Alumni Profile: Brad Andresen (PhD ’02)
by Alison Cooley
Brad Andresen’s career trajectory is considered an alternative PhD path and one of the newer career models for current Pitt PhD students and recent graduates. Most PhD students pursue careers as professors or go into industry, but Andresen didn’t want to give up his passion. “I am a researcher. That is where my heart is; that’s what gives me the most joy,” he said. He is able to pursue scientific inquiry by serving as a professor and a researcher.
He recently virtually visited the School of Medicine to talk with trainees about “Teaching at Smaller Academic Institutions While Sustaining Your Research Interests.” The presentation was part of PhD Pathways—sessions where School of Medicine trainees learn about career opportunities in the biomedical sciences. During the talk, he shared his journey with students and assured them that they can continue to do research in their careers (as long as they’re willing to do some teaching, too).
His love of science came from his father, who taught at universities in Michigan, and he was inspired to become a researcher after participating in the Michigan State High School Honors Science Program. He began focusing on science as an undergraduate biology major at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and his research has taken him to New Zealand.
He chose to pursue a PhD in molecular pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine because he was attracted to Pitt’s Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program. The program offered six PhD degree-granting programs in the School of Medicine, and one of them was molecular pharmacology. He wanted to be immersed in the research environment and become an independent scientific practitioner.
Today, Andresen holds positions at Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) as an associate professor and researcher, and he was named an Innovation Champion at WesternU in 2019.
He is currently working on three research projects, all through a molecular pharmacology lens. One project focuses on β-blocker carvedilol (Coreg®), which has cancer-preventative properties. Another project seeks agonists for orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and the third project looks at the kinetic control of GPCR signaling. His ultimate discovery would be creating research tools to turn GPCRs on. Read more about Andresen’s research.
When Andresen is not working in the lab or teaching at WesternU, he spends time with his wife, Lynda Kross, and his daughter, Sophia, or he builds things in a workshop in his Los Angeles home. Some of his creations include a desk he made for his daughter and pens he makes for students who graduate from his lab.
In his free time, Andresen creates in his workshop, such as the pieces shown above. Also pictured are Andresen and his family in Mary Poppins costumes for Halloween 2024.
