Finding Success at a Cellular Level

Published February 13, 2025

Research Technologist Mark Campbell happily has spent his last four years in the windowless, darkened, tucked-away “cave” of the Reproductive Endocrine Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital. Campbell spends hours, upon days, performing research on the genetics behind varied reproductive disorders – delayed puberty, infertility, and a rare disorder called idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), a condition that results in the absence of puberty. For the last two of those four years, Campbell simultaneously took on the rigor of an MS in Biotechnology degree from Johns Hopkins University, which he successfully completed in December 2024.

“I can’t say that those two years were easy,” said Campbell, an Andover, Mass. native. “There were nights here when I would work until 5 p.m. and then just stay in the lab doing schoolwork until 2 or 3 a.m. Then I would just walk the 15 minutes to my home in East Cambridge and wake up at 9 a.m. and do the whole thing again. Johns Hopkins University speaks for itself, and its reputation precedes it. Honestly, it was the only grad program that I applied to, not because I was confident that I would be accepted, but because I was so confident about the program. I didn’t want to stop my work at Mass General, and the online format of the program allowed me to continue working. It was the best decision that I made.”

Campbell began his work at Mass General shortly following his 2021 graduation from UMass-Amherst where he studied biology and minored in Spanish. He now spends most of his time with stem cells, doing gene knockout experiments, funded through the National Institute of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to see the impact on certain reproductive hormone functions. A lot of his work focuses on a reproductive neuron called GnRH which is upstream of testosterone and estrogen production. Disrupting the function of the neuron will cascade into some sort of hormonal deficiencies on the back end. Campbell spends a lot of time maturing cells, shifting their growing conditions, and placing them in a big, comfortable incubator in a cell culture room to ensure that “they are happy and sleeping well.”

“I have always loved science, but I never thought I would be interested in reproductive biology,” he said. “I have developed a passion for it along the way. I love it. It is rewarding trying to decipher some of the unknown causes of infertility, which is a big problem in this country. And by doing so through the process, discovering more genetic variants that are linked to infertility. We can also spin this off into developing contraceptives based on particular molecular targets. It’s very cool.”

There was never a question of whether Campbell would pursue a graduate degree, but rather what route would best support his professional goals. He settled on biotech over genetics because it gave him a broader, more diversified scope.

“I am interested in breaking into the industry side of science, and this program gave me the flexibility to explore science-related fields, particularly in the genetic landscape where I hope to stay,” Campbell said. “I had a great teacher named Dr. Amrita Madabushi for a gene therapy course which combined the molecular origins of certain genetic disorders with therapeutics that are being developed and commercialized in the biotech industry. It was super cool to learn about. I also really enjoyed my bioinformatics courses that broadened my knowledge and introduced me to more and newer databases that are used to store data. Developing those computer skills was very helpful and professionally rewarding. The work I put in – the focus, sacrifice, and dedication – was totally worth it and was character building. It is rewarding to look back and realize that you got through the program and came out stronger. You learn a whole lot about yourself in the process, and you build relationships and networks with unique and diversified students and faculty.”

With the aspiration of one day becoming a chief technology officer at a biotech firm in Cambridge, Campbell knows for certain that any career move will be one that keeps him in the business of helping people.

“Maybe my Johns Hopkins degree will help me land in cell therapeutic development or gene therapy,” he said. “I have time to consider that. My ‘cell friends’ need me for another year.”