Recent department shift and promotion has given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and further develop my skills in the supplement and science industry. This new position and department direction has exposed me to new product development, existing product research and development, manufacturing process improvement, and a greater knowledge on functional medicine active ingredients as a whole. Alongside my previous tasks, some examples of new opportunities include: optimization of Zanasi and Practica encapsulation machine settings for individual powder formulas, manufacturing process improvements to maintain integrity of easily degradable ingredients, and excipient profile research to ensure proper flowability in our manufacturing environment.

Diverse occupation where every day a different set of problems may arise, and a different skill set or knowledge base would need to be applied. At OMPI, we have approximately 180 unique products, all with their own formulas that could be impacted by a change in raw material or manufacturing process. The formulation team is also in charge of conducting research and development of existing and new products looking to be launched under the OMPI catalog and may need various amounts of testing done to ensure proper efficacy.

I work along Dr. Sarah Alger on her Neurobiology Research team regarding Zebra Finches. We currently work as a team of three in the Daniel O' Trainer Natural Resources building on campus and make use of the NIS Elements program and their Bright-Field Microscope to analyze the activation of immediate early genes (IEG) in coronal cross sections of late zebra finches following the exposure to conspecific vocalizations known as "distance calls". The genes we are currently measuring for and quantifying are zenk and fos. Considering we recently obtained a new version of the program NIS Elements, we are also tasked with fully modulating the settings to accurately capture and record cell bodies at the correct threshold.

I would have the tasks of working in production, organization, and management of orders/caterings throughout the lunch and dinner shifts. When not in the kitchen prepping or doing activities listed above, I would drive through heavy traffic and handle high stress situations to stay ahead of schedule since we only utilized one deliver driver in most scenarios.