Is it possible for physics contribute to cure disease?

[rar0308]

I'm physics major.
I want to cure some rare kidney disease which someone i know has.
Is it likely that if I pursue to cure this disease, then make some progress?
I think because since this is rare disease, so nobody care. so if i care, I could contribute some.

 

[mfb]

If you find sufficient funding (!) and enough biologists/medical scientists...

There are applications of physics in medicine (medical imaging, cancer irradiation, ...), but I think most diseases are not very physics-related. An education in physics can be useful, but I think it won't be sufficient.

 

[rar0308]

I don't think physics is sufficient too. I would study any subject as it is need.
I'm just curious this is doable problem as a hobby or full time.

 

[mfb]

I don't know the disease, but cures for diseases usually need a lot of money, and big teams of scientists (with expensive lab equipment) working for years on that. That is certainly not a hobby project, or even a project for one full-time scientist.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Medical science is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. More than ever new therapies are produced by teams including materials scientists, engineers, all manner of biologists, doctors and even physicists. The latter can contribute primarily through imaging technology but it's not impossible to retrain; I did a masters in regenerative medicine and there were physicists as well as biologists on that.

I will say though that it is pretty much impossible that you will cure a disease as a hobby. It takes teams of trained professionals working full time years and millions of dollars/euros/pounds in funding to get close. And despite what you may see on TV it takes decades of work by thousands of researchers to come up with better treatments for a disease. If you did want to contribute then that is great but be under no illusions that you will be able to strive forth on your own and fix this problem quickly.

 

[Aero51]

Yes, as I recently learned lots of studies regarding porous media are being conducted pertaining to pathogen propagation across filters. It's a very fascinating field if you are into nano fluids.