As part of the Molecular and Cellular Cancer Biology Group, contributed to cancer biology studies in support of drug discovery and development programs.

Clinical Virology

• Production and characterization of HIV-1 by transfection of molecular clones • Amplification of primary viral isolates in peripheral blood mononucleocytes• Cloning various drug resistance mutations into HIV-1 vectors • Sequencing of HIV-1 RNA from in vivo drug studies • Genotyping of donors for huCCR5, gender and HCV• huCD34+ stem cell isolation and characterization• Science and Education Partnership (SEP) summer intern program mentor

• Sequencing of various HIV-1 strains for drug resistance• Population cloning• Production of HIV-1 from molecular clones by transfection

• Derivation of new stable cell lines containing various expression cassettes • Analysis of gene expression for Alphaviral vector vaccine preparations• Assay development for protein expression by FACS and IFA

• Production, purification and qualification of adenoviral and non-viral (plasmid) vectors• Development and implementation of the Replication Competent Adenovirus (RCA) assay• Institution of a reliable system for endotoxin testing• Liaison to Process Sciences

• Involvement in all stages of production of adenoviral vectors for in vitro and in vivo analysis • Development of assays to analyze for in vitro and in vivo gene expression and function • Construction of transgenic vectors for the transgenic mouse project• Improvement of technologies to produce Adeno-associated virus (AAV)

• Qualitative and quantitative PCR and RT-PCR assay development, using the ABI Prism 7700 TaqMan sequence detection system in support of viral vector research, development and clinical trials• Development of novel PCR assay to detect wild type (wt) AAV contamination in recombinanat AAV (rAAV) or in cell lines used in it’s production

• Functional assay development for various rAAV viruses• recAAV production and qualification for use in gene therapy

• Validation and streamlining of antiviral assays against Herpes Simplex Virus II (HSV-2) and Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV) in vitro • Glucose transport screening of crude plant extracts and novel medicinal chemistry analogs in vitro using the 3T3-L1 adipocyte 2DG uptake assay • Wrote the in vitro portion of medicinal chemistry patents for assay above