WOMEN IN CHEMISTRY visited Tromso University—located in Norway above the Arctic Circle —and encountered people who had known Kollman. "It turns out he had been there a few years earlier giving an invited talk. I guess there's nowhere on Earth I can visit that he hadn't been." Of her time abroad, Cornell says: "It ings and interact with others at Novartis." was exciting to live abroad and be exposed Although her position has a lot of manto different ways of thinking. It's a good agement duties, working with Nam and experience for students, and I encourage postdoc Kevin O'Malley has allowed her to them to take advantage of studying abroad return to one of her research interests— if they have the opportunity" studying nuclear receptors. She and Nam chose to investigate estrogen-reCornell also advises students lated receptor (ERR) —an orto "do their homework before phan nuclear receptor. The goal choosing a department or an of the project was to find ERR's adviser."The same advice holds natural agonist, but after buildin determining a career path. ing a homology model based on "Try to find out if the environCELEBRATING the estrogen receptor, it looked ment you are going to be in will 75 YEARS like there might not be enough be comfortable and allow you OF THE ACS room in the binding pocket for to grow," she says. However, she WOMEN an agonist. They verified this hycautions that this should not be CHEMISTS pothesis using other modeling just a superficial analysis, but COMMITTEE techniques, simulations, and lab rather a thorough investigation experiments with mutants. that includes talking with the people who already work there. As they were writing up their work, a Following this advice has led Cornell to crystal structure of the receptor was rea satisfying career at Novartis, one in which leased that came to the same conclusion. she has never felt like she was treated dif"It was neat to arrive at the same concluferently for being a woman. "I've had lots sion as the crystal structure by starting out of opportunities at Novartis. It's a great with modeling experiments rather than diplace to work," she says. rect experimental results," she states. Cornell says one of the best parts of Cornell is also an active participant in her job is collaborating the American Chemical Society Division of Computers in Chemistry She organized and communicating with her fellow scientists. "It's the symposium "Linking Genetic Infornot enough to just do good mation with Drug Discovery" at the nawork; you also have to be tional meeting in Boston last month. No able to communicate the stranger to organizing a scientific gatherimpact of the work," she ing— she organized a European Centre for says. Learning how to do Atomic & Molecular Computations workthis effectively is a talent shop not long ago—she finds it "exciting that she picked up from to have the chance to get to meet and talk her graduate adviser, Peto people in the same field or a closely reter Kollman, the late prolated one." From this interaction, she notes, fessor of chemistry and "interesting collaborations and cross-ferchemical biology at the tilizations of ideas often result." University of California, Born in Greensburg, Pa., Cornell is marSan Francisco. For this ried to Les McQuire, a chemist at Novarreason, she cites Kollman, who died last tis. She earned a Ph.D. in biophysics from year (C&EN, Nov. 12, 2001, page 67), as the University of California, San Francisone of the biggest influences on her career. co, in 1994. Following her postdoc in Ger'APh.D. adviser has a profound effect on many, she spent two years at Parke-Davis your scientific training and way of thinkin Michigan before joining Novartis. She ing," she points out. An avid traveler, she has been with Novartis for five years. Prinotes that while traveling during her postor to entering graduate school, she worked doc at the European Molecular Biology for Upjohn in the area of computational Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, she chemistry—SUSAN MORRISSEY
MODELING A FUTURE
As an adjunct professor, Novartis' Wendy Cornell helps students gain an industrial perspective
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T U D E N T S I N T H E F I E L D OF
chemistry tend to be familiar with the academic world and the career opportunities it provides. Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said for their understanding of the industrial world and its opportunities. By no means a new problem, this is one gap that is not easily bridged. Wendy Cornell, group leader in the computer-assisted molecular modeling (CAMM) group at Novartis in Summit, N.J., and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of Newjersey (UMDNJ), is making strides in opening the eyes of students to the workings of industry "The more exposure students can get to people working in industry, the better," she says. Cornell, 40, leads a group of six lab heads and one postdoc. The CAMM group works with drug discovery teams in four therapeutic areas—arthritis, infectious diseases, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, and oncology—by applying computational chemistry and bioinformatics to the design of new drugs. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the joint Ph.D. program in molecular therapeutics between Novartis and UMDNf. The program allows students to select a research adviser from Novartis, complete their thesis work there, and receive a degree from the university. Participating in this program —serving as a thesis adviser and teaching a class every now and then—"is an experience that you don't normally get if you choose the industry career path," Cornell explains. And mentoring has proven to be rewarding for Cornell. Currently, she is advising Kiyean Nam, a Ph.D. student preparing to write his dissertation. As his mentor, she has enjoyed "exposing Kiyean to areas that I have been trained in and giving him the opportunity to go to meetHTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
C&EN
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30, 2002
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