my job is connected to users beamtime. It is essential that we deliver a prompt and high-quality service to our customers, especially during the tightly scheduled experiments at the beamlines. Coping with the unexpected can be very challenging, especially during a working day when multiple visits are scheduled. Delivering an accurate service, providing quick solutions to technical issues that might arise during data collection and ensuring samples and data are dealt with in total respect of confidentiality requires a good deal of multitasking and planning. It definitely makes my job more exciting and very rewarding.

The internet is essential in all phases of my job, starting right from the preparation for a user visit. One of the fundamental reference areas I use are our very detailed online manuals, but a number of online resources help with coordinating with beamline staff and other departments within Diamond. Users register their visits in our user administration system (UAS) which provides me crucial information to best prepare their experiments.

Crystallography experiments are fully trackable by users through our online database ISPyB and this is also an incredibly valuable instrument for me as industrial liaison scientist; not only can it be consulted throughout the experiment to help users troubleshoot many of the problems they encounter in the most efficient way, but it also provides statistics on the use of beamtime, performance of the beamline and communication with MX staff and other departments involved in the user’s beamtime.

Scientific knowledge is fundamental for my job and I keep up to date by reading the main online journals in the life sciences and structural biology fields and specialised bulletin boards. We are always keen to find out about the development of new technologies and strategies that can be made available to our users: they are very keen on innovation too and it is good to speak the same language!

Example of virus reconstruction - © eBIC

Exciting news come from the field of structural biology every day, especially with the development of very powerful electron microscopes. Diamond is very lucky to have some of these machines as part of the national Electron Bio-Imaging facility (eBIC) and there is growing interest in the industrial community for access to these wonderful instruments.

In the field of X-ray crystallography, the developments in high throughput and time resolved experiments are realising enormous potential, especially in the analysis of challenging systems such as radiation sensitive and microcrystalline samples. Diamond is once again shaping the future in the field, and will soon be making available beamlines for automated in-situ and sub-micron crystallography.

“Plan in advance” - Advance planning of your experiment is crucial. We offer a series of techniques in MX and new or less frequent users will be surprised by how fast the beamlines develop and change. New tools are constantly being developed, but some might not be available in all beamlines. Thorough planning is therefore essential as you may need to perform the experiment differently to get the best quality data and planning will save you time and ensure you get the most out of your beamtime.

“Contact us if there is a problem” - During the experiment we are always available on site or over the telephone. The best way of solving a problem is just to call us and we can ensure we resolve your issue in the most efficient way possible. If we don't know, we can't help.

“Give us feedback” - At the end of the experiment please give us detailed feedback. If anything has not gone according to plan, feedback is an invaluable instrument to help us provide you with the best service possible; perhaps by improving infrastructure or equipment. Also, if the experiment has gone well and you are happy, we love to hear that too!

Thanks for letting me spend the day with you Marco, I had a blast!

Zoë Cattell, Industrial Liaison Marketing Manager