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July 11, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON, To read Kristin's bio. click
here.
Erin,
I have a friend who works at Abbott Laboratories which
is a pharmaceutical. She
provides an answer. Being involved in life-saving work in
this capacity can be
exciting but somewhat tedious at times. It sounds like the
excitement comes
from understanding and accomplishing the long-term goals.
Here is her answer:
Unfortunately, since I've left the formulation group, I've
lost all my contacts
in Discovery. But let me say that the excitement level is
based on your own
personal feeling of what's exciting.
Discovery is multifaceted. As a synthetic (medicinal organic)
chemist, you can
generate new molecules with potential for curing numerous
diseases. A
synthetic chemist analyzes the relationships between the substitution
of
different functional groups on a molecule and its impact on
the pharmacologic
effect. This is actually very high science because of the
degree and depth of
understanding necessary to generate a fundamental understanding
of the
interactions of molecules are in vivo pharmacologic receptor
sites.
As a pharmacologist, one can examine in detail the effect
of different drug
candidates on animal and human systems. A drug is dosed, blood
levels are
determined, and various pharmacologic factors are examined
based on the type
compund in question and its expected effect. Often, they're
surprised by
unexpected effects, which on occasion leads to the discovery
of new types of
compounds for new types of indications for treatment
As a toxicologist, one would perform similar work but with
an emphasis on
toxic effects. How much is too much and how much is too little?
As a clinical researcher, you'd be interested in the effect
of various dosage
forms and their impact on human body systems. Did we deliver
the right dose?
Are we operating at safe and/or effective dosage levels? What's
the impact on
the liver, kidneys, etc? What metabolites are generated as
a result of oral
dosing versus intravenous dosing? Are there interations with
other drugs and
if so, do they enhance the effect or increase the toxicity?
Personally, and as a pharmacist, I really miss these types
of discussions with
my Discovery friends. The research is very cutting edge. I
was involved in
the first product ever to make it to market for AIDS, the
first protease
inhibitor ever. I never thought there would be another project
as meaningful
as this one but there was. Another more effective AIDS compound
came through.
The disadvantage of Discovery research is that your efforts
take a
considerable amount of time before they really become fruitful.
Pharmaceutical
research is a long process and requires great patience. Failure
is an
expectation, success is a bonus. The "batting average"
for a new compound is
considerably smaller than that of a professional baseball
player. Where a
baseball player is doing very well with a 300 batting average,
a researcher is
doing well if he's batting 1.
Bottom line. This is a very exciting field of research but
to be happy in this
capacity, one must be patient and not driven by many short
term successes.
Jean-Marie Geoffroy, PhD
July 11, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR MARY JO MULLEN, To read Mary Jo's bio. click
here.
My sister-in-law works for Baxter and for her first couple
years there, she
tested drugs. She found it repetitive and ultimately a bit
boring. However
it was a very good stepping stone for what she is doing now,
which is
pharmeceutical sales (I first wrote drug sales, and somehow
that didn't seem
right).
I am sure that researching brand new drugs may be more exciting
because
there might be a greater sense of accomplishment when you
discover something
new. She was just testing drugs that were already discovered
to get them
approved by the FDA. It also depends on what you enjoy. If
you enjoy
methodical research, then this would be a good field. If you
are more like
me and want to work on several different things and see quicker
results,
research may not be the field for you. It is my understanding
that research
can be very rewarding, but it is often a long time coming.
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