Employee portrait | Quality control
Where batch quality becomes researcher confidence
Christine Hemming works in the Quality Control team at Atlas Antibodies, where batch quality, process improvement and product life cycle management come together. Her role helps ensure that reliable products reach researchers efficiently, with the documentation, systems and quality standards needed to support trusted research tools.
“Of course our process improvements benefit customers in the end if we can deliver a high-quality batch sooner.”
Fact box
- Name
- Christine Hemming
- Role at Atlas Antibodies
- Senior Laboratory Engineer, Quality Control
- Team / area
- Quality Control and Operations
- Work focus
- Batch release, product life cycle management, QC/Operations input in improvement projects, and process streamlining from storage routines to LIMS systems
- Connection to mission
- Helping ensure high-quality batches reach researchers and improving the internal processes behind reliable products
- Personal object
- History book / encyclopedia — 17 years of company context, with a love of funny IHC and ICC images
Q&A
Can you briefly introduce yourself and your role at Atlas Antibodies?
My name is Christine Hemming, and I am a Senior Laboratory Engineer in the Quality Control team at Atlas Antibodies. I work with batch release, product life cycle management and as a QC/Operations representative in improvement projects, helping streamline processes and improve systems, from storage routines to LIMS.
What part of your work do you find especially interesting or important?
I enjoy the variation in my work: solving issues, improving routines and trying to find the best possible solution. In the bigger picture, I am proud when we can get a good product out that helps researchers in their work. In the day-to-day, I focus more on batch quality and improving internal processes. That still benefits customers in the end, because more efficient processes help us deliver high-quality batches sooner and with more confidence.
What skills or mindset are important in your role?
You need to be cooperative, curious and a little bit nitpicky. Quality Control depends on details, but it also depends on communication because improvements often affect several teams. Curiosity helps when something does not work as expected, or when a process could be better. Being nitpicky is useful in the best possible way: noticing small things early can make a big difference for batch quality, documentation and reliability.
Why Atlas Antibodies?
I started my career in the Human Protein Atlas project, annotating images and making tissue microarrays for the Tissue Atlas. It was very interesting to be part of such a big project, but when Atlas Antibodies was expanding the QC department, I saw a chance for a more varied role and more responsibility. That is exactly what I got. There is always something new going on, and I have been part of many different phases of the company's development. The connection to the Human Protein Atlas is still great, but my amazing colleagues, previous and present, are what have made me stay so long.
Why does your work matter to you personally?
I cannot pick one specific example, but I am sometimes reminded of why the work matters. At conferences, customers have told us that they could not find a good antibody for their application except ours. Other times, we find an especially nice article where our products helped make the research possible. Those moments show that even if my work is behind the scenes, it can make a small but meaningful contribution to someone else's research.
What do you appreciate about the people you work with?
I think they are just very nice people. They are smart and serious about their work, but also open to helping each other. That mix is important. Quality and process work can involve details, questions and problem-solving across teams, so it matters to work with people who are generous with their knowledge. They are also a fun crowd to have a cup of coffee with, which helps in everyday work.
Looking ahead, what are you excited about?
I am looking forward to our product launches this autumn, to internal projects we are starting up and to projects we are about to finish. I am also curious to see what happens in the coming years for Atlas, for research and for my team. Development feels like it is moving incredibly fast now, so it is exciting to think about what we might be able to achieve in just a few years.
Just for fun: what object matches your work style?
I would not compare myself to a lab instrument, because lab instruments are notoriously moody, and for my colleagues' sake I hope I am more stable in both mood and work performance. Having worked at the same company for 17 years, I sometimes feel like a history book or an encyclopedia of what we have done before and why things look the way they do now. At the end of a long work week, I might feel more like the cells in the image I sent. I still love when we find cute or funny pictures in our IHC or ICC images.
“When customers say they could not find a good antibody for their application except ours, I get reminded of our small contribution to research.”
Explore Atlas Antibodies' quality focus and validation data, or contact our team for support in finding the right antibody for your application.