<p>I'm thinking of studying Chemical Engineering with a emphasis on biomolecular engineering. I want to work in medical research, perhaps with cancer, HIV, or genetic diseases, in the future. My intuition is that a systems approach to drug discovery for these diseases is more applicable and closer to actual treatment than a chemical approach. Is this accurate? Is an engineering background more valuable for medical research than a pure background in chemistry? Also, any discussion regarding specific research projects of a chemist versus a chemical engineer is also appreciated.</p>
<p>Bump .</p>
<p>Cutting edge medical research tends to be interdisciplinary in nature. </p>
<p>Many schools have started offering a degrees like the one at Princeton:
[About</a> Us - Chemical and Biological Engineering](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/cbe/about/]About”>About | Chemical and Biological Engineering)</p>
<p>Another example:
[Rice</a> University - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - Home Page](<a href=“http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~che/]Rice”>Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | Rice University)</p>
<p>Thanks Tippu. Which fields tends to be the applicable? What types of people are at the edge of a breakthrough in medicine?</p>
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<p>People who are intelligent, hardworking and enjoy what they do.</p>
<p>Work as hard as you may in the White House and end up as nothing but white trash. Point proven. Can anyone give an intelligent answer with regard to my actual question, which is that which field (ChBE, chemistry, biology) tends to be conduct basic research more related to potential therapy and marketable drug design?</p>
<p>Biology. More specifically Biochemistry or Molecular Biology.</p>