Success and rejection
![When a paper is submitted to a scientific journal, the journal editors send it for review to panels of scientists. Peer review is the backbone of contemporary scientific legitimacy and lauded by everyone involved. It is also an opportunity for mischief and misunderstanding. Gary Lynchs history of antagonizing his peers sometimes made peer review more a gauntlet than a critique.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e2c080e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x349+0+0/resize/500x349!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fec%2Fc8%2F67dbdbcc3d986fef487bde53d449%2Fla-na-01memoryfour.jpg)
When a paper is submitted to a scientific journal, the journal editors send it for review to panels of scientists. Peer review is the backbone of contemporary scientific legitimacy and lauded by everyone involved. It is also an opportunity for mischief and misunderstanding. Gary Lynchs history of antagonizing his peers sometimes made peer review more a gauntlet than a critique. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
![The answer?](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c330445/2147483647/strip/true/crop/303x425+0+0/resize/303x425!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffb%2F7d%2F0ca6326f0a4275805d97ed0408b9%2Fla-na-02memoryfour.jpg)
Gary Rogers, a chemist at Cortex Pharmaceuticals, worked with Gary Lynch to invent a class of drugs called ampakines cognitive enhancers intended to improve memory and other brain functions. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
![Years of hard work](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/942115b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x333+0+0/resize/500x333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8d%2F81%2F38753b75bb2e598e201932a9eba0%2Fla-na-03memoryfour.jpg)
Neurophysiologist Eniko Kramar, a key member of Gary Lynch’s team, takes a break from her research at UC Irvine. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
![A key player](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c3db887/2147483647/strip/true/crop/291x425+0+0/resize/291x425!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2Fe2%2F6e259c7b544a0a9f9134d68632af%2Fla-na-04memoryfour.jpg)
Gary Lynch agreed to take on Vadim Fedulov, a graduate student, when it looked as if Fedulov might be tossed out of school. Fedulov was young, very bright, somewhat unpredictable and not punctual at all. He was, in other words, a typical Lynch recruit. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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![Details, details](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/03b077a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x356+0+0/resize/500x356!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2F53%2Fe61503974ab42202e1aca680973e%2Fla-na-05memoryfour.jpg)
Bin Lin works in a room next to Gary Lynch, testing and re-testing samples of brain tissue to discern the effectiveness of drugs being developed in the Lynch lab at UC Irvine. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)