Petrine Wellendorph graduated as a Master of Pharmacy from the University of Pharmaceutical Sciences (now University of Copenhagen) in 2001. She performed her PhD studies (2002-2006) in the group of Dr. Hans Bräuner-Osborne where she worked on the orphan family C G protein-coupled receptor GPRC6A. This involved cloning, deorphanization and cellular pharmacology as well as the generation of a GPRC6A knock-out mouse through a 6 month visit to the laboratory of Dr. Bernhard Bettler, University of Basel, Switzerland. Since 2006 Dr. Wellendorph has focused gradually more on the elucidation of the pharmacology and biological role of the naturally occurring compound gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) - also known as the drug of abuse Fantasy/liquid X and the narcolepsy drug Xyrem/sodium oxybate. After one year as guest scientist at the University of Sydney, Australia in the laboratory of Dr. Mary Chebib, she returned to the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology in 2010 where she became associate professor (tenured). She is now a member of the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology discipline and the cluster for Molecular Neuroprotection. Her research group is focusing primarily on brain targets for GHB and GABA. In 2013 Dr. Wellendorph was awarded a Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship in 2013 (10M DKK) and in 2019 a follow-up thematic grant on brain mechanisms (10M DKK). Lately, activities have increasingly focused on the innovation potential of GHB analogs, supported by pre-seed funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation in collaboration with colleagues Prof. Bente Frølund and Assoc. Prof. Birgitte Kornum (both UCPH). Petrine Wellendorph was a member of the Young Academy of Sciences at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (www.youngacademy.dk).

Possible conflicts of interest

Co-founder of Ceremedy Ltd. from 2018. One license agreement obtained from the University of Copenhagen in 2020.