Managing a clinical laboratory at North Bend Medical Center, the largest medical clinic on the Oregon coast.

Teaching Survey of Biology (Bi 100), a science for non-science majors course using in-classroom instruction as well as online content on the Canvas teaching platform. **This course has been changed to an online format to comply with the current quarantine requirements**Primary Duties: Assist students in reaching the course objectives using lectures, hands-on labs, additional readings, content on Canvas and videos. A Canvas shell course was provided but I am responsible for updating and uploading all material. I write and deliver weekly quizzes as well as the final exam. I grade all materials submitted by the students and track student progress in the course. I run course required labs including instructing students on proper lab procedures and techniques. I am responsible for providing individual instructional support via in-person assistance or email and provide one on one feedback using Clark College’s online feedback tool. In addition to my normal duties with this course, in collaboration with my colleagues, I have been altering and updating this class to function in an online form. I have updated, reworked or found substitutes for all the labs and assignments to allow for online submittal and to eliminate the wet lab components. I have recorded, edited and uploaded introductory videos for all the labs and assignments to help students to be able to work at home without me present. I have rewritten all my lectures to facilitate online delivery and set up and configured a Zoom account for holding and recording live online lectures.

Teaching Microbiology Lab.

I provide assistance to the teaching faculty preparing equipment, demonstrations, set-ups and chemicals for use in the physics, geology and chemistry teaching laboratories. I collect, organize, and distribute materials used for the teaching laboratories in the chemistry department for both general and organic chemistry. This includes: the preparation and aliquoting of solutions to be used in labs; the correct labeling of chemicals for prompt identification; verification that provided materials (i.e. reagents, buffers and indicators) perform as expected; the standardization of chemicals provided to the labs; the handling of chemical waste for proper disposal; providing the proper non-consumable lab equipment; and ensuring all consumable materials are available in sufficient quantities. I assist in troubleshooting experimental failures in the labs and identifying problems with experimental protocols. I help to direct student workers and provide direction to them as to the tasks they need to assist with in the labs and stockroom. Special Projects: I updated the SDS database for the over 600 chemicals present in the lab and brought the lab into compliance with OHSA Hazard Communication Standards. This work included creating shelf tags, purging unused or old chemicals, and evaluating current tags to ensure accuracy as well as updating, adding or renewing Safety Data Sheets. I was directly involved in a large scale reorganization of all the materials within the stockroom including the chemical storage and hazardous materials section to provide better accessibility and a more logical order to their placement based on use.

I worked directly extracting and diluting human DNA samples for a co-study involving Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research and Oregon Health Sciences University. I also processed fecal samples to be sent to the Oregon State Health lab for a long-term Norovirus infection study at Kaiser Permanente. I pulled DNA samples identified as study candidates from the BioBank’s -80C repository freezers, quantified the DNA concentration on a Nanodrop, diluted the sample to the requested concentration for study use, and returned the sample to the repository. I noted in the lab LIS the sample diluted, the dilution made, the volume of DNA sample used, and any problems with the sample. I performed DNA extraction on human blood samples and stabilized buffy coat samples for study use as well as to be banked by Kaiser Permanente. I extracted the DNA, quantitated the amount of DNA in the sample, diluted a portion for testing and assigned undiluted DNA samples for distribution to other labs or study participants. I helped to maintain lab stocks and track materials used. I was also involved in the updating and implementation of laboratory procedures and SOPs.

I taught Biology 112 Biology for Allied Health Majors both lecture and lab and Biology 232-233 Anatomy and Physiology lab sections.. I wrote and presented PowerPoint lectures of the course material. I performed more in-depth analysis and demonstrations on the chalk boards for more difficult or confusing material. I was responsible for delivering exams, lab and lecture quizzes, grading and entering grades for exams, class quizzes, student lab reports, student papers and final grades. I helped guide students through the lab process and lectured them on exercise procedures. I demonstrated proper laboratory techniques and equipment usage to the students to ensure and maintain a safe laboratory environment and enforced safe lab practices. I also assisted students outside of class with questions via email correspondence and during office hours held both at my desk and in the tutoring center.

I worked as a Clinical QC Scientist for the high throughput DNA testing lab performing pharmacogenomic RT-PCR analysis and multiplex flow cytometry. I was directly involved with the preparation for and the performance of both CAP and CLIA inspections of the DNA testing lab as well as a successfully completed inspection by the New York State Department of Health. I analyzed all new reagent shipments in regards to their conformity to test parameters. I performed and tracked all instrument maintenance. This included weekly and monthly maintenance on Applied Biosystems ViiA7 RT-PCR instruments and Luminex 100/200 flow cytometry units. In addition, I performed all instrument calibrations and validations on the ViiA7 instruments. All other lab maintenance, cleaning requirements, reagent validation forms, and other lab documents were maintained, collected, reviewed and assembled by me into the monthly lab QA packet. I performed both data analysis and the final peer review of RT-PCR assay analyses and Luminex assays. This included the verification of calls, analysis of the performance of positive and negative controls and the uploading of the data to the LIS and translational software. I was involved in the writing of new SOPs for the DNA lab as well as the updating and revision of working SOPs. Special Projects: I worked on a project to re-validate all pharmacogenomic assays to determine optimal assay run times, end point and both minimum and optimal DNA concentrations. I was responsible for developing a cross-instrument comparability protocol for the ViiA 7 RT-PCR instruments. This included the original design of the protocol; a viability study for the protocol; the writing of the SOP and the final implementation. I also assisted in final validation of a new ViiA7 plate assay including confirmation and verification of positive control values and the construction of reference panels for the data analysis and peer review of patient tests.

I provided assistance to the teaching faculty preparing equipment, demonstration set-ups and chemicals for use in the physics, geology and chemistry teaching laboratories. I collected, organized and distributed materials used for the teaching laboratories in the chemistry department, both general and organic chemistry. This included: the preparation and aliquoting of solutions to be used in labs; aliquoting liquid and dry chemicals into containers for student use; the correct labeling of chemicals for prompt identification; verification that provided materials (i.e. reagents, buffers and indicators) would perform as expected; the standardization of chemicals provided to the labs; the handling of waste produced to verify its proper disposal; providing the proper glassware and other non-consumable lab equipment; and ensuring all consumable materials were available and that enough were provided for each lab section. I helped direct student workers and provided direction to them as to the tasks they need to accomplish and assist with. I also assisted in the reorganization of the materials in the stockroom to provide better accessibility and a more logical order to their placement based on use.

I taught between 20 and 60 students per quarter in one of the following laboratory classes: Biology 488 –Microbiology Techniques (3 quarters), Biology 235 – Microbiology Lab (4 quarters), Biology 251L – Principles of Biology (1 quarter), Biology 104 – Fundamentals of Biology Lab (2 Summer Sessions), Biology 105 – Fundamentals of Biology Lab (1 quarter).I prepared the laboratory room prior to class, wrote and delivered PowerPoint presentations at the beginning of each class, wrote and delivered lab quizzes and lab practicums, graded and entered grades for class quizzes, student lab reports and laboratory practicums. I also tracked and evaluated each students progress through multi-session bacterial identification labs involving culture isolations and culture identifications through metabolic and molecular techniques, helped guide students through the lab process and explained exercise procedures to them, demonstrated proper laboratory techniques and equipment usage to the students, ensured and maintained a safe laboratory environment by enforcing safe lab procedures and assisted students outside of class with questions via email correspondence and during office hours.