{"551321":{"#nid":"551321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Working with Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals Before Graduation","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAt Georgia Tech, cooperative education programs (co-ops) are a popular way for engineering majors to gain professional work experience before graduation. For science majors, these programs are not as common. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/martincynthia\u0022\u003EM. Cynthia Martin\u003C\/a\u003E, a fifth-year Ph.D. chemistry student is among the few science majors taking the engineers\u2019 usual path. She is taking part in the co-op program of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gsk.com\/\u0022\u003EGlaxoSmithKline\u003C\/a\u003E (GSK), the London-based global pharmaceutical company, for a 12-month term. The experience will give her a view of the pharmaceutical industry that is usually not accessible to students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ECo-ops offer students paid professional career training and enable students to work with professionals in their chosen field of work before they graduate. In the program, Martin will spend one year in GSK\u2019s Respiratory Stress and Repair Discovery Performance Unit located, at their \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/us.gsk.com\/en-us\/careers\/our-locations\/\u0022\u003EUpper Merion\u003C\/a\u003E campus in Pennsylvania. She will be\u0026nbsp;part of a team that\u2019s discovering small-molecule drug candidates to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EMartin brings experience from developing synthetic methodologies, one of the major activities in the research laboratory of her Ph.D. advisor, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/france\/\u0022\u003EStefan France\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAt GSK, Martin \u201cwill focus on using organic synthesis to produce drug candidates,\u201d France says. As part of a professional team, Martin will be responsible for accurate notebook recording. She will carry out routine organic chemistry operations, such as reaction set-up, vacuum evaporation, thin-layer chromatography, flash chromatography, basic workup of reaction mixtures, and basic interpretation of spectra. And she will be expected to implement safe laboratory practices, France explains. Through this assignment, France adds, Martin will further refine her organic chemistry skills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIndeed, Martin says, the GSK co-op \u201cenables me to do exciting synthetic organic chemistry\u2014and also obtain real life experience in the pharmaceutical industry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThe GSK co-op program is a wonderful opportunity for chemistry students from top academic institutions to experience how a pharmaceutical company operates on a daily basis.\u201d \u0026nbsp;says Nicole C. Goodwin, director of medicinal chemistry and Martin\u2019s co-op supervisor at GSK. \u201cIt not only offers the students insight into how their current skill set fits into an industrial setting, but also enables them to expand that skill set during their tenure here.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe co-op program will introduce Martin to the many facets of drug discovery. \u201cContrary to many academic programs that often focus on one specific area of chemistry,\u201d Goodwin says, \u201cour early drug discovery programs must effectively work at the interface of synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, structural biology, computational chemistry, and pharmacology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EMartin\u2019s co-op experience at GSK will be an advantage if she ever wishes to continue working in the pharmaceutical industry. \u201cWith full access to department meetings and general company-wide activities, students have the opportunity to network around the organization,\u201d Goodwin says. In addition, some co-op students ultimately find full-time employment within GSK after their graduation. According to Goodwin, \u0026nbsp;\u201cRecruiters both from GSK and other companies have a positive perception and an appreciation for the real-life training the students receive as industrial chemists in the GSK co-op program.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EScott Smith\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EStudent Assistant, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"GlaxoSmithKline co-op program gives Ph.D. chemistry student Cynthia Martin real-life training in drug discovery"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EGlaxoSmithKline co-op program gives Ph.D. chemistry student Cynthia Martin real-life training in drug discovery\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GlaxoSmithKline co-op program gives Ph.D. chemistry student Cynthia Martin real-life training in drug discovery"}],"uid":"32503","created_gmt":"2016-07-07 13:18:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:04","author":"Scotty Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"551331":{"id":"551331","type":"image","title":"M. Cynthia Martin","body":null,"created":"1467982834","gmt_created":"2016-07-08 13:00:34","changed":"1475895348","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:48","alt":"M. Cynthia Martin","file":{"fid":"93175","name":"capture_7.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_7.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_7.png","mime":"image\/png","size":253701,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture_7.png?itok=0kdeKhXu"}}},"media_ids":["551331"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2180","name":"co-op"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"172184","name":"GlaxoSmithKline"},{"id":"172185","name":"M. Cynthia Martin"},{"id":"172186","name":"Stefan France"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}