[pinerd3]

I agree that a smart, ambitious person can become expert in more than one field in their life — but jumping to a new area of mathematics is on an entirely lower level than jumping from algorithmic finance to cutting edge biomedical, especially at the time Erdős was working.

[kyawzazaw]

There are a few people who did a complete switch to study rare diseases with no background.

Sonia Vallabh, and her husband, Eric Minikel are the strongest examples of these type of highly smart and ambitious people.

> Sonia Vallabh ... had just graduated from Harvard Law School.

> [Eric Minikel] ... had recently gotten a degree in urban planning from M.I.T

https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/sonia-vallabh

https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/eric-minikel

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/health/rare-diseases.html