My main project was the development of a rapid diagnostic assay for Zika virus (ZIKV) to simultaneously detect the presence of viral RNA and a host antibody response to specific ZIKV antigens in a single, small sample of blood, saliva, or urine. I optimized the reverse-transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) technique to detect ZIKV RNA. I also optimized a platform to identify ZIKV specific IgM and IgG antigens. In collaboration with Rheonix Inc., I investigated the incorporation of the RT-LAMP assay and diagnostic peptides in a microfluidic device (CARD® cartridge) to process both diagnostic assays automatically and simultaneously.

I established the natural sugar Trehalose as potential agent to prevent human cytomegalovirus infection by activation of autophagy resulting in 2 peer-reviewed publications.

Part of a multidisciplinary team to discover and develop the first anti-parasitic probiotic for the treatment of infectious intestinal roundworm diseases. I devised different cloning strategies for a high-throughput screening of Cry genes and promoters, and tested several cloning strategies for expression of high-level therapeutic Cry proteins in bacterial strains (B. thuringiensis and B. subtilis) in support of further pre-clinical studies.

My dissertation work focused on the creation of next generation microbicide components to combat HIV. I demonstrated the potential of corn as a platform for the large-scale production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins such as HIV-neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies.I also investigated socioeconomic and political dimensions of science, particularly entry barriers to new technologies on a global scale. Published these findings in scientific journals and disseminated them in a press release.