Building the next great platform for protein analysis and proteomics.

Technical leader of the protein mass spectrometry group. Focused on protein and contaminant identification, post-translational modification and failure-mode analysis, developing analytical and QC SOPs, and new method development and implementation. Generated data to support and direct enzyme engineering campaigns for improving existing enzyme products and entirely new protein producs. Managed capital projects for new instrument purchase and installation. Coordinated the exchange of new methods and tools with DuPont sites across the US, Europe, and India. Led analysis of external protein products as part of the Competitive Products Analysis group.Analytical contact responsible for assay development on a number industrial projects (enzymes, non-enzyme proteins, and small molecules) at the development stage: analyzing enzyme activities and solving problems in enzyme stability, formulations, and applications. This included generation of mass spectrometry and non-mass spec analytical methods.Member of the protein purification group. Purified milligram to multi-gram quantities of active enzyme from bacterial and fungal fermentations for use as assay standards, application testing, or customer samples.

Protein engineering of new oxygen delivery proteins, managing protein expression, purification, and QC, and leading scale up projects (both in house and with external CMO groups).• First scientist hired at Omniox. Build and led a 5-person biochemistry team that produced protein in excess of 2 grams/week for biochemical study and in vivo animal efficacy testing.• Developed and implemented standard protocols for protein expression, purification, and formulation. Instituted process documentation for each step, batch records, and an extensive panel of QC assays (biochemical, biophysical, and functional) prior to final release of protein for animal testing.• Designed, built, expressed, and characterized new biotherapeutic variants with altered oligomerization state and ligand binding affinity to extend in vivo circulation half-life and therapeutic efficacy. Some of these engineered proteins are currently in preclinical testing as lead or backup candidates.• Executed protein post-translational modification projects to cross link, PEGylate, and fluorescently label protein to alter therapeutic properties or enable real-time protein visualization in live animals.• Led scale up projects to prepare for production of kilogram quantities of GMP protein for GLP toxicity testing and Phase I clinical trials. Projects included both in-house scale up, process improvement, and assay design, and also investigation, negotiation, and preparations for work with external contract manufacturing organizations.• Integral member of core teams focused on management of IP strategy, Preclinical and Clinical Planning (translational experiments in animal models and initial Phase I trials in human patients), hiring, and funding strategy (identification of grant opportunities, planning, and grant writing for NIH SBIRs, DoD grants, and philanthropic organizations).

Computational protein design and experimental protein analysis in the laboratory of Tanja Kortemme• First scientist to join the Kortemme laboratory at UCSF.• Utilized computational tools to design novel protein-protein interactions between human proteins. Developed experimental assays to screen libraries of designed proteins. Identified a novel, designed protein-protein interaction with orthogonal specificity. Determined the crystal structure (3qbv) of the orthogonal protein-protein interaction. Verified designed specificity and catalytic efficiency using a range of in vitro assays on purified component proteins.• Investigated in vivo orthogonality of the designed protein-protein complex by transfecting DNA encoding the proteins into mammalian cells. Analyzed protein expression, protein interactions, signal transduction, and cellular phenotype/behavior using assays including ELISA, reporter assays, and live cell time-resolved fluorescence and TIRF microscopy. • Worked as a member of the 30-person Cell Propulsion Laboratory (a Nanomedicine Development Center of the NIH) at UCSF and UC Berkeley. Collaborated with other members of the CPL. Presented in vitro evidence for designed orthogonal protein-protein interactions at the national Nanomedicine Development meeting (2007).