The Member Spotlight Q&A is part of an ongoing CASSS series, in which we invite members to meet other members of the CASSS Community.
Today’s spotlight shines on Joey Studts, Director Late Stage Purification Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG.
Q. What was your motivation to volunteer with CASSS?
I see CASSS as one of the premier groups to exchange on topics concerning the biologics community. The discussions and conferences are highly focused on topics that are most critical to bringing novel drugs to the markets and to the patients who need them.
Q. What do you do to relax? Do you have any hobbies?
Beyond the time spent with my wife and 3 children, I love to study, visit, and photograph special sites related to European history. Specifically, around the Holy Roman Empire of the German Speaking people, from 740 to the time of Napoleon.
Q. What's your favorite type of food or special dish you cook? Why?
Well, cooking is certainly not my expertise, but I love to grill and BBQ. But as not to avoid the questions, my fallback is normally Mexican-type food with a little bit of spice to it. It helps that my wife lived in Mexico for a time.
Q. What is your favorite movie, tv show, music or book?
If I am reading, I am normally reading European history. There are too many books on the subject to really list favorites. As for as music, I love to listen to swing Jazz and pop music depending on the mood. With TV shows, I am normally a few years behind the trend of the latest action/drama series on Netflix.
Q. What famous person (dead or alive) would you choose to have dinner with? Why?
As far as famous people, I would love to have a chance to talk with Emperor Frederick the 2nd of the Staufen Empire has in many topics, he was very ahead of his time, a bit of a scientist but very controversial as well. But clearly, an intellectual who would likely have had a much larger influence on history if he had survived longer. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, and Charlemagne would closely follow as they had some socialist ideas for such powerful kings and Emperors. Clearly, this was self-serving, but both changed their world in my opinion.
Q. What’s your favorite travel experience?
My favorite travel experience changes nearly every year I live in Europe, but I have to say Athens and the coastal towns of the Peloponnese of Greece are my favorite currently. Beautiful, simple, and historic.
Q. What would people be surprised to know about you?
Well, from reading this, maybe not much of a surprise, but many people who know me professionally are surprised to know I am a failed historian. I started college with the goal of being a history major, but I was not good enough at remembering dates and names, so I had to move to science.
Q. How did you get inspired to go into science/biotech/pharma industry?
My inspiration to go into science was to understand the interface between chemistry and biology and as I gained understanding of this, what better place to apply this understanding than in the biotech industry. Academics would simply not have worked for me, and medicine was certainly never an option either, I love to work on topics and problems that are more short term so development really fit for me.
Q. If you did anything other than your current occupation, what would it be?
I love my job, working with my colleagues, and the feeling of success it brings when a novel drug is brought to the market to impact people's lives, but I look forward to a day when I can retire and maybe lead historical tours around Central Europe. Not many people understand the complexities that have led to the different countries and different people of Europe, nor do they get to see the history and beauty of Europe together.