I've taken various positions in other industries as well as been self employed while searching for employment in biotech or pharma.

Developed/optimized live virus for Influenza, Tacaribe, and Dengue.Reworked the companies' main influenza assay which had been used for several years and was extremely tedious due to multiple washing and dumping steps at the same time keeping the cells attached to a completely homogeneous assay. CV's went from 20 or 30% down to a reproducible 5% percent and Z's of 0.7 to 0.8. Identified a specific sequence in the Tacaribe GP protein sequence we were using (1957 strain) not… Show more Developed/optimized live virus for Influenza, Tacaribe, and Dengue.Reworked the companies' main influenza assay which had been used for several years and was extremely tedious due to multiple washing and dumping steps at the same time keeping the cells attached to a completely homogeneous assay. CV's went from 20 or 30% down to a reproducible 5% percent and Z's of 0.7 to 0.8. Identified a specific sequence in the Tacaribe GP protein sequence we were using (1957 strain) not present in any subsequent strains, which when removed led to a working pseudotype assay for Tacaribe after 2 years (I was not actually on this project but researched it on the side, then showed my analysis and hypothesis to the rest of the biologists).Develop/optimize pseudotype assays for several Arenaviruses and Ebola viruses to indentify small molecule inhibitors. Strains included Lassa, LCMV, Junin, Guanarito, Tacaribe, Machupo, Ebola, Sudan, MarburgDeveloped to companies' standard assays such as solubility, cytotoxic, GFP based pseudotype assay, live virus cpe endpoint assays using neutral red and a Lamar blue, and had major contributions in other formats such as luciferase reporter assays used to screen compounds against viral pseudotypes, ELISA, orher CPE endpoint, FP, and enzyme assays.Double stable cell line generation for multiple viral targets including, approximately 12 strains of influenza, mainly employing a lentivirus transduction step and a lipid based transfection step following by selecting for the best performing clones.Cell culture and cell bank maintenance. Cloning, restriction digests, sds-page, etc.Lab manager from 2012-2014 responsible for ordering supplies/reagents, lab organization, and facilities related issues.Training of new hires and lab assistants. Show less

Optimized cAMP assay for driving SAR of a high profile target for one of the companies' collaboratorsPerformed retests and data analyzation on potential hits in dose responseImproved the data analyzation process which was then presented to one of the companies' collaboratorsPerformed cell culture using HEK-293, CHOK1, Rat Cells, and other types of cellsTested active SAR compounds further in multiple specificity assaysContinued to optimize assays which were performing… Show more Optimized cAMP assay for driving SAR of a high profile target for one of the companies' collaboratorsPerformed retests and data analyzation on potential hits in dose responseImproved the data analyzation process which was then presented to one of the companies' collaboratorsPerformed cell culture using HEK-293, CHOK1, Rat Cells, and other types of cellsTested active SAR compounds further in multiple specificity assaysContinued to optimize assays which were performing well to further improve data qualityPresented data in a timely manner to colleagues and collaboratorsUsed a clear scientific approach to tackle assay issues and fix them when they arose-specifically with identifying a problem with a particular reagent, issues with the way pipetting was done on the Biomek FX, issues with timing which gave plate trends, cell plating and cell incubation prior to starting the assays, and other issuesPrepared excel macros and templates for data processing and Prizm for dose response EC50/EC25 calculation Show less

Transitioned from screening group to biology group 12-18 monthsOptimized and miniaturized assays for multiple targets in a variety of formats on the uHTS systemPerformed cell culture and ran the screens on the uHTS systemPerformed data analyzation and retests on potential hits in dose responseRan confirmed hits in multiple secondary assaysGo-to-guy for many offline instrumentation related issuesOptimized cAMP assay for driving SAR of a high profile target for the… Show more Transitioned from screening group to biology group 12-18 monthsOptimized and miniaturized assays for multiple targets in a variety of formats on the uHTS systemPerformed cell culture and ran the screens on the uHTS systemPerformed data analyzation and retests on potential hits in dose responseRan confirmed hits in multiple secondary assaysGo-to-guy for many offline instrumentation related issuesOptimized cAMP assay for driving SAR of a high profile target for the companyPresented data to colleagues, made a poster of one target, and held meetings as neededExperience with transfections, plasmid preparation, membrane preparation, protein purification, and caring for multiple cell linesExperience with GPCRs, b-arrestin assays, enzyme assays, reporter gene assays, and toxicity assaysFamiliarity with lab instrumentation: Analyst GT, Acquest, ViewLux, LumiLux, Biomek FX, and various pipettors and dispensers Ran several assay readouts: fluorescence, luminescence, TR-FRET, and LANCE Show less

Characterized, operated, and maintained the Kalypsys uHTS systemDeveloped QC protocols for all uHTS system equipmentOrganized the screening flowchart with other scientistsWorked closely with engineers and scientists to drive innovationFurther helped characterize equipment to give the uHTS system added functionalityHelped to identify key optimization parameters for converting bench assays to screensAnalyzed all data for screens and secondary assays I developed and… Show more Characterized, operated, and maintained the Kalypsys uHTS systemDeveloped QC protocols for all uHTS system equipmentOrganized the screening flowchart with other scientistsWorked closely with engineers and scientists to drive innovationFurther helped characterize equipment to give the uHTS system added functionalityHelped to identify key optimization parameters for converting bench assays to screensAnalyzed all data for screens and secondary assays I developed and ranDeveloped screens and assisted in bringing assays to screensHandled cell culture for screens I developedTrained all users on the uHTS systemGave tours of the uHTS system to potential partners and investorsRecruited a key member of the engineering team and helped to hire other key members Show less

Operated and maintained high throughput screening systemPerformed QC on the HTS system and offline equipment on a regular basisInstrumentation: Beckman Sagian system, Polara system, BC FX, Multimek, Multidrop, ufill, 96 well plate washer, Aurora VIPR (voltage ion probe reader), Aurora 3456 well plate reader, and various readers such as the AcquestOrganized screening activities for group including the handoff of assays from the scientists to the screening groupResponsible for all… Show more Operated and maintained high throughput screening systemPerformed QC on the HTS system and offline equipment on a regular basisInstrumentation: Beckman Sagian system, Polara system, BC FX, Multimek, Multidrop, ufill, 96 well plate washer, Aurora VIPR (voltage ion probe reader), Aurora 3456 well plate reader, and various readers such as the AcquestOrganized screening activities for group including the handoff of assays from the scientists to the screening groupResponsible for all cell culture for each screenAnalyzed data and reported on in meetingsHired all temps or part time lab assistantsManaged a research associate and two lab assistants Show less