From the stage to the lecture hall
For ETH Fellow Cody Ross Pitts, creativity is what inspires his research in making molecules. His ideas will contribute to the field of medicinal chemistry.
Cody Ross Pitts’s path through life has taken many surprising turns. During our interview, it seems quite natural for him to be currently engaged in research at the ETH Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, where he studies how molecular properties can be improved by fluorination. For a long time, however, it looked as though he would become an actor rather than a scientist.
Pitts’s first screen appearance was at the tender age of three months. “My mother was always a fan of the arts and got me a role in a TV series,” he recalls. This was followed by his first theatre engagements at the age of seven and voiceovers on programmes for the TV channel Nickelodeon. While completing a Bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry at Monmouth University in New Jersey, he chose theatre studies as a subsidiary and took on additional roles in film and theatre in his spare time. “Even so, my parents always insisted that my acting should never interfere with my schoolwork.”
A scientist rather than a doctor
Cody Ross Pitts did in fact manage to bridge this gap between studying and acting. “I found studying at school and university quite easy,” he admits. One thing he did find difficult was choosing just one subject for his future professional career. “Initially, I found marine biology very exciting, and was also attracted to medicine.” His first exposure to the medical profession was through his father, who worked as a fireman and paramedic. After graduating, he spent a year trying out the medical profession and working on an ambulance crew. Only then did he eventually opt for science, by continuing his studies at John Hopkins University.
“Although it may seem at first sight that you can help a lot of people as a doctor, most of the daily work is pretty routine,” Pitts says when explaining his decision not to become a doctor. “As a scientist I feel I can achieve significantly more and have a positive impact on many more people’s lives – whether through my research or through my university teaching – and I will never be bored.”
Improving things with chemistry
The reason he chose to research chemical processes rather than the marine world comes down to his mentor at Monmouth University. “Professor Massimiliano Lamberto was remarkable teacher who was able to inspire me and introduce me to abstract thinking.” It was through this professor that he discovered that chemistry would allow him to improve countless things and create new ones.
Pitts is currently studying the synthesis of fluorinated molecules for medicinal chemistry and for agricultural applications. “Many drugs are now based on fluorinated carbon compounds as they are often not easily broken down by metabolic processes, so the active substances can therefore be transported to the right place in the body.” Among other things, they are used in the development of drugs for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, as they reach their destination in the brain via the bloodstream.
Apart from the creativity involved in his research, the 29-year-old chemist is also attracted by the challenge of implementing processes in the laboratory that he initially sketched out in abstract form on paper. “You have to be confident it will work, yet not afraid to try even if you think it won't,” he admits. It’s never certain whether the chemical reaction will actually proceed as planned. “If results are different from what you expected, you either have to start again from scratch or, if the results are interesting enough, you may have just found a new direction for your research. Quite often, that is even more exciting.”
Curious about new things
There is fearlessness in Cody Ross Pitts’s approach to life: he is always keen to explore new things. Taking up his postdoctoral post at ETH Zurich in August 2017 meant moving abroad for the very first time, and the American soon found that even small differences in everyday life can occasionally be challenging.
Raised in Waterbury (Connecticut), an economically depressed town in America’s so-called “rust belt”, he was initially unfamiliar with Switzerland’s public transport system and with the rules for waste disposal in the city of Zurich. Pitts and his wife Katrina have tried to familiarise themselves with the country and the people, even to the point of learning German. To accompany her husband to Switzerland, Katrina had to give up her financial aid counselor position at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
“A long working week is part of the job!”
The American couple are most impressed by the mountains in their temporary homeland: “They make you aware of just how small you are.” In addition, the couple like to travel as much as possible around Europe. In recent months, they have been to Italy, France, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden and plan to visit Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and England this summer.
Unfortunately, they only have limited time to travel, so their trips have generally been fairly short. The chemist spends six days a week in the laboratory. “Hard work is part of the job if you want to be successful and land one of those sought-after professorships down the road,” he says. He dreams of being a scientist for the rest of his life, engaged in research and teaching: “Let's say the lecture hall is my new stage.” He’s certainly on the right path. A patent application has already been filed for a number of methods he is developing on polyfluorination. "I really believe this work will be a game changer for the field of pentafluorosulfanyl chemistry."