Kip Guy

NOW: Dean and Professor, College of Pharmacy; University of Kentucky

THEN: Graduate Student   Defense Year: 1996 Advisor: K.C. Nicolaou, Ph.D.   Dissertation Title: An Exploration of the Chemistry of Taxol

1. Describe what you do.

I’m the senior administrator for the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, which is ranked #6 in the US. UKCOP trains both practicing pharmacists (PharmD) and pharmaceutical sciences (PhD), carries out research in both pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and works to advance practice in many settings. I still run an active research group that focuses on the chemical validation of novel targets for human disease, mostly working on neglected diseases and pediatric disease. We currently have a new antimalarial drug in clinical trials.

2. Which skills developed at Scripps Research have been most impactful on your career?

One of the most useful skills that I developed at TSRI was working in interdisciplinary and interprofessional groups. Having a graduate program that was designed from the bottom up to reinforce working across disciplinary boundaries and working in teams really laid the ground work for my career where I’ve carried on that model in a variety of settings. The other skill that really comes to mind is approaching ones work with a deep sense of rigor – ensuring that you’re thinking clearly, doing the right experiments, and interpreting your results with care. The faculty at TSRI were uniform in pushing for the highest level of rigor and it really benefited my work.

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?

The thing that I enjoy the most is mentoring trainees in science – something I try to devote time to each day. The other most enjoyable part of my work is that rare moment when we make a discovery that’s truly ground breaking. Those don’t happen very often, so I try to treasure them when they do.

4. What advice would you give to others considering a career in academia (in the biomedical sciences)?

I think the most important thing in biomedical sciences is to maintain a sense of wonder about your work. If you can’t keep happily oriented to the surprises that come your way every day then it’s a real slog. On the other hand, if you surround yourself with smart people, pay attention to what’s going on around you, and try to push yourself and everyone else to constantly be moving forward, it’s the best job in the world.