Introduction: Preprofessional education

Drug discovery and development is a team effort involving personnel with diverse areas of expertise. In this chapter, the team structure is briefly explored as a way of introducing the types of undergraduate degree programs required for the various members. Technical skills in chemistry, biology, medicine, toxicology, engineering, computer science, and mathematics are introduced. The role of business majors such as marketing and finance are also outlined. The soft skills required for team members and team leaders to effectively manage the process of bringing a new medicine from benchtop to household medicine cabinet are reviewed.