● Part of the Manufacturing team in the Regenerative Medicine Clinical Center (RMCC)● Worked with the manufacturing team to develop and implement methods and perform manufacturing of FDA compliant cell therapy products for clinical implant using cGMP methodology● Identified opportunities for process improvement, engineering solutions, and coordinate implementation to support clinical translation ● Passed GMP gowning and aseptic processing qualifications (ISO 7 and ISO 8 cleanrooms)● Wrote, revised and executed SOPs and batch records following cGMP documentation guidelines ● Ensured FDA Code of Federal Regulation and GMP regulatory compliance (21 CFR 210/211) via partnership with Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Facilities Engineering personnel● Provided administrative support to Associate Director of Manufacturing

● Part of the Process Development team in the Regenerative Medicine Clinical Center (RMCC)     ● Lead on Urethral Tissue Engineering (UTE) project and Tissue Engineered Muscle Repair (TEMR) project     ● Second on Bladder Reconstruction (BDR) project● Developed projects for the translation to human clinical trials and preparation of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications to the FDA● Perform work in GLP and GMP conditions, engineering runs in ISO 8 cleanroom     ● Ensured processes to manufacture regenerative products adhere to regulations● Developed control procedures for process standardization● Responsible for managing research projects and overseeing day to day laboratory activities● Interface with Manufacturing and Quality teams to transfer project into Clinical Manufacturing● Perform or arrange outsourcing of FDA required testing to define regenerative products and biocompatibility testing according to ISO 10993● Coordinated ethylene oxide sterilization validation according to ISO 11135● Involved in writing and reviewing IND applications to the FDA, SOPs, and batch records

● Recipient of a T32 NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant from the Anesthesiology Department● Work was performed in the Cardiology Department at the Buffalo Clinical Translational Research Center and also the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department● Attended monthly Cardiothoracic/Anesthesia Journal Club meetings● Completed Good Research Practice Training (GRP) for Clinical Researchers Project #1: Optimizing cell surface glycosylation modifications for increasing stem cell homing to damaged heart tissues● Acted as project leader and managed the roles of others ● There were 2 glycosylation modifications used:     ● One modification was to couple a recombinant PSGL-1 protein called 19Fc[FUT7+] to the cell        surface by lipid intercalation      ● The other method was to over-express glycosyltransferase FUT7 in the stem cells which         would add an alpha(1,3) linked fucose onto glycosylation structures on endogenous cell surface         proteins● Worked with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), isolated     from pigs● Tested stem cell homing improvement technique in vivo in Yorkshire pigs following occlusion of     the LAD● Also tested technique by treating murine LSK (Lin-, Sca-1+, c-Kit+) cells before tail vein injection     into recipient mice following lethal irradiation of the bone marrow● Performed CT scans on pigs (GE Discovery PET/CT 600 series)● Performed frozen tissue sectioning (cryostat), immunohistochemistry on frozen and paraffin     sections, immunocytochemistry on cellsProject #2: Testing the ability of polysufonated polyethylenimine (PEI), bound to photosensitizer molecules, to target selectin-expressing cells for photodynamic therapy applications ● Participant in a research team lead by a student from another group

The course provided an introduction to biochemistry principles and biotechnology:     ● Biochemistry and microbiology basics     ● Enzyme catalysis and kinetics     ● Cell growth     ● Bioprocess engineering     ● Bioreactor design     ● How engineering concepts can be applied to designing, developing, and analyzing         bioprocesses     ● Based on textbook: Bioprocess Engineering by Shuler and Kargi 2nd edition ● Created syllabus, lecture material, quizzes and exams● Taught hour long lectures 3× per week to 18 students ● Graded all materials and returned to students in a timely manner● Received all 'A' grades in student course evaluations (Categories included: course organization,     challenging and stimulating course, reasonable and appropriate work load, fair and appropriate     student evaluation, presentation clarity, instructor enthusiasm, and overall instructor and course)

Received multiple sources of stipend and project funding:      ● American Heart Association (AHA) Pre-doctoral Fellowship (2 yrs)     ● University at Buffalo Presidential Fellowship (4 yrs)     ● Mark Diamond Research Fund Scholarship (1 yr)     ● Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) in Biophotonics        Fellowship (1 yr)Thesis title: Glycopeptide Probes of P-selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-1 to Study Site-Specific Glycosylation and Stem Cell Homing FunctionProject #1: To develop a mass spectrometry (MS) strategy for site-specific glycosylation     ● Used molecular biology techniques to create recombinant protein constructs in cloning and              expression vectors     ● Expression of recombinant proteins in:           ● E. coli           ● Mammalian cell lines                 ● Lentiviral transductions for stable expression (produced in HEK293T cells)                 ● Transient transfections by calcium phosphate and Fugene 6 (Promega)     ● Purification using column purification (affinity and ion exchange) with FPLC and HPLC     ● Used flow cytometry and protein characterization techniques (Bradford assay, SDS-PAGE,        Western blot)     ● Analysis of MS data using programs written in MATLABProject #2: To investigate the role of ST6GalNAc2 in selectin-ligand formation     ● Over-expression of glycosyltransferases into mammalian cell lines     ● Imaged fluorescent reporters (GFP, DsRED) using light microscopy and confocal microscopy     ● Assessed cellular ligand-receptor binding function by flow chamber assays     ● Isolated various cell populations from human bloodProject #3: To engineer mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) surfaces to increase their homing abilities to inflamed cells     ● Project was continued in postdoctoral work described above     ● MSC differentiation and staining (Alcian Blue, Von Kossa, Oil Red O)

● Worked in a team of 3 members● Consulted with professionals from the company through emails and a weekly meeting to finish the     projectProject: To evaluate the ability of exisiting plant equipment to adapt for new sulfur regulations and feed flow increase     ● Used ASPEN HYSYS simulation     ● Evaluated the economic feasibility of producing ULSD, considering:           ● Profitability           ● cash flow           ● return on investment           ● payback period           ● net present value     ● Performed sensitivity analyses including how return on investment, investors rate of return and         selling price are affected by variations in total permanent investment, fixed costs, and         operating costs     ● Presented results during class to students in addition to the Process Group at the company

Team member in a project to characterize palladium alloy membranes (Cu, Ag, and Au – Pd alloys) for the purpose of hydrogen purification     ● Used permeation reactor to test membranes (C-ring and O-ring configurations)     ● Exposed membranes to H2S at 300-450ºC     ● Mass flow and temperature were controlled by National Instruments LabVIEW 7.1     ● Mass spec signal of gases recorded by WinMPA     ● Analyzed membrane surfaces using atomic force microscope (AFM)      ● Presented research in both poster and oral platform to students and faculty

Independent project to assess tPA production and activity from CHO cells treated or untreated with methotrexate (selection pressure)     ● Performed cell counting     ● Glucose, glutamine, and ammonia measurements     ● tPA chromozyme activity assay     ● Learned basic cell culture, data collection, scientific presentationDuring the reestablishment of a dormant laboratory, I:     ● Disposed of old chemicals     ● Prepared printed MSDS sheets of all lab chemicals     ● Carried out experiments using laboratory safety measures     ● Performed general clean up and organization      ● Set up cell culture incubator

I was a teaching assistant to 3 courses over multiple semesters:Intro to Computing (GEEN 1300)     ● Managed a 25-30 student hands-on computing lab once per week     ● Presented the topics/problems for the day and provided hands-on help to students to complete         the lab assignment     ● Course covered Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), PTC Mathcad, and        MathWorks MATLAB     ● Graded assignments and projectsCreative Technology (CHEN 1000)     ● Attended lectures     ● Held office hours before exams     ● Graded writing assignmentsIntroduction to Chemical Engineering (CHEN 1300)     ● Coordinated student schedules to attend field trips to the heritage center and local engineering         companies     ● Drove and supervised students during company on-site visits     ● Monitored students ability to work well in assigned groups and their progress on assignments

● Additional positions held: hostess, waitressing, take-out packing, and delivery driver● Handled disputes with customers and other companies, maintained inventory, hired delivery    drivers, and organized work schedules