Cool profile on a medicinal chemistry professor

Via the New York Times:  

...Pebbles was not the patient Dr. Cernak had in mind when he began his career. Until 2018, he had worked at the pharmaceutical giant Merck, developing drugs for people with cancer, H.I.V., diabetes and other conditions. Along the way, he had helped develop cutting-edge approaches, involving robots and artificial intelligence, to speed up the invention of new human drugs.

A few years ago, however, Dr. Cernak decided that he wanted to use those tools to make medicines for ailing plants and animals, forging a new field he called “conservation chemistry.”

Gila monsters weren’t the only species that had inspired human drugs. There were antibiotics derived from fungi, anticancer drugs from plants and painkillers from animal venom. Dr. Cernak thought it was time for pharmaceutical chemists to give back. “To me it’s this full circle thing,” he said. “We’re attempting to solve the ultimate health inequity.”

Pretty interesting article. Here's hoping for the best of success for Professor Cernak.