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Medicinal chemists use chemistry principles to develop pharmaceutical compounds for medical treatment. They work with biological materials, identify compounds, and synthesize them in the lab. They also consider drug delivery systems, quality control, and potential drug interactions. They need at least a master’s degree and work for pharmaceutical companies or government agencies. They may also work as educators and belong to professional organizations to keep up with advances in the field.
A medicinal chemist is someone who applies the principles of chemistry to the development of pharmaceutical compounds, with the goal of creating new drugs for use in medical treatment. Medicinal chemistry is a branch of chemistry that relies heavily on organic chemistry, but also involves the study of biology and medicine. Researchers in this field work at the forefront of drug development, working on new compounds and classes of compounds that could provide major breakthroughs in healthcare in the future.
Medicinal chemists work primarily with biological materials, identifying compounds of interest, learning what they do and how to synthesize them in the laboratory. A medicinal chemist is also involved in the development and eventual production of drugs based on these compounds, thinking about issues such as drug delivery systems, quality control of pharmaceutical compounds, and potential drug interactions that could lead to harmful complications .
New pharmaceutical compounds are identified every day, although of the multitude discovered each year, only a handful enter more advanced stages of development. A medicinal chemist works in a laboratory, working out material to learn about the compounds it contains and developing techniques for synthesizing compounds that look promising. Medicinal chemists also spend a lot of time on computers, working with modeling programs that have been specifically designed for use in medicinal chemistry so they can study the molecular structure of the compounds they work with.
A typical medicinal chemist has at least a master’s degree in chemistry and may also have earned a doctorate. Careers in medicinal chemistry are a good option for people who like to explore the unknown and classify it, and for people with a great deal of patience and perseverance. The compounds that medicinal chemists work with rarely show up immediately, and it can take months or years for a medicinal chemist to work on a single project.
Pharmaceutical chemists are mainly employed by pharmaceutical companies engaged in drug research. They may also work for government agencies performing drug research and analysis of organic materials of pharmaceutical interest, and may work as educators, training the next generation of medicinal chemists and conducting research in their laboratories. Like other people who work on the cutting edge of science, a medicinal chemist usually belongs to a professional organization so that he can keep up with advances in the field in trade publications and in conferences with other medicinal chemists.
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