"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." –Maya Angelou, author, poet, activist<br/><br/>At AbbVie, our performance philosophy is to "Raise the Bar," where we embrace the concept that standards are continually getting higher—from equitable hiring practices to environmental footprint. Setting high standards based on best practices is important, but so is continually re-evaluating and improving our standards with new knowledge. I will share my journey from starting college as a music major with an interest in science, to leading a group focused on continuous improvement of small-molecule drug substance manufacturing processes at AbbVie. My life and career have been greatly enhanced by continual learning of new skills and emerging technologies, whether it be baking bread, playing Jimi Hendrix on cello, or exploring C-H functionalization or solvent-free mechanochemical reactions. Keeping a mindset of seeking ways to do better, to expand one's skillset, can bring joy and fulfillment to everyday life as well as improve business impact. This mindset can help us find solutions to our most pressing questions: How can we objectively prioritize which improvement projects to pursue? How can we diversify our workforce to bring in fresh perspectives? How can we modify a chemical process to improve its yield? How can we make our chemical processes more sustainable? It takes grit and flexibility to explore, trial, and share improvements, but the collective benefit is worth the effort. I will share highlights of efforts I've led to improve small-molecule manufacturing at AbbVie.

Continuous improvement, of process reactions and self

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.