I have always loved teaching ever since tutoring fellow students in middle school. My time teaching at JHU has been rewarding in so many ways. The staff and the students are wonderful. I teach both Advanced Cell Biology I as well as Virology for the Masters in Biotechnology program. I teach both face-to-face as well as online courses. The challenge of finding new ways to use technology to engage students is quite enjoyable.

This is a dual role where I implement new technologies to aid operations as well as direct the lab. I have a passion for immersive technologies and believe they will revolutionize the workplace. To that end, I have introduced technologies such as AR and vision systems to streamline operations processes and overcome current limitations for cold-chain management and sample handling. Additionally, I have directed laboratory growth by introducing new service lines and standardize offerings across international labs.

I managed the NIH AIDS Reagent Program (NIH-ARP) which provides critical reagents to HIV and AIDS researchers around the world.NIH-ARP is a government contract that allowed me to combine my passion for science with my drive to constantly innovate and improve. As the head of this program for Fisher BioServices (part of Thermo Fisher) I met both corporate goals as well as government contract requirements.One of the most rewarding parts of the position was working with a team dedicated to excellence. They care deeply about NIH-ARP and I had the pleasure of experiencing this dedication every day.As the Project Director:- I managed a $25+ M budget for a government contract to serve the needs of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), at NIH.- I directed the activities of 10-12 people to fulfill the requirements and continuously improve the contract.- I maintained the contract for GMP-ready activities.- I managed multiple MTAs with technology transfer groups at universities, non-for-profit organizations, and corporations.

Assistant Project Director at the NIH-AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, which is managed by Fisher BioServices-part of Thermo Fisher Scientific.I maintained and expanded our reagent inventory. This involved monitoring reagent inventory, planning the expansion, production, QC, and presentation of antivirals, antibodies, cells, DNA, peptides, proteins, and viruses. Seeking out new, relevant reagents to add to the inventory as well as re-designing the current inventory management system were also vital parts to my role.

Designed and directed the execution of multiple research projects focusing on HIV-1 and host cell interactions, especially for vaccine assessment using clinical samples. Spearheaded the standardization of the PBMC neutralization assay for the Comprehensive Antibody Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium (CA-VIMC). (website: www.cavd.org/grantees/Pages/montefiori.aspx)Discovered, published, and presented to an international conference audience the discordant results between the PBMC and TZM-bl neutralization assays that led to the modification of vaccine-related neutralization standards.Extensive GCLP expertise; successfully validated the first GCLP assay within the MHRP (anthrax toxin neutralization assay); successfully validated 2 immunogenicity testing assays (TZM-bl and rPA-ELISA)Our laboratory performs HIV-1 neutralization assays. We focus on a number of issues including the influence of: viral clade, recombination and host cell determinants on neutralization. We currently are involved with assay improvement and advancement for standardization of neutralization assays, specifically for assessing vaccinee samples. We measure extracellular p24 as well as intracellular p24 and utilize various reporter cell assays. We also use 10 color flow-cytometry to characterize PBMC.

As the director of the Specimen Processing Laboratory (SPL), I managed the daily operations of 4 technicians that included receiving, processing, and reposing over 80,000 clinical samples a year. During my time in SPL, I optimized and expanded the sample repository to store over 1.5 million samples and secured resources for future growth. Additionally, I successfully led SPL through GCLP compliance.

My Post-doctoral fellowship consisted of gathering and characterizing 60 primary HIV isolates from 6 major genetic subtypes. The viruses were extensively characterized for biological as well as neutralization profiles, and full-length sequenced.