Intern, Medicinal Chemistry

Position 

This 10-week summer internship provides an opportunity to gain hands-on experience within the Medicinal Chemistry function in a collaborative, fast-paced drug discovery environment. The Medicinal Chemistry Intern will support early-stage research and drug discovery programs through small-molecule design, synthesis, and data analysis. In this role, you will gain exposure to interdisciplinary drug discovery workflows while working alongside medicinal chemists, biologists, and cross-functional research teams. This internship is designed to provide practical laboratory experience and foundational understanding of medicinal chemistry strategies used to advance therapeutic programs. 

About You 

You are passionate about chemistry and drug discovery and enjoy solving complex scientific problems through hands-on experimentation. You are detail-oriented, organized, and take pride in maintaining high-quality experimental records. You are collaborative, curious, and eager to expand your technical skills while working in a dynamic research environment. You are comfortable working independently but are proactive in seeking guidance and contributing to team discussions. 

What You’ll Do 

• Work with chemists and biologists to advance our drug discovery pipeline and progress scientific goals.
• Conduct multi-step syntheses of complex small molecules, including designing, executing, and troubleshooting experiments.
• Clearly analyze, accurately document, and communicate experimental results.
• Utilize scientific literature and databases to design and implement efficient synthetic routes.
• Design novel compounds based on project data, synthetic knowledge, and modern medicinal chemistry principles.
• Maintain a high level of scientific integrity and laboratory safety.
• Collaborate and communicate across a diverse research team to successfully progress scientific goals. 

Qualifications 

• Currently enrolled in an accredited university pursuing a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or a related discipline.
• Entering sophomore, junior, or senior year of a bachelor’s program or currently enrolled in a graduate-level degree program at the start of the internship.
• Must be enrolled in school during the internship program.
• Experience with multi-step small molecule organic synthesis.
• Completion of a full year of study of organic chemistry, including both lecture and laboratory courses.  
• Ability to maintain clear, accurate, and detailed laboratory records.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and written communication skills.
• Must be available to work full-time (40 hours per week) during core business hours for a minimum of 10 weeks during the summer internship program.
• Ability to communicate clearly and build open collaborative relationships is essential.
• Familiarity with compound characterization using modern analytical techniques (NMR, LC-MS and HPLC) is preferred.
• Familiarity with scientific literature search tools such as SciFinder or Reaxys preferred. 

The expected hourly pay range for this role is $30 - $48/hour. Placement within this range is determined based on education level.