title: Passing on the medicinal chemistry baton: training undergraduates to be industry-ready through research projects between the University of Nottingham and GlaxoSmithKline.
abstract: In this article we describe a radically different industry-academia collaboration between the School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), aiming to train students in research and give them an insight into medicinal chemistry as practiced in industry. The project concerns the discovery of potent and selective αvβ6 integrin antagonists to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; the synthetic chemistry is performed by a group of ten final-year undergraduates and the biological and physicochemical screening data are generated by GSK. The project planning, organisation and operation are discussed, together with some of the challenges and rewards of working with undergraduates.
authors: GlaxoSmithKline Medicines Research Centre, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage SG1 2NY, UK. Electronic address: simon.jf.macdonald@gsk.com.
authors: Simon J F
authors: SJ
authors: Macdonald
authors: University of Nottingham School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors: M Jonathan
authors: MJ
authors: Fray
authors: University of Nottingham School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: McInally
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004345:Drug Industry; D006801:Humans; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities