Actual Living Scientist – Martin Ramsden

It recently came to our attention, from this article, that only one in three Americans can name an actual living scientist. As a large biotechnology company, filled with talented and dedicated scientists, we think that is ridiculous. We want to introduce you to some of our staff who are, in fact, Actual Living Scientists.

The next scientist in our series is Martin Ramsden, PhD. Martin has been with Bio-Techne for 8 years at the R&D Systems site (and Bio-Techne Headquarters) in Minneapolis, MN. Martin works in our Commerical Development Department, which develops relationships with other companies and laboratories, but has extensive experience in Neuroscience including obtaining his PhD from the University of Leeds and a Post Doc position at the University of Minnesota in the Ashe Lab working in memory loss relating to Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Let’s learn a little bit more about Martin:

Name: Martin Ramsden
Position: Commercial Development Manager
Department: Commercial Development
Years with Bio-Techne: 8 years

Why did you pursue a career in science? (or a career that led you to Bio-Techne)
I was always just interested in how the human body worked, especially the brain. After college I wanted to help cure a neurological disease. I spent 11 years in the lab trying to understand what causes Alzheimer’s disease.

How would you explain your job duties to Jimmy Fallon?
As part of the commercial development team, I mediate scientific projects between Bio-techne and other biological research-focused companies. Those companies use the types of products we make to try and understand what goes wrong during disease conditions. They also need the products so they can develop diagnostic tests and effective treatments.

How do you feel your work contributes to the betterment of society?
We make the tools that fuel biological understanding and medical progress.

Who is/was a scientific influence in your life or career?
My dad was a chemistry teacher, I had a really good biology teacher at high school, and I was lucky to work under gifted principle investigators during graduate school and post-docs. In addition, I never quite recovered from watching Steve Martin's The Man with Two Brains.

We are proud to have Martin on the Bio-Techne team as one of our many Actual Living Scientists.