Focusing on drug discovery by applying and developing methods in synthetic medicinal chemistry, the Viikki Biocenter medicinal chemistry team is unique at the University of Helsinki in translating the increasing structural information of drug targets or ligands into the synthesis of novel compounds that do not exist in the current commercial compound libraries. These new compounds serve as valuable probes in the research of new drug targets or as chemical entities in the search for novel therapeutic compounds. Our team is also responsible for teaching organic chemistry related to medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, drug action, and drug metabolism.