# Beating imposter syndrome led me to a medical discovery | Emma Paterson | TEDxKings Park Youth Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9uW04HS7nI Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/W9uW04HS7nI Generated: 2026-01-13T16:37:45.495+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Emma Paterson, a PhD physics student from Curtin University, describes how her curiosity led her to develop a novel method using twisted light to selectively interact with and separate chiral molecules, potentially revolutionizing pharmaceutical drug discovery by making it faster, cheaper, and less wasteful, especially when compared to traditional methods like HPLC. **Key Points:** - Paterson's research involves using twisted light to interact with and separate chiral molecules, which are mirror-image molecules like left and right hands. - The discovery has the potential to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by enabling faster, cheaper drug development with fewer side effects. - Traditional methods like High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) are slow, inefficient, and time-consuming for separating chiral molecules. - The speaker, a PhD physics student, experienced self-doubt (imposter syndrome) common among women in male-dominated STEM fields. - The discovery of interacting with molecules using twisted light was a breakthrough that separates left-handed from right-handed molecular images. - Paterson is working to turn this research into a startup within the next 10 years to bring the technology to market. - She encourages the audience to embrace their curiosity, ask questions, and push boundaries, regardless of potential judgment or self-doubt. ![Screenshot at 00:35: The speaker stands on the TEDx stage with a large screen behind her displaying a red, cross-shaped city map overlaid on an 'X', representing the TEDx event branding, as she begins her presentation on scientific discovery.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-00-35.jpg) **Context:** Emma Paterson, a PhD physics student at the University of Western Australia, shares her journey motivated by curiosity and a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Her research focuses on fundamental physics, specifically exploring how light that has been twisted can interact with molecules. This work addresses a major challenge in the pharmaceutical industry: the difficulty and inefficiency of separating chiral molecules (molecules that are mirror images of each other, like a left and right hand), which often leads to one version being therapeutic and the other toxic, exemplified by the tragedy of Thalidomide. ## Detailed Analysis Emma Paterson discusses her research utilizing twisted light to address the challenge of separating chiral molecules in drug discovery. She illustrates the problem using the example of Thalidomide, where the left-handed version was therapeutic, but the right-handed version caused severe birth defects, highlighting why separating these mirror-image molecules is critical. Traditional separation methods like High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) are slow, inefficient, and costly. Paterson's breakthrough involves using a device that generates twisted light capable of interacting with and separating these chiral molecules in bulk, offering a method that is faster, cheaper, and produces less waste. She notes that this fundamental physics research, driven by her personal curiosity, has led her to found a startup with the goal of bringing this technology to market within the next decade. Paterson concludes by addressing the self-doubt and imposter syndrome she has experienced as a woman in the male-dominated STEM field, urging the audience to embrace their own curiosity, ask questions, and pursue their ideas without fear of judgment, as diverse perspectives drive innovation that can shape the future for the better. ### Introduction & Problem - Imagining taking medication causing migraines or vomiting - The problem is that the brain might liquefy and drip out of your ears - Speaker is a PhD physics student researching particles that might not even exist - Her curiosity and passion for STEM led her to this journey. ### The Discovery - Her research involved diving deep into quantum physics with twisted light in hopes of detecting dark matter - A breakthrough occurred: twisted light can interact with and manipulate molecules in a way never seen before - This twisting mechanism, compared to a corkscrew shape, can separate chiral molecules (like hands) that are mirror images. ### Pharmaceutical Impact - The two handed versions of a molecule, like Thalidomide, have vastly different effects—one saves lives, the other causes harm - Current HPLC separation methods are slow, inefficient, and time-consuming, limiting the scale of drug development - Her method processes molecules in open volume, sorting thousands at once, making it faster, cheaper, and reducing waste. ### Personal Reflection & Call to Action - Paterson admits to experiencing imposter syndrome, common for women in STEM, where one doubts success despite good grades - She encourages the audience to overcome this fear of looking foolish or not knowing enough - She is turning her research into a startup to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry within the next 10 years - The ultimate lesson is that science does not care about gender or background; curiosity and persistence drive discovery that can save lives. ![Screenshot at 00:15: Ball-and-stick model illustrating the two mirror-image \(chiral\) forms of a molecule, one of which caused severe birth defects with the drug Thalidomide.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-00-15.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:22: Speaker Emma Paterson standing on the red circular stage rug at the TEDxKings Park Youth event, with the event branding visible on the black backdrop.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-00-22.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:17: An animated graphic showing a device with a twisted gray structure between two copper-colored rods, demonstrating the apparatus used for manipulating molecules.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-01-17.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:34: An illustration of a left hand superimposed over the speaker, representing chirality, which is the core concept of molecular mirror images.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-01-34.jpg) ![Screenshot at 02:37: An animation showing red and blue spheres \(representing molecules\) being sorted by a golden, twisted structure, illustrating the bulk separation process.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/W9uW04HS7nI/00-02-37.jpg)