I’m building in vitro and in silico tools to demystify protein conformational dynamics

Company creation

Working with the team to make low-cost biosimilar insulin available to everyone

Engaging with policy efforts to make medicines more affordable to patients without stifling innovation in the drug industry.

Sourcing and diligence for early stage life sciences companies, Seed-Series A

Curriculum (re)design, assignment support and grading, student support. Course is open to a mix of students from the science and business graduate schools at UChicago. Students are asked to identify novel biotech-focused IP from university tech transfer offices, and develop robust research and business plans to commercialize the technology.

- Diligence for early stage (seed through Series B) biotech investments, with a broad focus: ADCs, MAbs/BsAbs, small molecules, cell therapy, gene delivery (viral/nonviral), DNA sequencing, microneedles, contraception- Led Q&A with C-suites at over 25 companies; lead contributor to diligence on 50+ potential investments- Developed triage habits to identify critical questions from company slide decks and other resources (science literature, PitchBook, GlobalData, UpToDate); presented weekly updates on active deals; sourced deals - Major author of two funded Investment Memos (nonviral gene delivery, antidepressive therapeutics)

Led development of cell-surface click conjugation platform to prototype protein constructs for preclinical data- Screened compounds with different reactivity and linker components to maximize protein copy on cell • Created multiple site-specific conjugation techniques to orient protein constructs on the cell surface, better mimicking the presentation and function of constructs surface-expressed in our final product - Bis-alkylation of His-tag and disulfide bonds using bis-sulfone reagents. Engineered Cys with maleimides- Orientation enabled preclinical data for our lead immuno-oncology clinical candidate RTX-212, where nonspecific conjugation yielded inactive protein and would have led to deprioritization of the programExpressed dozens of unique mammalian and bacterial protein constructs to supply 30+ person Discovery team- Cytokines and immune molecules for immuno-oncology and autoimmune indications, tolerance induction - Therapeutic enzymes, including multimeric complexes, for oncology and rare-disease indications- Fc, His, MBP tags; Cell-penetrating peptide moieties; ScFvs for tissue-specific targeting - DNA transformation, production, and preparation from mini- to giga-prep scale• Purified and characterized dozens of unique protein constructs, using AKTA and gravity columns- Protein A and IMAC affinity method development, including screening buffer and elution components- IEX and SEC to improve product purity and quality. Endotoxin removal by IEX, EndoTrap, Mustang E- Developed equations to account for reagent-specific absorption interference when quantifying conjugatesCleaved commercial antibodies into FAbs; purified and labeled for oriented conjugation and targetingProtein construct design for technology development efforts (FRET analysis, site-specific experiments)

Researching and optimizing methods for protein-small molecule conjugation and purification at small to medium scale, and the analysis of those conjugates and their processing in vitro and in vivo. Specific areas of research interest:- Novel cytotoxic and functional payloads- Nontraditional (non-antibody) protein constructs; Site-specific conjugation methods- In vitro processing and intracellular trafficking of various targets, constructs, and payloads- In vivo understanding of where and how conjugates are processed and payloads are released; how the tumor microenvironment can affect a conjugateAnalytical experience includes extensive work using the Thermo Q Exactive mass spectrometer to characterize and quantify whole and reduced antibodies, fragments, digests, and payload catabolites (both standard and radioactive samples). Key projects include:- Major contributions to the platform development of site-specific engineered cysteine conjugation- Using novel payloads to monitor, quantify, and visualize antibody internalization in real-time- Fabricating anti-drug antibody heterodimers for affinity-based drug "conjugation" (used to screen new drug variants)- Synthesizing radiolabeled antibody-drug conjugations used to examine tissue distribution; processing tissue samples to quantify distribution of ADC vs. free drug

• Built AKTA-scale protocols to enrich and isolate charged variants and drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) variants from MAbs and ADCs using ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography• Delivered product variants over 25x faster than existing methods; worked to establish this process as the platform for variant collection across departments in Pharma Technical Development

• Established conjugation process and operating ranges used for Phase I manufacturing• Leveraged size exclusion and hydrophobic interaction chromatography, Bioanalyzer, and Ellman’s assay to evaluate product quality and drug-to-antibody ratio throughout our conjugation process• Pioneered a high-throughput Chip-TOF mass spectrometer method to localize drugs on our THIOMAB without peptide mapping; it has been adopted by the ADC group for early characterization of new ADCs

2013-2014Thesis: Modular ECM Microcubes for Complex Tissue Constructs• Fabricated decellularized microscale extracellular matrix blocks with native morphology• Developed a protocol for processing ECM structures without digestion or crosslink agents• Built diversely-shaped self-assembled tissues that promote vascularization, cell function• Explanted rat livers and hearts to harvest primary cells and source extracellular matrix2012-2014Senior Capstone: Perfusion Bioreactor for High-Throughput Culture• Invented a high-throughput reusable bioreactor system to maintain over thirty 3D tissue samples in parallel for up to two weeks with automated media recirculation• Verified sample likeness with cell proliferation and function assays, nanoparticle delivery• Poster presentation at Biomedical Engineering Society Conference, Seattle, WA, 2013.Fall 2011Neuron Alignment using Physical and Wireless Electromagnetic Cues• Designed a system to assess the relative effectiveness of micropatterned channels and E- field stimulus arranged independently, in parallel, and competing in parallelSummer 20113D Culture of Hematopoietic Stem Cells as Functional Bone Marrow• Engineered a silk scaffold perfusion device to support prolonged survival of hHSCs• Optimized feeder layer and media conditions to deter differentiation and support growth• Confirmed stem cell identity, engraftment with flow cytometry and confocal microscopy• Acknowledged in Glettig and Kaplan (2013), “Extending Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Survival In Vitro with Adipocytes,” BioResearch Open Access 2(3): 179-85.Spring 2011Improved Fabrication Techniques for Biocompatible RFID Coils• Analyzed resonance of in-house RFID coils to improve signal specificity and coil assemblyFall 2010Induced Inflammatory Response on Nano-rough Silk Films• Used TNF expression in THP-1 cells to evaluate films with varying shape and treatments

• Worked one-on-one with all levels of students and professors in a variety of disciplines • Experience proofreading and copy-editing large scientific and nonscientific manuscripts• Prepared group workshops for technical & ESL tutoring, grant and journal article writing• Presented a 70-minute Technical Writing workshop at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, Tampa, FL, 2013.

• Subject tutor for individuals and groups in biology, physics, math, and engineering science.

• Assigned to a new class each semester, I worked with students (graduates and undergraduates) to improve their skills as writers through one-on-one meetings in which we discussed their essay drafts for the class. I met with professors multiple times during the semester to have an in-depth conversation about what they are specifically expecting from students on each assignment, and their grading criteria.Classes I've fellowed include CH1: Intro. to Community Health, BME62/162: Molecular Biotechnology, PS135: Comparative Revolutions, PS 174: The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, and HIST 54: Europe from the French Revolution to Present