Breanna Luna Email & Phone Number

Agoura Hills, California, United States

Agoura Hills, California, United States

Agoura Hills, California, United States

La Jolla, Ca

•Responsible for developing, validating and implementing full in vitro assay suite (bacterial and mammalian assays) for identification and progression of antibiotic drug candidates, culminating in lead series identification. •Utilized molecular biology skills for expansion and screening of DNA encoded libraries in bacteria, including completion of screens for large pharmaceutical partner. •Proficient with standard laboratory automation including liquid handlers and plate readers. •Assisted in the preparation, execution, and analysis of tissues from in vivo infection models in mice.•Carried out a wide variety of cellular assays, including fluorescence, luminescence, and cytotoxicity assays; microbiological sensitivity assays (MIC/MBC and checkerboard); mammalian cell culture; ex vivo assays; in vivo work; molecular biology work, including cloning, DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis; operation of automated liquid handlers.•Independently design, execute and analyze experiments on multiple projects in heavily matrixed organization.•Routinely presented findings to entire team including senior management.•Laboratory management including maintenance of key equipment and supplies.•Interface with vendors and CROs.

Greater Los Angeles Area

• Courses taught: Human Anatomy and Physiology I laboratory, Principles of Biology I laboratory and recitation, and Introduction to Microbiology laboratory.• Responsibilities: preparation and presentation of short lectures of main concepts that students will observe in lab and guide students through the experiments.

Los Angeles, Ca

• Collaborated with a chemistry lab to evaluate the activities of several novel efflux pump inhibitors are being evaluated against multi-drug resistant Gram Negative bacterial strains via minimum inhibitory concentration assays.• Monitored mammalian cell lines, assisted other lab members with experiments and analyzing data. • Maintained lab space and equipment and ordered lab supplies.

Los Angeles, Ca

• Responsibilities: oversaw all the work (administrative, report completion, etc.) in the LSAMP office. Acted as the financial analyst to monitor all expenses within our NSF funded grants. Assisted the LSAMP Directors with the undergraduate and graduate student programs.

Los Angeles, Ca

•Assessed the activity of isothiazolone drug analogs against a panel of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates. •Minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration and time-kill assays were used to evaluate isothiazolone drug activity.•Automated liquid handler, Tomtec Quadra, was utilized in the dilution and distribution of antibiotic compounds. •Cytotoxicity testing with mammalian cell lines was carried out to observe possible toxicity to mammalian cells.

San Francisco, Ca

•Investigated the sensitivity of multiple ovarian cancer cell lines to a previously identified small molecule compound, that selectively kills ovarian cancer cells without displaying toxicity to normal tissue, using XTT assays. •Glucose dependency for each of the ovarian cancer cell lines was assessed utilizing quantitative PCR to monitor expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and performed in vitro growth curves to determine glucose dependency in ovarian cancer cell lines.

Los Angeles, Ca

•Assisted with testing the hypothesis that the targeted insertion of a controllable promoter upstream of a putative essential gene in Acinetobacter baumannii would allow for gene expression knock down, which will disrupt cell growth if the gene is essential. •This project involved the use of plasmid cloning, primer design, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and bacterial transformation.

Los Angeles, Ca

•Extracted DNA from urine sediment samples from bladder cancer patients. •My role in this project was critical because of such small amounts of DNA in each of the precious samples collected from patients. Using a phenol chloroform extraction method, I produced high DNA yields for further analysis.

Master Of Science - Ms, Biological Sciences

Activities and Societies: Phi Kappa Phi Honor SocietyEmphasis in microbiology.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Microbiology And Immunology