Sarayu Rao

Experience

Sarayu Rao has built progressive expertise in pharmaceutical analytical testing, advancing through increasingly senior roles within Element Toronto   laboratory over more than five years. Beginning as a Quality Control Chemist, she developed and validated methods for a wide range of pharmaceutical drug products, designed experiments, authored validation protocols and reports, and contributed to cGMP quality documentation including change controls, SOPs, and deviation investigations.

Advancing through QC Team Lead and Supervisor roles, Sarayu expanded into resource planning, client relationship management, and operational process optimization before moving into her current position as QC Manager for the Trace Metals group. In this role, she leads a team of scientists conducting elemental impurities and trace metals analysis on pharmaceutical drug products using ICP-MS, ICP-OES, and atomic absorption techniques, supporting clients’ compliance with ICH Q3D and USP <232>/<233> requirements.

Career Highlights

Her doctoral research at McGill University focused on the characterization and fate of engineered nanomaterials in aquatic environments, with hands-on expertise in ICP-MS, single-particle ICP-MS (spICP-MS), and Asymmetric Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4-MALS) – advanced analytical techniques that directly underpin her pharmaceutical trace metals work at Element. As part of her PhD, Sarayu won an NSERC CREATE elevator pitch competition in Green Chemistry, reflecting both her scientific depth and her ability to communicate complex concepts clearly.

Within Element, Sarayu developed and implemented a streamlined quality documentation system that reduced lead times with the quality assurance department, and introduced efficient analytical workbooks that cut project duration by approximately 20% while reducing non-conformance issues. 

She has co-authored industry commentary on elemental impurities testing for Pharmaceutical Technology magazine and is an active contributor to the pharmaceutical chemistry community through the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) Toronto Section, where she mentors early-career scientists transitioning from academia to industry.