We founded Placer Biosciences as a vehicle to acquire the pharmaceutical assets that my team and I invented and developed while working for my former employer. I have intimate knowledge of technology platform and the vast potential held within. I wholeheartedly believe in our pharmaceutical pipeline and remain committed to developing our lead compounds for patients suffering from debilitating diseases including IBD and IBS.

I work with a passionate and accomplished management team developing the next generation of cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals. I have the good fortune to lead our scientific programs, managing internal and external R&D, IP, Regulatory, and all aspects of a dynamic pre-clinical development pipeline.

Proposed and oversaw the pivot from foods to pharmaceuticals, building upon our glycosylation platform technology. Developed our intellectual property portfolio through a robust internal research program. Performed fermentation optimization for multiple industrial microorganisms, ultimately scaling to 1,000L scale with our CRO. Evolved a novel biocatalytic reactor system through internal R&D and scaled up chemistry >2,000,000x. Designed and oversaw ADME/PK studies and deciphered novel prodrug mechanism for targeted cannabinoid delivery without psychoactivity.

Coordinated and performed research and development to build a domestic stevia industry in Northern California. Worked to impact global health by developing new technologies to reduce the price of the non-caloric high-potency sweetener Stevia, while simultaneously stimulating the economy of the Northern Sacramento Valley with a new agricultural commodity and processing infrastructure.

Established wet chemistry and molecular biology research laboratory. Set up and operated bioreactors and downstream processing. Performed plant DNA, RNA, and metabolite extractions, and characterized through various molecular biology techniques. Performed next-gen transcriptome project with Stevia rebaudiana, resulting in the identification of novel steviol glycoside biosynthetic enzymes. Created an in vitro platform for the economical production of cofactors required for glycosylation engine.

My dissertation established a link between replication stress and modulation of mitotic spindle forces during chromosome segregation. By using various chemical and genetic methods we were able to impair replication and chromatin packing and monitor their effect on chromosome segregation in real time by in vivo filming with GFP-variant fusion proteins in S.cerevisiae. These cellular stresses result in chromatin bridges during anaphase, a phenomenon in which interconnected sister chromatids fail to separate despite being pulled to the daughter cells by the mitotic spindle. In Humans these chromatin bridges are observed in the Bloom's Syndrome and Fanconi Anemia disease states and are marked by early cancer initiation. My research suggests that the Eukaryotic mitotic spindle responds to replication stress prior to the presence of chromatin bridges, fortifying the mitotic spindle to increase anaphase forces for loading of a force-dependent chromatin bridge resolution complex.

Researcher and lab manager in the lab of Steffen Abel, Department of Plant Sciences. My research focus was to identify the specific glucosyltransferases responsible for biosynthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as explore the metabolic flux between the glucosinolate and auxin biosynthetic pathways.Responsibilities included dishwashing, ordering, maintenance of lab stocks, safety compliance, and other general lab tasks. Research included culture optimization and propagation, genetic manipulations, cloning, protein expression and purification, DNA/RNA extractions, genetic crosses, sample prep, affinity chromatography, HPLC, and other various experimental techniques.