Major
About this major
The Medicinal Chemistry major will provide you with the knowledge, training and skills needed for employment and research opportunities in drug discovery and development. The discovery of new drugs is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing fields in science, and there is a growing need for safer, more effective pharmaceuticals against old diseases (like cancer), new ones (such as HIV/AIDS) and diseases that are becoming more widespread (such as malaria and tuberculosis). Society also faces challenges ranging from antimicrobial resistance through to cancer and dementia. Medicinal chemistry looks at how to find drugs to combat these diseases, and how to make those drugs.
Graduate opportunities
With a major in medicinal chemistry, you can work in universities, corporate laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and hospitals. You will possess strong analytical and laboratory expertise in determining possible curative and preventative drugs for diseases such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis, polio and even the common cold.
Career pathways
Courses that offer this major
The course information on this website applies only to future students. Current students should refer to faculty handbooks for current or past course information.
To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.
