Medicinal Chemistry Concentration

Medicinal Chemistry will help you develop an in-depth understanding of how drugs are developed-the creative science behind taking an idea to a successful therapeutic molecule.

As a medicinal chemistry student, you'll have opportunities to learn in the lab and firsthand in pharmaceutical companies. Through close connections between professors, alumni and the industry, we'll help place you in summer internships in pharmaceutical companies-experience that will deepen your passion for the field and give you a critical leg-up in grad school or job applications.

Our program will give you a distinct advantage over others, offering you some of the experiences usually reserved for graduate-level students in the field.

Medicinal Chemistry is a valuable platform if you are considering a career in medicinal chemistry, drug research, pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy or medicine.

We offer a concentration in medicinal chemistry.

U.S. Pharmaceutical companies spent more than $51 billion on R & D in 2014.

Hands-on learning

Students working on a chemistry lab
Students with their professor during a lab
Student working on a laptop during a lab
Student smiling in a lab
Student working on a lab
Closeup of notebook and pen
Student working on a chemistry lab
Professor creating fire
Dr. Johann's office door
Three students working on a lab

Kristen Clare ‘10 Pharmaceutical regulatory strategist

Kristen found her passion for medicinal chemistry at Roanoke, where she worked as a student research assistant, presenting her findings on the active site of the enzyme 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase at the Mid-Atlantic Conference for Undergraduate Scholarship in 2008, and co-authoring a paper, "Investigations of Amino Acids in the ATP Binding Site of 5,10-Methenyltetrahydrofolate Synthetase", in The Protein Journal. She followed this with an undergraduate internship in the Biochemical Discovery Biology Department at Merck. Kristen received a BS in Biochemistry from Roanoke in 2010.

After Roanoke, Kristen received an MS in Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Science in Northeastern University, including a graduate internship in worldwide regulatory strategy at Pfizer.  She held positions at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Oncology. Currently, she is Manager, Regional Regulatory Strategist at Shire, a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on rare diseases.

Sample Course Offerings:

  • CHEM 221: Organic Chemistry I Students working in a lab
  • CHEM 340: Pharmaceutical Chemistry 
  • CHEM 350: Instrumental Analysis 

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