James Hemphill Email & Phone Number

• Cell and gene therapy company developing non-viral transposases for gene coding.
• Program leadership, responsible for strategic decision making and team management. Organized highly detailed research plans to achieve key milestones.
• Worked closely with legal team to regularly file new patents for intellectual property.
• Responsible for donor DNA construct design and inventory for hundreds of vectors and mRNAs. Approach included conceptual genetic design, production of constructs, complete registry of all genetic builds, and functional.
• Optimized genome integration with modified mRNAs for enhanced delivery and expression.
• Process development to manufacture genetically modified cell batches at mid- and large-scale.

Cambridge, MA, US

• Stealth mode startups revolutionizing the types of functions that cells can perform in patients.
• Developed process for generating genetically modified human T regulatory cells with lentivirus.
• Performed functional assays for proof-of-concept data packages.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

• MIT spinout developing an automated transfection technology (FlowfectTM) that couples microfluidic flow and electric fields for non-viral genome editing in next generation cell therapy.
• Led the biological team’s strategic planning efforts to generate company goals and milestones.
• Significantly involved in company building efforts, including corporate values, mission statement, employee handbook, as well as facilities / operations required for biological research.
• Worked with multi-disciplinary engineering team to rapidly test early prototype iterations.
• Generated proof-of-concept gene delivery data for a range of primary human cell types.
• Worked with biotech and pharma collaborators to develop MTAs/workplans for pilot studies that implement our core technology into their drug discovery and cell manufacturing processes.

• Cell therapy company developing novel T cell drug products for immune-oncology
• Responsible for creating new antibody-coupled T-cell receptors (ACTRs) for a variety of platform and pipeline initiatives. Approach included conceptual genetic design, production of engineered viral vectors, and.
• Characterized novel ACTR molecules through functional assays with genetically modified T-cells, including activation/stimulation assays, cytotoxicity assays, cytokine production assays, T-cell proliferation assays, and.
• Engineered knock-in and knock-out cell lines as requested by cross-functional teams utilizing a number of genome editing techniques, including viral and non-viral methodologies.
• Progressed early lead molecules to development/candidate stages in concert with Drug Discovery and Product Development teams. Contributed to Investigatory New Drug (IND) applications submitted to the FDA in support of.

Pittsburgh, PA, US

• Developed light-activated tools to study biological processes through the use of “caged” oligonucleotides (synthetic) and proteins (unnatural amino acid incorporation).
• Optically controlled the CRISPR/Cas9 system with a modified Cas9 endonuclease to enable spatiotemporal regulation of gene editing in mammalian cells.
• Achieved conditional control of RNA alternative splicing with modified splice-switching oligonucleotides to study temporal requirements of sox31 RNA processing in zebrafish embryos.
• Developed new applications of DNA computation in mammalian cells for the identification and detection of cell-specific miRNA expression profiles with Boolean logic gate operations.
• Established an in-house oligonucleotide synthesis facility to produce modified nucleic acids for the optochemical regulation of biological processes. Applied to both internal and collaborative projects for a range of.
• Assisted in the writing of grants for external funding (ex. R01, R21), as well as in the generation of unique proposal ideas.

Raleigh, NC, US

US

• Oligonucleotide therapeutic company developing protein-binding aptamers
• Generated aptamers to targets in hematology, oncology, inflammation, and infectious disease areas for therapeutic application. Evaluated aptamer function using biochemical assays.
• Optimized early lead compounds to identify aptamers with affinity, activity, and stability properties suitable for the desired therapeutic indication.
• Project team member for internal and partnered therapeutic programs.
• Optimized technical aspects of the aptamer selection platform to increase hit rate and efficiency of lead generation with both soluble and human cell-expressed targets.
• Evaluated aptamer capture strategies and substrates used for selection to improve selection efficiencies. Monitored enrichment rates of aptamers within randomized oligonucleotide pools using qPCR methodologies to.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Chemistry

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Chemistry (Transferred)

B.S., Molecular Genetics