This is how you become a medicine maker, a research scientist in the exciting, turbulent biopharmaceutical industry (or biopharma, for short). Learn how great science and great business intertwine as teams of scientists race to turn new discoveries into the medicines of tomorrow and beyond. Understand the roles of government regulators and the central importance of patents. Find out what it's like to interview for the job of a lifetime, perhaps your best chance to live the life of a scientist. What do employers look for in a young researcher? How will your own work fit into the urgent, complex multi-tasking effort of a research department? Will you, should you, move up the ranks to join management, or stay with the hands-on science that you love? With a light touch and an eye for the ironic, industry veteran Kieran Geoghegan blends deep affection for the power and beauty of science with realistic guidance on the professional challenges of making your career in biopharma. This is an industry in which every company, be it a tiny start-up or a Fortune 100 giant, operates under fierce pressure to succeed or die. Innovation, pricing pressures and political broadsides shake the walls while dedicated researchers focus on their deeply humane task of bringing new medicines to patients. Joining them can open up a career full of learning, challenge and satisfaction. But do not set your course for biopharma without taking careful bearings. The competition for places and success is severe and the waters can be choppy. Creating Cures: A Young Scientist's First Job in American Biopharma shows you both sides of the story, the rough and the smooth, the joys and the risks.