PhD Profiles: A fascination with pharmacology

Dr Geoffrey Potjewyd, PhD is a Scientific Content Writer at ramarketing, and responsible for a wide range of scientific material.

Specializing in regenerative medicine, Geoff uses his background in the life sciences sector to develop content for clients and ramarketing and supports internal team development through sector knowledge training.?

Get to know Geoff and how he ended up in her current role at ramarketing…

? Tell us more about your PhD!

?? ?I have a PhD in regenerative medicine that took me four and a half years to complete (on account of Covid). That’s in dementia research, where I learned all about tissue engineering, cell and gene therapy, biomaterials, and plenty more.?

Beyond that, I’ve got an FdSc in Forensic Science with Forensic Archaeology; a BSC (Hons) in Pharmacology, and an MRes in Translational Medicine.

? What drew you to a life of science?

?? I have the strongest memory, as a kid, of watching Royal Society lectures on TV and thinking, “That's amazing.” The science I learned at school seemed really detached from that, and it didn't appeal to me on any level.

Sports science is what motivated me because I wanted to play football as a career. I was laser-focused on that up until the age of around 16 - then I lost my love for it completely.?

Part of what motivates me now is my own underwhelming experience of learning science in the classroom. In reality, science is an altruistic, amazing, and, on occasion, unbelievable discipline.

? Why did you choose your particular specialization?

?? Thanks to a friend of mine on the table tennis circuit, I wound up doing a work placement in the Pharmacology department at the University of Bath. I did all kinds of things and learned a lot.

I worked on a brand of ketamine for depression and anxiety, where I worked with Buprenorphine - essentially the “weaning off” drug they give morphine addicts.?

It was just fascinating learning how drugs work and, as a result, I chose pharmacology for my PhD. I've always wanted to do something both meaningful and personally interesting to me.

? Is there any scientific work that you’re proud of?

?? Probably dementia research. I worked in a biochemical lab that investigated dementia and did lots of stem cell research.?

I know my dementia research is being carried on by others in my old lab so I’m hoping it forms the basis of new discoveries and helps people in need.

? How come you ended up in pharmaceutical copywriting??

?? I tried to write and publish as many academic papers as I could during my PhD. That sort of opened the door to me writing for fun, about different topics of scientific research. This also led to me writing about those subjects for various news outlets, and that sort of became my thing.?

I left the lab following my PhD to write full-time for an ophthalmology magazine for a couple of years before the ramarketing position popped up.

? Tell us your best or worst lab memory…

?? On the day of the first COVID-19 lockdown, I had to throw away all of my cells, 3D tissues, and whatever other experiments I was working on.?

We had an email at 1pm saying everything had to be shut down by 5pm. I had neurons that took 90 days to differentiate that I had to throw in the bin. That's probably my number one low point.

?? Connect with Geoffrey Potjewyd, PhD on LinkedIn!