Dylan Tully Email & Phone Number

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Greater Boston Area

Performed critical biochemical experiments that directly supported the out-licensing of in vivo CRISPR/Cas9 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy candidate to Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $175 MM up front. Processed mouse organ tissue samples and performed the quantification of SaCas9 for multiple in vivo studies via Bicinchoninic Acid assay (BCA) and Mesoscale Discovery (MSD) analysis.Determined optimal Cas9 and guide RNA pairings via in vitro plasmid transfections, TIDE analysis, and western blotting for novel Cas9 orthologs.Evaluated the effectiveness of newly prepared viral vectors used in in vitro transductions through western blotting and MSD.Designed and presented a poster at the internal Science Off-Site on the effectiveness of different promoters at driving protein expression in vivo and presented data on ongoing projects at internal research seminars.

Greater Boston Area

Performed QC testing of fluorescently labeled oligodeoxynucleotide probes (Oligo-FISH© probes) purchased from IDT by measuring the concentrations of DNA and fluorescent label using a spectrophotometer. Tested Oligo-FISH probes regularly for binding specificity and contamination by running fluorescent in-situ hybridizations of the probes to slides fixed with peripheral blood cells. Confirmed binding specificity by karyotyping images of metaphase cells taken with a camera attached to an epifluorescence microscope.Assembled Oligo-FISH© probe kits that are used in the fluorescent in-situ hybridization of slides fixed with epithelial cells collected from urine samples. These OligoFISH© kits are used to detect aneuploidy in cells to screen for bladder cancer and monitor recurrence as a non-invasive alternative to a cystoscopy.Processed urine samples for a nationwide clinical trial run conducted through the Michigan Institute of Urology to establish Cellay’s VesicaDX© probe panel’s suitability to monitor the recurrence of bladder cancer in patients.Manufactured sequence-specific fluorescently labeled DNA probes by purifying, amplifying and labeling Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) DNA from E. coli mutants. Grew the E. coli for 24 hours and purified the BAC DNA through a standard mini-prep procedure and determined the purified DNA concentration by gel electrophoresis. Used degenerate Oligo Primed PCR (DOP-PCR) to amplify the amount of DNA collected and reduce the average length of the DNA to ~500 base pairs and confirmed the concentration and length of DNA by gel electrophoresis. Labeled the DNA with fluorescent tags by Nick Translation, a PCR step performed with a small concentration of ligase and fluorescently labeled dTTP resulting in a DNA strand ~500 base pairs in length with regularly spaced fluorescent tags. These labeled strands are then assembled into FISH probe kits for the detection of aneuploidy in cells fixed onto slides.

Performed daily quality control and maintenance of a small Quality Control laboratory’s automatic CBC hematology analyzers. This included running daily tests on the analyzers using three synthetic blood control materials prepared by Streck and maintained a detailed history of each analyzers performance. Tested the analyzers quarterly against blind synthetic samples also supplied by Streck.Performed QC testing on reagents manufactured in house by testing samples for pH, conductivity and total dissolved solids and then making recommendations on how to adjust the small amounts of salts, water, acid or base if necessary. Then tested sample performance on the appropriate analyzer with synthetic and human blood samples to ensure test results were equivalent to those reported by a reference instrument.Coordinated with an off-site consultant to design new reagents for use on the analyzers that replaced the highly toxic Potassium Cyanide with Sodium Laureth Sulfate that would react with the hemoglobin in the sample for more precise measurement of absorbance at 546 nm. Then balanced so that the reagent’s bill of materials so that the pH, conductivity and total dissolved solids were unchanged. The new reagent could be put on an analyzer in the field with only a small re-calibration necessary for the hemoglobin concentration, a routine procedure when moving from one lot of reagent to another.Improved dramatically upon a lytic reagent prototype for use on the Sysmex KX-21N automatic hematology analyzer so that its performance was equivalent to the original manufacturer. Generated numerous small batches of reagent to compare against the original material with occasional insight from our off-site consultant into additional ingredients of interest. Conducted a correlation study with thirty human blood samples to confirm that the new lytic agent performed comparably to that of the manufacturer’s reagent. This reagent was distributed in small quantities overseas.

Duarte, California

Performed early in-vitro trials characterizing the natural compound Baicalein’s ability to induce apoptosis in cancerous cell lines through cell growth inhibition assays. This included running trials combining Baicalein with existing chemotherapeutic drugs Cisplatin, Isatin and Eribulin in 96 well plates and measuring cell growth inhibition by a series of MTT assays throughout the week.Determined whether the chemotherapeutic agent Isatin could be dissolved in Matrigel at the therapeutic doses required for use in murine models.Shadowed pre-operational and post-operation consultations with patients and during surgeries pertaining to thyroid, parathyroid, breast and adrenal cancers

Poughkeepsie, Ny

Observed diffusion rates of alkanethiols through PDMS stamps in-situ using RAMAN spectroscopy. RAMAN spectroscopy in a relatively transparent sample allowed for in-situ depth profiling of the concentration of thiol by comparing the peak intensity of the carbon-sulfur bond to a control peak without needing to take a cross-section of sample.Demonstrated to the professor how a self-assembled monolayer of microbeads forms on a gold substrate and can then be characterized by atomic force microscopy, an experiment that has since been integrated into the course curriculum. I went on to place ‘stamps’ made of PDMS saturated with dodecanethiol and polyethylene glycol on top of the microbeads to create concentric circles of the two compounds on the gold substrate resulted in a topologically flat surface with chemical patterning that could be characterized by lateral force microscopy.

Master Of Arts - Ma, Biotechnology, 3.975

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Biochemistry And Molecular Biology

Activities and Societies: Barefoot Monkeys Circus TroupMajored in Biochemistry at Vassar College with a strong foundation on protein.