Greg Potts

Education/degrees:

BS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PhD, UW–Madison

Previous positions held: 

• Senior Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Senior Scientist, AbbVie

Current position or career path:

Currently I lead a team in AbbVie’s Research & Development organization focused on the discovery of novel drug targets and characterization of candidate molecules using mass spectrometry. My team utilizes proteomics and targeted metabolomics to support the drug discovery pipeline for AbbVie’s therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Immunology, and Neuroscience. Our team also tackles new technology development challenges such as automated sample preparation, mass spectrometry method development, and custom informatics/data visualization. In my role I guide the team’s strategy and scientific efforts while also fostering the collaboration and career growth of our team members.

Advice for current graduate students and postdocs:

I would encourage graduate students and postdocs that employers in many different fields, even non-traditional ones, are eager for creative, hard-working individuals like themselves. Even if some jobs lie in fields that don’t fully align with your past studies, employers in every industry are looking for scientists who can learn, adjust, and solve problems. Networking and seeking out a mentor in an industry you’re considering is a great way to gain insight into what is needed to break into a new field of interest.