Inspiration can come from many places—and that’s certainly true for U of U Health scientists following nature’s lead as they create new ways to treat and prevent disease. Seeking better medicines, they look to exotic marine animals, infectious pathogens, and our own immune systems. With chemical precision, they can improve the compounds they find in nature or design better ones, optimizing their function as potential drugs. Their creativity and persistence are not only uncovering prospective therapies for cancer and infectious disease—they are also expanding the ways scientists think about discovering and developing new drugs.

In this episode, host Kyle Wheeler interviews Margo Haygood, PhD and Eric Schmidt, PhD.