From Big Pharma to conservation: Chemist Tim Cernak applies drug design skills to save endangered species
By
Anna Gibbs
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Summary
Chemist Tim Cernak, after nearly two decades developing precision therapies for cancer, HIV, and diabetes at Merck, is now applying his pharmaceutical expertise to conservation. He aims to use his drug design skills to help save endangered species like Gila monsters and loggerhead sea turtles, shifting from human medicine to ecosystem health.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledIn 2018, after nearly two decades working in Big Pharma, chemist Tim Cernak was ready to put his skills to a new use.
For Merck, he'd developed precision therapies for cancer, HIV, and diabetes that could target disease while minimizing harm to healthy cells.
But as a lifelong nature lover, he was increasingly concerned about the health of ecosystems and wondered whether his expertise could help.
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