NCAA Madness And Drug Discovery Occupy March Calendars

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader magazine

Last year, during the month of March, I placed a call to a member of Life Science Leader’s editorial advisory board. I was quickly informed that I was interrupting church. “Call me back at halftime,” I was politely informed. In case you have been living under a rock, March, and the madness it creates, is the result of the annual occurrence of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, where people fill out a tournament bracket and secretly cheer for a #16 seed to finally upset a #1 seed, even though on their bracket they most likely have three of the four #1 seeds in the final four. What I have found interesting is the number of researchers who have told me that the process of drug discovery is “the ultimate team sport.” The process requires a collaborative effort across teams — from discovery all the way through to the folks on the commercialization side of the business. If you want to read an example of this, check out the article on page 20.