In this role I lead a team in the design and optimization of new sequencing assays and workflows.This includes research into new clinical and translational applications of sequencing and a program to develop a suite of epigenomic profiling tools and applications. My team is also responsible for library prep workflows for a new sequencing platform. I also represent Research on the Sequencing Lifecycle Team (commercial strategy and execution), and evaluate new technologies and lead the investigation of their applications in sequencing. I lead team of 18 direct + indirect reports that I have reshaped and rebuilt.

I am the Head of Oncology Assay Development at Roche Sequencing Solutions. My team and I are responsible for all stages of development for RUO, IVD, and CE-IVD assays for oncology assays running on NGS platforms. Our involvement begins at applications research, early development, and assay design. We then take each project through all development milestones up to LD.

I am the Oncology Applications Lead for the Sequencing Unit. I manage a team of 9 scientists with the long term goal of revolutionizing clinical oncology through non-invasive molecular diagnostics that facilitate personalized, proactive treatments and lead to improved outcomes for patients. My core responsibilities include: (1) advising our commercial leader as the assay development representative on the Lifecycle Team, (2) working closely with business development to evaluate new technologies and find oncology applications for them, (3) leading the research and early development of our oncology NGS assays, (4) leading clinical research studies to develop new clinical applications of our technologies, (5) working with sales and marketing to present on our oncology NGS assay technology at conferences and to key customers, and (6) working with the commercial team to interview customers and design new assays that meet their needs.

CAPP Medical Inc. was a company that started out of Stanford to commercialize the technologies that I helped to invent as a postdoc in the Oncology department there (Patent US20210363597A1). CAPP Medical was acquired by Roche in April of 2015. I was the 4th member to join the CAPP-Medical team. At CAPP-Medical I was responsible for the design, optimization, and validation of technical improvements to the CAPP-Seq technology. I was also responsible for the setup of the laboratory and for the transfer of the CAPP-Seq technology from Stanford to CAPP-Medical. I oversaw all laboratory operations and the running of all samples. I was responsible for finding and screening potential new employees for CAPP-Medical. I handled all aspects of procurement and account management for equipment, services, and reagents as well (aside from payment). I also designed the CAPP-Medical logo and our team t-shirts. http://www.fiercediagnostics.com/story/roche-grabs-capp-medical-gain-ground-cancer-dx/2015-04-13http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roche-strengthens-oncology-translational-research-pipeline-by-acquiring-capp-medical-300064367.html

I was a postdoctoral scholar working with assistant professor Max Diehn and assistant professor Ash Alizadeh in the Oncology department. I worked in a group developing a blood test for cancer detection that is extremely sensitive and specific, while also having broad patient coverage. You can read about work from the group here (completed before I joined): http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3519.htmlWhen I joined the CAPP-Seq team at Stanford advised by professors Max Diehn and Ash Alizadeh, the CAPP-Seq method had a detection limit of 1 in 5,000 or 0.02%. I first developed a novel molecular barcoding strategy to reduce the background 20-fold and enable a detection limit of 1 in 100,000 or 0.001%. Specifically, as a co-inventor of this technology, I played a key role in its conception, optimization, and development. I then created a comprehensive, detailed protocol for the CAPP-Seq method. I subsequently trained 13 new lab members to use CAPP-Seq, and advised them in their experimental design, analysis, and troubleshooting for their specific projects. I also refined the hybridization conditions used for CAPP-Seq to reduce costs by using 10x less reagent while simultaneously improving the on-target rate by 3x in some cases. I led a small group focused on different technical improvements to the CAPP-Seq technology. I developed several new iterations of the digital error suppression technology (DES 2.0), which have demonstrated the ability to further reduce background an additional 10-fold to potentially enable a detection limit of 1 in 1,000,000. The DES technology I was instrumental in developing is essential to the sensitivity and specificity of the CAPP-Seq assay for both non-invasive tumor genotyping and treatment monitoring applications.This work was recently published here:http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nbt.3520.html

The overall goal of my Ph.D. work was to characterize the combinatorial, coordinated interactions of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) with their target mRNAs and to determine how these interactions function in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I helped develop two different methods for identifying novel RNA-protein interactions and characterizing RNA-protein complexes using protein microarrays and quantitative mass spectrometry. These experiments led to the discovery of several novel RNA binding proteins, including some unexpected proteins with other annotated roles in the cell, such as enzymes, vesicle transport machinery, and DNA binding proteins. Data from the quantitative mass spectrometry method allowed us to better characterize RNA-protein complexes by identifying the RBPs that bind to some of the same RNAs at the same time as an RBP of interest. In addition to discovering novel RNA-protein interactions, a third project combining UV-crosslinking, nuclease digestion, denaturing protein purification, and high-throughput sequencing allowed the identification of the direct RNA targets and binding sites for several dozen RNA binding proteins. These data lead to the discovery of potential novel modes of regulation and specificity for these RBPs. When faced with interesting experimental questions, I like to develop new or adapt existing methods to answer them. I value creative solutions to experimental problems and I strive to improve existing methods by incorporating the latest technological advances. I also enjoy analyzing genome-wide data sets with my programming skills in Perl and R. I had the pleasure of collaborating on 6 different projects as a graduate student and I enjoy working with others who compliment my abilities.

As an Undergraduate Researcher for Prof. Alan Attie at UW Madison, I studied the molecular genetics of Type 2 Diabetes in a mouse model. I completed an independent research project which led to my Senior Thesis. I also contributed to a publication in Nature Genetics titled "Positional cloning of Sorcs1, a type 2 diabetes quantitative trait locus".

I was a Science Intern in Specialty Products Division, at Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago. I refined methods for the HPLC Analysis of Erythromycin Production Samples. I improved method efficiency and data processing throughput.

As an Undergraduate Researcher for Prof. Julius Adler at UW Madison, I studied the biochemical basis of decision making ability in D. Melanogaster.