Kellie Vinal, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Atlanta, Ga, Us

Greater Atlanta Area

-Coordinate logistics for live science-themed storytelling show: identifying and coaching storytellers, booking venue and technical support, facilitating smooth execution of live show and recording for podcast.-Co-lead workshops teaching the science of storytelling and the fundamentals of story development. Foster interdisciplinary community centered around personal narrative and vulnerability. Produce true, personal stories about science with storytellers of all backgrounds and levels of experience.

-Support communications development and logistical management on behalf of CDC’s Division of Global Health Protection & Security (DGHP), including DGHP’s emergency response support activity.-Assist with writing and editing internal and external communications products, including fact sheets, website content, CDC Connects, Updates from the Field, and other communications channels.-Develop, manage, and facilitate real-time virtual DGHP All Hands/Town Hall and other meetings, seminars, brown-bag series, and events through virtual platforms.

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Adapted Citizen Science curriculum for Bard's Brooklyn and Harlem Microcollege students. Taught science literacy course with emphasis on the process of science, evaluating peer-reviewed literature, storytelling, bias, the intersection of science/culture/society, and ethics.

Annandale-On-Hudson, New York

Science Communication Strand Faculty for the January 2022 + 2024 Citizen Science programs, which aims to provide students with opportunities to develop their personal science literacy through hands-on, real-world coursework and projects.

-Develop and implement partner and policymaker engagement communication strategies as part of CDC's Division of Global HIV & TB (DGHT) Data Storytelling Initiative.-Develop feature stories for CDC DGHT website, showcasing stories and successes of DGHT initiatives around the globe.-Partnership development, management, and maintenance: virtual and in-person educational events, broadening new relationships with external stakeholders and U.S. policymakers.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Manage Facebook and Twitter presence (including strategic plan & metrics analysis) for the SelfMade Health Network (selfmadehealth.org), a CDC-funded national network committed to health equity, cancer survivorship, and tobacco cessation in low-income populations.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

-Consulting for STEM at CDC initiative: stakeholder communication strategy, internal/external outreach coordination, partnership development, STEM Editorial Board recruitment, supported stem@cdc.gov inquiry responses. -Production consultant: CDC’s Better Together Diversity, Equity & Inclusion vodcast.-Consulting for CDC Museum: social media strategy, created educational teaching materials and developed online enrichment modules for CDC Museum digital initiatives.

-Develop engaging activities, troubleshoot hands-on experiments, on-screen host for ten episodes of YMCA STEAM 360: accessible, hands-on STEAM activities for youth grades 3-8 to conduct at home with supervision.

Atlanta, Georgia

-Developed and executed monthly public science events designed to help the public learn science content and/or gain an appreciation for science.-Created, coordinated, hosted, and edited YouTube series designed to engage K-12 audience in the wonder of science.-Assisted with coordination of the Atlanta Science Festival, including logistics for 120 events annually.-Provided mentorship for science communication graduate student fellows.

Created content for YouTube channel Professor Dave Explains, explaining complex scientific concepts to both inspire curiosity in the general public and assist in studying for current students.

Co-produced, co-hosted, and developed marketing strategy for podcast examining the representation (or lack thereof) of womxn in STEM in movies.

Greater Atlanta Area

Assisted in development and implementation of STE(A)M truck programming for K-12 students. Taught science, math, social justice, and design thinking through hands-on experiences to foster inquiry-based learning and creative thinking.

Greater Atlanta Area

Provided logistical coordination of Festival programming, promotions, and outreach activities. Project manager for new Community Mini Grants program for the 2018 Festival.

Greater Atlanta Area

-Assisted in selection, organization, and logistics of festival programming.-Coordinated organization and implementation of weekly website updates, dissemination of materials for Imagining The Future (ITF) Program STEM participants, judging of Atlanta Science Festival-hosted contests (SciKu, middle school web design, t-shirt design), program evaluation, promotions, and content creation for Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Science Festival blog.-Created and coordinated logistics for science-themed bicycle scavenger hunt (“Sci-Cycle: A Competitive Scavenger Hunt on Two Wheels”) as program for 2016 festival.

-Assisted in development, implementation, and science communication training for Science in Vivo-funded public interdisciplinary math/dance/music experience “Seven Bridges.”-Managed evaluation of live performance experience in Cabbagetown Park.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

-Spearheaded organization and logistical planning of science communication workshop for graduate students in Atlanta, GA modeled after the National ComSciCon Workshop.-Curated and hosted two panels: “Outside of the Box: SciComm in Creative Outlets” and “The Importance of Interdisciplinary Collaboration & Intersectional Thinking”

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Hosted Season Two (six episodes) of children’s TV show “Surrounded by Science,” exploring the wonder of science in our everyday lives.

Contributed content to foodborne illness-focused blog UnsafeFoods.com, communicating details of current outbreaks and associated background information for audiences of all backgrounds.

Greater Atlanta Area

Contributed content for culture section of the local alt-weekly publication, interviewing local artists and covering upcoming events in the artistic community.

Greater Atlanta Area

Taught career exploration course for middle school-aged camp aimed at developing students’ interest in biomedical sciences. Coordinated visits from local STEM professionals to share career advice and foster mentorship.

Managed the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the Institute. Generated and shared relevant content, engaged with partners to develop an online community, developed and implemented tactics to increase likes/follows.

Greater Atlanta Area

Research focused on development of a peptide probe for high-throughput screening trials to identify an inhibitor for 16S rRNA methyltransferase binding, as an extension of dissertation work.

Conn Lab, Rollins Research Center, Atlanta, Ga

My thesis is focused on NpmA, a plasmid-encoded gene whose protein product confers resistance to clinically vital aminoglycoside antibiotics. NpmA is a 16S rRNA methyltransferase that transfers a methyl group to the A1408 position of the 30S ribosome, which prevents aminoglycoside binding and thus confers resistance to this class of drugs. In my studies I aim to biochemically characterize the interaction of NpmA, the first pathogen-derived enzyme of its kind, with its 30S ribosomal target. A deeper understanding of this plasmid-encoded threat to clinical use of aminoglycoside antibiotics is necessary to combat increasing antibiotic resistance and will ultimately provide a platform for development of an inhibitor for this resistance mechanism.

Assisted in organization of panels, selection of speakers, and logistical planning for the 2016 convention.

Each week, Blue Streak Science reports the latest scientific news in digestible form, explaining complex scientific concepts and the big picture of how science and humanity are inextricably linked.

Greater Atlanta Area

Planned and organized logistics for 2016 conference, focusing on “Representations of the Body”, exploring the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and disability in art, media, science, and humanities.

Greater Atlanta Area

Solve for X is a science-themed variety show that fuses science with storytelling, music, sketch comedy, puppets and more to inspire scientific curiosity, facilitate creativity, and entertain the masses.

Greater Atlanta Area

Organized special events, executed programming and advertising, facilitated outreach for bicycle commuting

My studies focused on influenza virion morphology in lab-adapted strains in comparison with clinical isolates. We introduced mutations to induce morphology changes and employed standard scanning electron microscopy analysis to observe the morphologies of our strains of interest. Ultimately, my project aimed to elucidate the role of viral morphology in replicative fitness and transmission efficiency of influenza viruses.

During my rotation, I studied antigenic phase variation in clinically relevant N. gonorrhoeae strain FA1090. Specifically, my project focused on the lgtABCDE operon, which encodes enzymes involved in biosynthesis of lipooligosaccarides that mediate N. gonorrhoeae pathogenesis. I isolated and identified mutations in the lgtA gene to examine regulation of variable gene expression that results from slipped-strand mispairing.

In collaboration with Hunter Lab, my studies focused on the evolution of HIV in serodiscordant couples in Zambian and Rwandan cohorts. Particularly, we studied mutations in the Envelope gene in the newly infected partner starting at the time of seroconversion. My project focused on isolating and characterizing putative novel HIV subtype A/C recombinant founder virus envelopes in Rwanda cohort patients.

During my rotation, I examined genetic determinants of antibiotic resistance in clinical strains of S. aureus. Specifically, we induced stress in an antibiotic-susceptible S. aureus strain, Newman, by increasing vancomycin concentration. We sequenced the resulting adaptive mutations and identified Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) we predicted to contribute to the increased resistance to vancomycin. I then conducted Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) assays to examine the impact of these mutations on ability to confer resistance and autolysis assays to examine differences in autolysin production, a phenotype known to be associated with vancomycin resistance.

Research Triangle Park, Nc

I aimed to identify critical liver function determinants mediated by the interaction between Constitutive Androstane Receptor (CAR), a nuclear steroid hormone receptor in the liver, with Rev-erb, a heme-binding transcription factor. Using site-directed mutagenesis, I introduced mutations to identify key regions of interaction between CAR and Rev-erb. I additionally examined the interaction of these proteins using tissue culture, co-immoprecipitation, western blotting, pull-down and gel shift assays, RNA isolation, real-time PCR, and fluorescence microscopy

Research Triangle Park, Nc

My studies focused on co-crystallization trials of Constitutive Active/Androstane Receptor (CAR), an transcription factor for vital hepatic metabolic pathways, with CAR Retention Protein (CCRP). Additionally, I examined CAR-mediated transcriptional regulation of liver-specific genes using a mouse model. As an undergraduate, I contributed to various projects in the lab, thus learning two-hybrid screening of yeast, real-time PCR, cDNA library synthesis, western blotting, SDS-PAGE and agarose gel analysis, DNA sequencing, enzyme expression assays, tissue culture, gel shift and pull-down assays, luciferase transcriptional assays, and fluorescence microscopy analysis.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Activities and Societies: Science Writer Association at Emory (SWAE), NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST), National.

Bs, Microbiology (Minors: Genetics, Biotechnology)