The name of the career when you find cures for diseases?

Question

I am trying to find some careers that I will be interested in and love science. When I am older I would like to do some good in the world and figured that finding cures for things like cancer would be a good way to start. But I don't know what the people who do this are called and how you go about it. Please help me!

Answer 1

There are many aspects to this career path but from the sounds of it Medical Researcher would be most appropriate.

You can go about this by studying to become a medical doctor and instead of going into clinical practise i.e. treating patients, you remain as an academic and work in the labs researching your area of expertise.  

You can also conduct research by studying biology/biochemistry/microbiology etc at university and then following your research interests.  

There are also many stages you can enter in the reearch and development of drug development/curing diseases.

You could spend your time working on further understanding what causes the disease thereby helping find a cure; you could work on drug development trying to identify/produce/modify chemicals/antibodies/genes etc that would help cure the disease; you could work with the pharmaceutical companies in the formulation of drugs, conducting clinical trials etc.

Answer 2

A researcher in the disease that they choose.

My friend does research in diabetes.

Another friend's daughter does research on cancer.

Answer 3

I don't think there is a specific name for that. Reasearch is the only thing that comes to mind.

Answer 4

medical researcher?