- Kathryn M Nelson: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, United States.
Medicinal chemistry graduate students interested in drug discovery usually consider only two career paths: become a tenure track principal investigator of a lab with a focused research interest, or become an industry scientist at a pharmaceutical company. This Viewpoint article will highlight a unique career path that is neither of these and is a new model, involving collaboration, creative problem solving, and a willingness to learn new things, that perhaps can prove successful for others.