www.pheronym.comPheronym is an agricultural biotechnology company that uses a new kind of pheromone to control nematodes. Our initial product makes insect nematodes (beneficial nematodes) better bio-control. Our other products in the pipeline target plant-parasitic nematodes.Mentorship Programs:Sept-Dec 2017 Fellows of All-Star Team by CLSIAug 2017- Present Tech Futures Group Accelerators:Oct 2017- Aug 2018- LARTA Institute for commercializationMay-Sept 2017 Indiebio Seed Biotech AcceleratorIncubators:Jan 2018 - Present The Sid Martin Biotechnology InstituteNov 2017- Present The UC Davis-HM.CLAUSE Life Science Innovation CenterMar 2017- 2018 UF Innovate the HUBPartnerships:2017- 2018 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with USDAGrants:2018-2020 USDA-NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative2018-2019 Space Florida2018-2019 USDA Specialty Crop Block2017- 2018 USDA-SBIR Phase I grant

Science Advisor for Nematodes.

Kaplan Schiller is an R&D company that develops eco-friendly agricultural pest control using pheromones of microscopic roundworms, called nematodes.Feb 2016 - Mar 2017 R&D lab at the Florida Innovation Business Incubator 2015 - 2017 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with USDAOct 2015 - Feb 2016 Hatchery program for entrepreneurship at the Innovation HUB business incubator

•Managed and lectured large courses 1000 students/semester (150, 350 or 750 students for each lecture) and lectured small courses (ranging from 10 to 40 students)Courses taught at UF: •BSC 2010 Integrated Principles of Biology I: Genetics Section (Fall 2012 & 2014, Spring 2015)•BOT 2010 Introductory Botany (Fall 2012)•BOT 3503 Physiol. and Mol. Biol. Plants (Spring 2013, 2014 &2016)•BOT 5505 Intermediate Plant Physiology (Spring 2013 & 2014)Online lectures at the Florida Online Institute at UF:•BSC 2010 Integrated Principles of Biology I (Biochemistry) (Spring 2014)•BSC 2011 Integrated Principles of Biology II (Plant Physiology) (Fall 2014)

Natural product chemistry (LC-MS, NMR, GC-MS), chemical ecology/biology, nematodes, plants, insects•Developed an independent research program in nematode pheromone signaling a. Discovered that pheromones regulate dispersal behavior of dispersal larvae in C. elegans and insect pathogenic nematodes (PLoS ONE 2012). b. Found that root-knot nematode (RKN) has ascaroside pheromones (patent pending) c. Developed nematode behavioral assays in insect and plant parasitic nematodes d.Recruited, trained and supervised a technician on bioassays, routine RKN growth, e.Raised in kind research support•Collaborated within the Chemistry unit and other USDA-ARS units, and universities and not for profit institutes, below are some examples of research. a. Identified the citrus Diaprepes root weevil mating pheromone that had eluded structure determination efforts for over ten years using NMR based structure elucidation (J. Chem. Ecol. 2012, patented 2014). b. Elucidated the structure of novel diterpenoid and sesquiterpenoid phytoalexins, which are induced in response to fungal infection and insect feeding from corn by using NMR (Plant Physiol. 2011 and Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2011).

Natural product chemistry/ analytical chemistry (NMR, LC-MS), chemical ecology, scientific project management, fund raising, teaching and training staff and interns, managing day to day operation of a science laboratory•Raised funds by co-authoring, contributing my independent research data and postdoctoral research on C. elegans pheromones as preliminary data to an NIH RO1 grant (NIH 1R01GM085285-01A1) that was funded ($300,000)•Raised in kind research support for GC-MS based metabolite profiling, HPLC analysis for amino acids and statistical analysis of metabolite profiling data•Managed multi-institutional scientific projects•Conducted research, managed collaborators and communication among collaborators of 4 different institutes across US•Trained in natural product chemistry, analytical chemistry and chemical biology•Developed a method to grow large scale synchronized C. elegans liquid cultures for pheromone isolation and secreted metabolites.•Initiated and developed a basic laboratory technique course for undergraduate student training from 2006 to 2008.•Supervised, trained and managed laboratory technician, high school, undergraduate and graduate students on isolation of biologically active compounds from nematodes•Found that C. elegans releases bacterial quorum sensing inhibitors and other organic compounds (sugars, amino acids and organic acids), which are developmentally regulated (J. Chem. Ecol. 2009). •Identified the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans mating pheromone, which regulates both nematode development and behavior, using activity guided fractionation and NMR (Nature 2008, patented 2012).

Plant molecular response to CO2•Facilitated the transfer of GC-MS based metabolite profiling technology from Max Planck Institute to Kennedy Space Center•Managed and executed a scientific project between two institutes: The University of Florida and NASA/Kennedy space Center•Conducted research and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented report at professional meetings•Analyzed a large data sets such as transcriptomics and metabolomics data sets•Collaborated, communicated and worked with a statistician for the big data analysis•Found plant molecular response to elevated and super elevated (SE) [CO2] are developmentally controlled. Furthermore, there is a fundamental difference in the way plants respond to elevated and SE [CO2] at the molecular level for photosynthetic acclimation in terms of down-regulation of photosynthetic gene expression (PLoS ONE 2012)